Joe Sanok, the author of Thursday is the New Friday – a book about taking control of your workload by having a four-day work week – believes they can! A private consultant and podcast host, he says that short ‘productivity sprints’ are much more effective than to-do lists and long-term plans that span many years. Here are his recommendations for making the most out of your time:
Replace your to-do list with time blocking. Instead of just listing all the things you need to do in the foreseeable future on a piece of paper, put those tasks on your calendar and block off the exact amount of time for each of them. If the task is not done when the time runs out, block off more time for it the next day / week / month (depending on urgency) and move on to the next item on your calendar. The time blocking technique is something productivity gurus swear by and it’s widely known that Elon Musk and other successful people use it on a daily basis.
Joe Sanok mentions several types of ‘sprinters’ and by figuring out which one are you, you’ll be able to accomplish more in a shorter period of time. For example, a ‘task switch’ sprinter needs to have variety, so should be blocking off shorter periods of time and do something new and different every time; the ‘automated sprinter’ works best having the same time of the day or week blocked for the same type of task, etc.
Forget five-year plans, focus on here and now. A year is as far ahead as Joe Sanok suggests to plan. Even better if you strategise in shorter, six-months periods of time. That allows you to focus on the most important, urgent goals, rather than trying to work towards a very broad picture that in five years would look very different from what you’ve originally imagined anyway.
Get in the flow. Another interesting piece of advice is to create a specific environment for specific types of tasks. Perhaps, adjust your lightning based on what you’re doing or switch to a different playlist. Creating a familiar environment for specific types of work will help your body and mind recognise what’s expected of them easier and will get you in work mode quicker.
Actually do the work! Probably the most obvious but also the most important reminder – when you allocate time on your calendar for a specific task, make sure you’re actually doing this task and not checking your emails every two minutes or making phone calls that might be as important but weren’t planned for this exact moment.