Make a single-tasking plan

The best one for you depends entirely on your working style and personal preferences.

You can use a physical notebook around everywhere you go, but it's easier to use a to-do list app or tool that syncs across all your devices. That way, you can access your to-do items whenever and wherever you need to, whether you're at your desk, in a meeting, or on a business trip.

Write out your to-do list the day before:

• You'll free your time to dive right into your to-do list in the morning - one of the most productive times of day.
• It can help you spot obstacles ahead of time and prepare accordingly.
• Knowing what you have going on well in advance could help you relax and sleep better the night before.

When you focus on developing systems and work every day, your work compounds over time, developing exponential growth. 

The more advantages you create, the more your next advantages pay off. A 1% gain every day compounds to almost 38x increase over a year.

Systems are the best way to progress since they reward effort and we control all the variables. However, we need to have a sense of direction in those efforts, to know what we are trying to accomplish. 

Writing daily with no objective is just practice. If you want to achieve something, you need to commit to a certain output, like publishing a post on your blog weekly. At the end of the day, a system is a way to control how to achieve an output.

Taking on additional tasks simultaneously can destroy up to 80% of your productive time:

• Focusing on one task at a time = 100% of your productive time available.
• Juggling two tasks at a time = 40% of your productive time for each and 20% lost to context switching.
• Juggling three tasks at a time = 20% of your productive time for each and 40% lost to context switching.

• Large chunks of focused “flow” time for more demanding projects.
• “Themed” days to reduce the need to recalibrate between different tasks.
• Advanced planning so you can prioritize meaningful work.
• Realistic time set aside for admin, communication, and meetings.
• Clear expectations for your teammates so they know when not to interrupt you.

Productivity is directly related to your energy level.

Find your most productive hours — the time of your peak energy — and schedule Deep Work for those periods. Do low-value and low-energy tasks (also known as shallow work), such as responding to emails or unimportant meetings, in between those hours.

Before going to bed, spend 5 minutes writing your to-do list for the next day. These tasks should help you move towards your professional and personal goals.

You’ll be better prepared mentally for the challenges ahead before waking up and there won’t be any room for procrastination in the morning. As a result, you’ll work faster and smoother than ever before.

• The processes, policies, and busy work gets in the way.
• Most jobs don’t have a clear goal.
• Feedback can be inadequate.
• The pace of work has increased, and it’s hard for people to spend time thinking deeply.
• Your skills aren’t well matched to the challenges you are allowed to pursue.
• There’s a lack of control over interruptions or when and how you work.
• The job doesn’t push you out of your comfort zone.

... to push your mind beyond its comfort zone. Flow happens when we get a bit out of our comfort zone. Too much, and you get anxious; Too little and you get bored.

You need to know your physical or emotional limitations and consciously push past them.

• Keep your status Busy or Don’t disturb or Out of Office on office chats.
• Using earplugs can block out distractions.
• Convey politely yet firmly your work policies to your colleagues.
• Allow yourself some chit-chat time so that you don’t miss out on socializing and stick to it religiously.

Factor in these while planning your work day:

• Your weaknesses - do you procrastinate when there is a tough task at hand?
• Your limitations - do you have to be home early to take care of your kids?
• Your strengths - are you more productive when under pressure?
• Your habits - are you a morning person?

If the effort to keep remembering a task is more than just getting it out of the way now, then do it.

• Fixing things is empowering. Our confidence increases or decreases based on our ability to make progress. 
• Any progress builds momentum (and your mood): No matter how small the task is, crossing it off your to-do list gives you a boost of momentum and enhances your mood.
• Small steps turn into habits: When a task is easy to do and quickly completed, it’s much easier to turn it into a habit.

• Fear of success usually doesn’t mean a literal fear of success. People fear the results and consequences of making lots of money, for example, not the money itself.
• Fear of success is often learned at a young age.
• Fear of success is maintained (and made worse) by avoidance.
• Fear of success is painful. It brings a lot of anxiety.
• Most people who are afraid of success are embarrassed by their fear.

• Validate your fear of success by understanding its origins.
• Track your avoidance strategies related to fear of success.
• Face your fears of success (the smart way).
• Get professional help from a cognitive behavioral therapist.

We’re naturally more energetic and motivated at specific times of the day. Researchers call this our Circadian Rhythm. Every person’s rhythm is slightly different, but the majority follow a similar pattern.

• Waking up. Our energy levels start to naturally rise.
• Around 10 am. We’ve hit our peak concentration levels that start to decline and dip between 1-3 pm.
• Afternoon.  Our energy levels rise again until falling off again sometime between 9–11 pm.

We work best in natural cycles of 90-120 minute sessions before needing a break. When we need a break, our bodies send us signals, such as becoming hungry, sleepy, fidgeting, or losing focus.

If you ignore these signs and think you can just work through them, your body uses your reserve stores of energy to keep up. It means releasing stress hormones to give an extra kick of energy.