Get Everything Done

Around August last year I started developing a system of putting a positive structure to my day. Because I was working from home, and self-directed, I had found it difficult to keep consistent with working hard and getting good results.

I got inspiration from various podcasts I was listening to, as well as books, that the way to productivity was through habit, doing things automatically so you don't have to think about doing such things, and they get done. The way to habit was through attachment: Find something you're already doing and do something extra. And this is easiest if you start small, 2 minutes a day so you don't quit before the habit takes root.

The question is, what habits? The final inspiration that got my journey started was a podcast interviewing the author of The Miracle Morning. He had interviewed successful people to see what were their most important habits, identified 6, and thought "why not do them all"? His six he acronymed SAVERS, for Silence (meaning prayer/meditation), Affirmation, Visualization (of your day), Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (writing).

I attempted to implement these ideas, but it didn't work directly to just do all of these in the early morning and still get to working at a decent hour. There's a question of what content to fill in these slots, and how can I get through all these items quickly enough, and still keep them meaningful? And there are other things that matter to my mood and productivity, such as sleep habits and eating habits. But with a starting vision to successfully institute an morning routine that would kickstart my day, I eventually came across what I consider to be THE KEY TO EVERYTHING:

Every evening after work
I review my day,
consider how it went, and
how I might make the next day better.

And so I established an ever-evolving routine. My key objective is to be effective at work, which is between the morning and evening routines, but I have come to learn it's the routines surrounding this block of time that have great impact on my success. I have a digital list of things I should do every day and when. Mostly daily routines, meditations, habits. And every day after work I review how it went and adjust these routines or my implementation so hopefully the next day goes better. In a word, kaizen.

In future I intend to discuss the content of my morning and evening, but I believe the daily review is the foundation. Everything else may come or go, depending on how effective and useful I feel it is.

To be clear, operating effectively during work also matters so I'm not sure I would say Greatest. Yet there are many things that make a huge difference. For example lack of sufficient sleep will completely scuttle my working day. In the evening when I review that day, I would note the lack of sleep and consider why I didn't sleep enough, and institute a change in behavior that hopefully will solve the problem in future: Move the charger to the other side of the room, and never look at my phone in the bedroom.

I'm well aware of that!

Another item that this system has helped me with is Christian devotion. My morning activities and evening activities are checklists I go through every day. And since I have now established the habits of going through these lists twice a day (except last night I skipped it), there are many things that happen every day. One of those is morning devotion which consists of prayer, reflection and Bible reading (usually listening). There is a simpler version of this in evening. The effect is I have a consistency now which I never had before, and this is serving me well.

Finally looked up Djorn's reference: http://ruudhein.com/daily-outcomes-template. Yes I have a daily template like this. "Today's Successful Outcome" I hadn't been thinking in precisely those terms, but my practice of visualizing the details of how I will carry out my projects does encompass the notion of expected result.

My daily review has a few parts to it:

Thanks to God for the day (and per Ruud maybe good to think specifics).

What I did today is already captured in a work log, but I take time to write in a journal what stood out as either success or flaw in my working, and part of that writing is usually ideas on how I might do better the next day.

I then put some hard data into Habit Bull: On a scale of 1-10:
What is my mood?
How much energy did I have?
How hard did I work?
How well did I eat?
How much did I accomplish?

It's also important how much sleep I got, and how much exercise I got, but these are tracked elsewhere.

So far I haven't gone back to review any of this data, yet I find the daily practice of going through these helps keep me aware of my habits and keep improving.

Confession: today i did not execute well. Like every system, it has its failings at the point where procedure meets flawed human.

Indeed that is the essential purpose of the daily review I follow. But thanks for the encouragement !

Since Mark posted the suggestion to structure a day like a school day, I am in the process of adapting this system accordingly. Now, rather than do all bunch of routines (primarily thought tasks) all at once, I am trying to split it up. I do some before I start work, then I dive into work bright and early. Then after an hour I take a short break for a little more of my planned routine. Details are still in flux.