I’ve been searching for ways to get more focused and efficient with my time… Here’s one simple productivity trick I’ve discovered:
I spent most of my 20s having zero respect for my own time. I would accept every meeting request, take every call, and attend every function. There was a plus side to this—saying “yes” to a lot of things expands your luck surface area. But in my 30s, it no longer makes sense…
I began to realize I needed to push for efficiency, leverage, and focus. This would mean saying no more often. The problem? Identifying what to cut and what to prioritize in a schedule can be really challenging. Here’s the tactical method I developed that helped me do it:
At the end of every weekday, I color-code my calendar from the day that just finished. Green = Flow Orange = Productive Yellow = Neutral Red = Time Waster I don’t spend too much time thinking about which bucket each item fell into—I try to trust my gut. An example day:
At the end of the week, I look at my calendar in the aggregate and ask a few questions: What are the flow state activities to be prioritized? What are the time waste activities to be deleted? What are the productive and neutral activities to be upgraded or delegated?
I’m looking for specifics & trends. The goal is to learn from the prior week and use that new information to inform decisions about my schedule in the weeks ahead. The ultimate goal: • Most hours in Green • Some hours in Orange • Delegate hours in Yellow • Zero hours in Red
I found that after a few weeks of doing this, it became second nature to prioritize my time in this manner. This simple trick has allowed me to spend more time in my flow—more time leveraging my unique edge and playing my games, not theirs. I’d encourage you to give it a shot!
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