Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - Nov. 30 Day Challenge

MariaG · 10-30-2008, 02:57 PM

I'm at a place in my life where I need to make a transition. That means that for a while, I will have to get quite a bit more productive. For the month of November, I'm going to concentrate on using the first hour of my workday to be extremely productive.*

What does extremely productive mean? Here a few things I'm committing to doing during my first hour:

No email/RSS reader/news or anything else that is considered internet browsing. If I have to use the internet for something, I'm going to set a time limit for myself using Get Back to Work as my homepage and trying to beat the limit.
Plan my tasks for the first hour. Most of the time I'll probably be working on 1 task for the first hour. However, if I have to accomplish many small tasks, I'll create a list ahead of time using Sandy. That way, I can have the list sent to me by SMS. No email checking. Alternatively, I may just write a list on paper.
Set a timer. I use a timer on my Google Desktop when at work. I have an egg timer for use at home.

I also realize that I'm going to have to do a lot more mental and physical preparation *before* my first work hour starts. For one thing, I'm going to have to actually get up when the alarm goes off! Also, I've learned that I need to get a small amount of exercise, do 5-10 minutes of meditation to focus myself, and get my green smoothie (and yes, my coffee) prepped for brain fuel. So really, I at least need to master the first 2 hours of my day! BTW, weekends are not exempt right now, as I'll need to get at *least* one solid hour of work done on Saturdays and Sundays to get closer to my goals.

I appreciate any encouragement or advice this great community can offer me. I'm not the most disciplined person in the world - I'm more of an ideas person!

- so this could be a tough one for me.

Here's to progress,
Maria

*For those who are interested, I got this idea from Eben Pagan, who explains it in this video.

10-30-2008, 02:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
MariaG Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 113	Nov. 30 Day Challenge - Mastering the First Hour I'm at a place in my life where I need to make a transition. That means that for a while, I will have to get quite a bit more productive. For the month of November, I'm going to concentrate on using the first hour of my workday to be extremely productive.* What does extremely productive mean? Here a few things I'm committing to doing during my first hour: No email/RSS reader/news or anything else that is considered internet browsing. If I have to use the internet for something, I'm going to set a time limit for myself using Get Back to Work as my homepage and trying to beat the limit. Plan my tasks for the first hour. Most of the time I'll probably be working on 1 task for the first hour. However, if I have to accomplish many small tasks, I'll create a list ahead of time using Sandy. That way, I can have the list sent to me by SMS. No email checking. Alternatively, I may just write a list on paper. Set a timer. I use a timer on my Google Desktop when at work. I have an egg timer for use at home. I also realize that I'm going to have to do a lot more mental and physical preparation before my first work hour starts. For one thing, I'm going to have to actually get up when the alarm goes off! Also, I've learned that I need to get a small amount of exercise, do 5-10 minutes of meditation to focus myself, and get my green smoothie (and yes, my coffee) prepped for brain fuel. So really, I at least need to master the first 2 hours of my day! BTW, weekends are not exempt right now, as I'll need to get at least one solid hour of work done on Saturdays and Sundays to get closer to my goals. I appreciate any encouragement or advice this great community can offer me. I'm not the most disciplined person in the world - I'm more of an ideas person! - so this could be a tough one for me. Here's to progress, Maria *For those who are interested, I got this idea from Eben Pagan, who explains it in this video. __________________ Make 2009 Great by Traveling By Your Inner Compass. Never the Same River Twice, because change happens.