04 Mar Tomorrow’s Perfect Day – Wake up Productive
As we all begin the start of month number three in 2016, ask yourself the question “How productive am I”? Time management techniques have been rehashed again and again, but productivity starts with planning your perfect day in advance.
Productivity starts as soon as we wake up. Do you have a specific routine (written out as a reference) that you follow every single day? If not, consider creating a simple plan prior to the start of your day.
There are numerous studies outlining the benefits of Ben Franklin’s famous quote: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man, healthy, wealthy and wise.” It’s not that you have to get up at 4 AM, (there are amazing things that have occurred in history at 4AM and highly recommend you Google “4AM”), but clearly getting the day started earlier will help your productivity.
Like anything else in life, building routines take a bit of time (30 days seems to be best – establishing habits and making significant life changes). Everyone defines a successful day in their own terms, but consider establishing a new routine for the month of March and see what might happen to your productivity levels (work, family, exercise, volunteering, etc.)
Write out your Perfect Day. Grab a journal or sheet of paper and write down the details of a productive day and use it as a guide to build your routine. If you stick with it for 30 days – you will change.
My Morning – Example
4:00AM – Wake up – immediately drink 25 oz. of ice water (helps with clearing the head and rehydration). Absolutely no checking of emails, social media and IPhone!
Deep breathing exercise (belly breathing, hold breath and then exhale)
4:15 AM – Eat a balance of protein and clean carbohydrates to get the day going (typical is a small chicken breast and bean or lentil salad – not the typical breakfast, but who ever said we can’t eat the common dinner or lunch food items for breakfast). Always have 1 cup of coffee and take Omega 3 and daily vitamins
4:30AM – 5:00AM – Write in my journal (write my yearly goals) and review the 3 Major items that must be completed for goals. Review my Personal Life Principals (on my laminated card)
5:15AM -5:45AM – Mindfulness session (check out www.headspace.com – great app and track your progress with
5:45AM – 6:30AM – Read current book (fiction and non-fiction)
6:30AM-8:00AM – Workout and post recovery drink and small meal – slow carb.
The full workday begins at 8AM and the key focus is planning on accomplishing my “Big 3” tasks for the day. Meetings, lunch, a few 10 minute breaks, use of walking every 30 minutes if I have been sitting, focus on being present many times during the day, etc.
5:30PM-6:00PM – Recap the day and if no client meetings then follow up short workout, dinner with my wife.
Evening hours before bed routine:
- 1. Review my goal list and speak them out loud along with my Personal Principal statements.
- 2. Write normally 500-1,000 words
- 3. Light reading
- 4. Visualize briefly
Building a consistent routine and no matter what distractions occur with family, traveling, work stress, etc. will help productivity levels over time. Like anything else sticking to a routine is where it becomes difficult but if you build the discipline into your life – it will CHANGE your life.
Who is Wayne:
Wayne is a man of great passion who has spent a lifetime devoted to pursuing and achieving every goal he has set out to accomplish. Plenty of failures of course, but Wayne always pushes forward through a disciplined approach to the next opportunity with a mindset of intentionally adding value to people.
Growing up, he learned from his parents something very important: set big goals and work your butt off to achieve them! His parents always said, Wayne beats to his own drum and will always come up with something off the wall.”
They were right. As an “adventure entrepreneur”, author, speaker and athlete, that’s his personality and he always believes in the virtue of trying something new and with “fearless exploration”.
“If your friends and family don’t say the words ‘No Way, You’re Crazy’ about your goals then you have not made them big enough”. Wayne Kurtz
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