Three Minutes That Saves You Three Hours
I wake up every morning at 4am.
And before I know it, it’s 7am.
At 7am I take stock of what I’ve done
Some days I’ll whistle through two or three articles, answer questions on the 5000bc forum, post on this blog, and even go through chunks of email, and sometimes I even have time to jump on Facebook and Twitter.
But some days are just crappy days
I’ll start at 4am, and before I know it, the hours have whizzed away, and I’ve done little of the above. And the simple reason for that is the three minute concept.
If I spend three minutes the night before planning for 4am, I get everything done, and in the sequence I’ve planned. If I don’t spend the three minutes, I start off with Facebook, or email. Or Twitter sends me on some bizarre link, and now I’m already three hours behind.
Notice one important fact
When I start the day with the tough tasks and ease to Twitter, I get the tough tasks AND Twitter done. When I start with Twitter, it shows that I’ve got no plan in place. And that’s important. If you start with flaky stuff in the morning, it’s because you haven’t planned at all. And if you haven’t planned, then you’re really, really lucky if you achieve anything at all.
Most people tell me they have no time.
To me that sounds like they have no plan.
P.S. If you haven’t read the Brain Audit, at least check out the testimonials. There are 800 testimonials for the Brain Audit alone (though not all on this page). Have a look at http://www.psychotactics.com/brainaudit
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March 3rd, 2009 at 5:38 am
There’s power in this one, Sean, much more than people realize. Some heavy machinery work goes in while sleeping, and when the brain knows its next task, it forms connections around that before you even wake up. This is what can make those first hours so magically productive.
There are times when planning ahead isn’t enough, either. The waking state is not totally predictable. I use a very simple trick to help me across the sleep threshold and into productivity. I call it a “trigger card.” I write a message to myself and place it next to the bed where it is the first thing I’ll see. Usually it’s a friendly pep-talk with a benefit. (”Hi bright eyes! Are you smiling? You’re about to have an amazing day.” Or something like that.) Works great!
Funny brain.
Cheers,
Suzanna
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Yes there is, and what a great comment you’ve made too.
And of course, I had to go and see your website once you described yourself as ‘bright eyes.’ And the website photo didn’t disappoint
March 18th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] Perhaps one of the best examples of this is planning your day’s work the night before. Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics summed it up brilliantly (I must say) in his blog post Three Minutes That Save Three Hours. [...]
March 29th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo
April 8th, 2009 at 6:34 am
Hello !
My name is Piter Kokoniz. oOnly want to tell, that I’v found your blog very interesting
And want to ask you: will you continue to post in this blog in future?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Thank you:)
Your Piter
April 15th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
The topic is quite trendy in the net right now. What do you pay the most attention to while choosing what to write ?
April 25th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I don’t pay attention to anything in particular.
I usually write answers to people’s questions.
And you can find questions on forums, in email or blogs.