Sometimes the things that are best for you, aren’t the most enjoyable. That’s exactly how I’m feeling about my weekly and daily planning at the moment.
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It’s rare that I read an article and think – I wish I had written that. That’s exactly how I felt after reading Wise People Have Rules For Themselves by David Cain.
I agree with every single word.
It sounds odd to say ‘discipline equals freedom’ – but it does. It’s counter-intuitive. When you set rules for yourself that you know are good for you, it’s actually liberating. It’s a huge relief. You no longer have to flip flop between things that work, somewhat work and don’t work. You lean in towards what works for you. You live a life on your terms.
Five things that have helped me be effective at work in lockdown
June 25, 2020 in Focus, Life, Productivity, Work
Lockdown has been very challenging for me. It’s taken me much longer to adapt to working from home than I would have expected.
I’ve struggled with a lot of things – video call fatigue, work / life balance, focus and motivation – to name a few. If I’m honest, I lost my edge at times. I feel like I’ve had the least impact I’ve had over a three month period for a long time.
That said, over the last few weeks I’m getting into a much better place with it. I’ve been reflecting on what’s helped the most, and five things came to mind:
It started off easy, but it was about to get much harder.
I jumped on the assault airbike and got my first twenty calories done. I held a fast (ish) pace, which took about a minute.
Next up was Ella. She had fifteen calories to do, which also took about a minute. Whilst one of us worked, the other rested. So, we both worked for roughly a minute, followed by a minute of rest.
When I was younger, I felt invincible. I partied hard with friends almost every weekend. ‘Sleep is for losers’ I would tell people – ‘I only get 5 hours a night!’
I’d go to bed exhausted on a Sunday evening. But, on Monday I was always in the office at 6.00 am, preparing for the week ahead. And from 09.00am, I was straight into the flow of management meetings and execution.
I felt hungover and tired alot. But, I pushed through it and usually felt OK by Tuesday. I used to be proud that I could get away with burning the candle at both ends. Work hard, play hard right? Continue reading »
I spend roughly two hours each week planning my personal life – usually on a Sunday evening.
I start with reminding myself what’s important. Luckily, I don’t have to try and figure this out (that would take longer than two hours!). I’ve already spent a lot of time thinking about this, and have something I can refer to and review.
I made working on my mindset my number one priority – here’s what happened.
January 7, 2020 in Life, Mindset
About 18 months ago, I faced a cold, hard truth about myself – my mindset was holding me back.
I had this moment where it really clicked for me – this can’t go on. If I didn’t address it, I would be left with some serious regrets in life. I wrote about it here.
It might be the most important thing you ever have to figure out for yourself. How do you get important work done?
It’s the key to living a full, productive, happy and balanced life. When you don’t have this figured out, you end up doing a lot of things, but actually achieving very little.
I’ve settled on a couple of strategies for helping me get important work done. Before I share them, I want to talk about The Eisenhower Matrix. It’s one of the most powerful frameworks I’ve found to think about where you spend your time.
When I woke up this morning, I found myself worrying about where I was in life.
It’s been a chaotic few months. We had a family holiday in Yorkshire. We’ve been doing a major house renovation, where we had to move out for 6 weeks. We moved back in now, but we’re still living in a partial building site. My daughter Fearne started school. And, I’m holding down a fairly ‘full on’ job in London.
I’ve found it a struggle to get, and stay in my groove. My environment has been all over the place, which makes it hard to stick to my habits and routines. It’s a reminder that these habits and routines are the foundation for how I organise my life and get things done.
As I sat there worrying and beating myself up, I remembered two things – which helped knock me out of it.
I just finished reading Living with a Seal, and it was SO GOOD. Potentially life changing.
I’ve already sent a few copies to friends, and I’ve recommended it to more than ten people (this is very rare for me).
In how to win the battle with addictive behaviours, I outlined a three step process:
- Self awareness
- Do a Reset
- Decide the line
I think most people would assume the reset is the hardest step. I’m finding out that’s not the case.
We have lots of things in our lives, that it’s worth finding the right line for.
A few examples are alcohol, social media, caffeine, sugar, Netflix, screen time etc. The list goes on.
I spend a lot of time thinking about stuff like this. I’m ultimately trying to get to what the right level of consumption is for me.
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I haven’t made any for the last few years, and I failed to keep most of the ones I made before that.
Instead, I prefer to be thinking about this stuff in a different, and ongoing way (more about that at the end of this post).
That said, there is something about one year coming to a close, and another starting. It feels like a good time to take stock of where you’re at.
I’ve been doing that for the last couple of days, and wanted to share the process I’ve been going through.
I went for lunch, and all I did was eat lunch – it was hard and weird
November 3, 2018 in Focus, Life
I wonder about myself at times. Ella already thinks I’m weird, and shit like this really doesn’t help.
So, I’m walking to this restaurant by myself. And I’m thinking — I wonder if I can go in and just eat lunch. No phone, no kindle, no nothing. Just me and my lunch.
Social media: The one thing I did, which finally got it under control
October 29, 2018 in Focus, Life, Mindset, Productivity
I’ve tried almost every type of strategy to get my social media use under control. By under control, I mean managing the negatives, so that overall it’s a net positive in my life.
That is, until 3 weeks ago. I tried something new, and I’ve finally nailed it.
It’s hard to think of self education and development as anything but positive. If you’re not bettering yourself, you’re moving backwards right?
I’ve come to realise that self education and development can be both the key, but also the curse to a fulfilled life.
Three reasons morning routines don’t work (and how to stick to one you love)
August 30, 2018 in Focus, Life, Mindset, Productivity
Waking early and making good use of the early hours is the biggest life hack there is — no exception. It’s a competitive advantage that almost feels like you’re cheating. You’re getting stuff done whilst most other people are sleeping like babies!
But, it can be hard to find one you like doing and will stick to (these are linked).
In my experience, there are three things that are at the root of not sticking to a morning routine:
I’ve settled on a solid process for solving big problems in my life and I want to share it.
The first step to solving a big problem in your life is to take full responsibility for it. What does that mean? To start with, you need to commit to fully understanding the problem yourself – whatever it takes.
Goddamn double unders. They are a bitch to learn. I’ve spent the last couple of months working on them. Most of the time
I could only get 2 or 3 reps (repetitions) before the rope hit my leg. I sometimes got up to 10 – but it was a fluke occurrence. I couldn’t repeat it consistently. And then I’m back to 2 or 3 reps again. It was frustrating.
I’ve come across some really great content recently, and I wanted to share them.
Three documentaries, a book, a podcast, an article and a recipe. There’s something for everyone!