Here’s how to win time….
I meant to start writing today’s email quite a bit earlier today.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to it.
I stuck my head down in a couple client projects, and started grinding it out. And I’ve only now looked up with too little time before I’m supposed to hit “send.”
And I think that’s going to be my life between now and Christmas.
Now, I fully intend to take a couple weeks off around Christmas. During which I’ll feature for you the top 10 articles of the year from Breakthrough Marketing Secrets.
But between then and now…
It’s full-on productivity mode…
It’s exhausting, but it feels great.
And I think, if you want to be successful in your business and in your life, you have to know how to turn this on.
It’s not a state of mind that you can be in all the time.
It’s something close to fight-or-flight.
If we were in that mode all day, every day, we’d pop. Our minds and bodies can’t handle it.
But alternating between periods of heavy work and rest works. It works in exercise — it’s the basis of interval training. And it works in work.
And when you are in this mode — “grind it out” mode — you can get a lot done.
I do it every day — for a short stint — with my Breakthrough Marketing Secrets email.
I sometimes do it for hours on end with client work, or my own. In the depths of a sales letter, thrusting myself forward until the finish.
Often, these periods of hyper-productivity can yield as much work in a few hours as your moderately-productive time yields in a week.
And here’s some good news…
Just like you can train your muscles and cardio system for interval training, you can train your mind and work output for hyper-productivity.
Here’s a few tips, before I sign off for the weekend.
1. Set a deadline. You may hate deadlines — many creative folks do. But they’re how work gets done. The better you are at setting and keeping deadlines, the more productive you’ll be.
2. Get a kitchen timer. This is the old Eugene Schwartz trick. He’d set his timer for 33:33. Dean Jackson sets his for 50:00. I wouldn’t do more than that. Set the timer, and while it’s running, only focus on the one task you’re supposed to be doing. When the timer goes off, take a 10-minute break. And then set the timer again.
3. Eat right. What you eat has a huge impact on how your brain is working. You know which foods bring you down, and which give you good energy. Pay attention. And when it’s time to be productive, definitely avoid foods that bring you down, or spike your energy and crash it. I also try to eat less in general during hyper-productivity, because eating sends blood to your stomach and away from your brain.
4. Get your blood pumping. Raise your hands in the air. Stretch. Walk. Do jumping jacks. Work at a standing desk. Do a quick set of intervals with your kettlebell. Do SOMETHING to get your blood pumping. It’s good for your body. It’s good for your brain. And it helps you be more productive.
5. Set the mood. I can’t work with music with lyrics. Music without lyrics, or silence work best. Also, I sometimes listen to white noise, or binaural beats audio (look it up). I have a full-spectrum compact fluorescent light bulb shining on me from the ceiling fixture. I have a space heater to keep my basement office at a comfortable temperature this time of year. All of these things create a better atmosphere for me to work.
6. Ignore distractions. Shut down email if you have to. Hide your smart phone. Put a “do not disturb” sign on the door. Tell your loved ones you can’t wait to talk to them and spend time with them AFTER you’re done working. Minimize, eliminate, and ignore distractions. A one-minute distraction often has 20 minutes of recovery time. So no, you don’t “gotta minute.”
7. Just do it. When it comes down to it, this is the most powerful thing you can do. For productivity. For business. For life. Just do what you know you need to do. And do it now.
That’s it for now. Have a safe and happy weekend.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
