In yesterday’s post, Josh Davis, Ph.D. taught us the importance of being aware and seizing decision points. Today, the author of 2 Awesome Hours will share with us how to manage our mental energy as part of creating those two hours of peak performance on a daily basis.
Time management and productivity experts tell us that we should tackle the biggest priority first as there may not be time later on to get to it. Experts are partly right, says Davis. However, “Their advice misses an important element. Our mental energy is the fuel that drives us—or fails to drive us.”
Davis goes on to explain: “every task takes a mental toll on us; some even fatigue our minds. And perhaps every task elicits emotions that make that task and the ones that follow either harder or easier to do. While it would be nice to bring our A game to every task we tackle, there’s only so much of the right mental energy to go around… we’re much better off choosing what’s worth giving the right mental energy to and putting off, in strategic ways, those tasks on our to-do lists that get in the way.”
Decision making, planning, holding on to thoughts for a short time (while we need them), staying focused and self-control are among the mental activities that generate the most mental fatigue. This, in turn, reduces our ability to perform at our best.
The simple task of answering email, turns out, is quite taxing because it “involves making decisions, and sometimes complex ones: Should I reply? Do I have to respond now? If I write it this way instead of that way, will the person react well to my e-mail or be offended by it? Should I delete it or file it for future reference? Should I write a short response or forward it to someone else?” Argh! No wonder we get mentally exhausted if we spend hours on it. These seemingly small and inconsequential decisions do pile on.
There are several fascinating studies that have found out that willpower (self-control) is like a muscle. It starts fresh every morning, and after resisting many temptations—big and small—it fatigues throughout the day. That’s why most diets are broken in the evening, because the dieter’s self-control is fatigued from resisting yummy temptations all day long and finally gives in.
To ensure our brains are ready to perform at their best when we need them, we must understand the emotions that our tasks generate on us, and the effect this will have on the subsequent tasks. We must plan accordingly. “Being ‘on’ at the right moment matters so much [that] saying no to tasks that will get in the way of that is key to deciding what should get our attention.”
Since most tasks involve decision-making and self-control, we are bound to experience some mental fatigue. “The key to limiting mental fatigue is recognizing the work that is most likely to deplete your resources in a substantial way and, when you have any say in the matter, to simply not engage in that work before you want to be at your best.”
There are some activities that unavoidably will deplete us (dealing with a difficult client, repeated insistence from someone for us to do something, a dreaded and stressful meeting, confrontation, etc.), and some that fatigue us to a certain degree (switching tasks often, networking and small talk, sitting still for long periods, making cold calls, looking for errors and correcting them, planning, scheduling, deadlines), but avoiding them is not always possible, much less practical.
The good news is we don’t have to avoid them. “If we strategically choose the order in which we complete the various tasks on our to-do lists, we can carve out two awesome hours when our brains are not as fatigued and get some amazing things done.”
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: The author suggests four simple things you can try to avoid mental fatigue:
1. Complete your most important work first thing in the morning (before your brain has been depleted by hundreds of small decisions).
2. Label the tasks on your day “Important,” “Creative,” or “Other.” Schedule time later in the day to tackle the “Other” category, Knowing you’ve set aside time for this will ease your mind, and you won’t be stressed to tackle them early in the day when your mental reserves are full.
3. Try checking email for just one hour in the afternoon (to me, the mere idea of this, at first gave me hives! Now I love it). Not every day will allow for this. Try it once and see if this approach helps improve your focus on tasks that require problem solving or creativity during the rest of the day. For all you know, you may be pleasantly surprised with this solution, and you might be able to do this occasionally or even frequently. Tim Ferriss, life hacking guru and author of The 4-hour Workweek, checks his personal email once daily and his business email once every 7-10 days! His secret? Autoresponders. (Here’s a complementary post.)
4. Make a few decisions the night before a big day. Big or small, avoid making them on your big day as much as possible. By eliminating choice, you’ll be eliminating fatigue and you can focus your energy on what really matters that day.
Lastly, what to do if you are fatigued or overly emotional and need to recharge? Davis suggests breathing deeply and slowly, having a good laugh and/or taking a short nap.
Know someone who is constantly mentally exhausted? Please share this miniseries with that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
Over the next week I’m going to be taking a slightly different approach to the daily posts: so far, it’s been one idea per day from a different book, and while I have repeated a few books, the ideas are stand-alone, and it’s never been the same book back to back. Since the book that I’m reading now goes over five strategies on how to become more effective, and since we’re always looking at making the most out of our time and effort, I want to share all five ideas with you in sequence. Call this a miniseries of ideas, if you will. The miniseries will be coming to you in six posts: today’s plus the next five days. I hope you enjoy it and benefit from this, and I would love to hear from you on what you think of this miniseries approach!
In Two Awesome Hours, Josh Davis, Ph.D. says that we all fall into the efficiency trap one way or another. “Regardless of how high up the ladder we are, we typically respond to being overwhelmed by work in two ways. One is to force ourselves to stay on task without breaks in order to make the most efficient use of our days. The other is to work more hours…to make the most efficient use out of our weeks.”
The problem with that approach is that the underlying idea of “efficiency” doesn’t work. We’ve all tried to do more in less time and to forage for time by using any would-be down time to work (breaks, lunch, dinner with family, etc.). How has this worked for you? “Many of us feel stifled rather than accomplished at the end of the typical day,” says Davis.
The key to our productivity lies not in being efficient at doing more and to stop wasting time (seeing down time as a waste). What we need to do is understand how our brains and bodies work so as to become effective.
“Staying on task without a break and working longer hours are wonderful solutions for a computer or machine. [They] don’t get tired, so the quality of work is identical every time they are used.” We’re human, and a continual demand for one kind of work with a consistent level of effectiveness would be the equivalent or asking a runner to stay at the same speed under any circumstance: whether a sprint or a marathon, after pulling an all-nighter, after being hung-over, or after being well-fed and well-rested.
The idea that being biological creatures affects how we think and feel is called “embodied cognition.”(Cognition definition.) How many times have you felt tired and do not feel like working? Or how many times have you felt great and plowed through all your workload successfully with extra time at the end to go do something fun? That’s what embodied cognition means. Yes, your body influences your thoughts.
While we are not machines or computers and cannot sustain that level of efficiency, “each of us has a vast, untapped potential as a human that computers and machines do not have. And trying to be efficient all the time will block us from harnessing it.”
The author points to the example of doing ten thousand pushups. It would be a feat of Herculean strength to do them uninterrupted, but we’d have no problem doing a few pushups a day until we hit the 10K mark. My friend Josh Spodek has done more than 100,000 burpees since 2011 with his daily, ten-minute exercise routine!
“We may all be capable of impressive feats of comprehension, motivation, emotional control, problem solving, creativity and decision making when our biological systems are functioning optimally. But we can be terrible at those very same things when our biological systems are suboptimal. The amount of exercise and sleep we get and the food we eat can greatly influence these mental functions in the short term—even within hours.”
The key to being truly productive then, says Davis, is to “ditch efficiency and create, instead, the conditions for two awesome hours of effectiveness each day.”
Tomorrow I’ll share Davis’ first strategy to get this done.
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the many ways in which you have fallen into the “efficiency trap.” Do you go from task to task without breaks? Do you skip breakfast to leave in a hurry? Do you “fuel” your body with caffeine and sugar all day to keep you going? Where are you asking your brain and body to perform steadily and uninterrupted in an unrealistic way?
FUTURE: Keep reading this miniseries over the next few days to find out the five strategies that will help you create the environment for you to be awesomely effective!
If you know of someone who could benefit from reading this miniseries, please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
We’ve all heard of the circadian rhythm, which is the 24-hour cycle or body clock that tells us when to eat, when to sleep, when to wake up, etc. But few of us have heard about the 90-to-120-minute ultradian rhythm, which is a period or cycle that is repeated during a 24-hour day.
Throughout the day, your energy waxes and wanes, which is what Josh Kaufman calls Energy Cycles in his awesome book, The Personal MBA. “The implicit assumption of time management systems is that every hour is fungible—equivalent to any other. Nothing could be further from the truth: all people are created equal, but all hours are most definitely not. Throughout the day, your energy level naturally cycles up and down.”
Kaufman points to the ultradian rhythm as described in The Power of Full Engagement: managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance and personal renewal(yay, another addition to my reading list!) by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. “The ultradian rhythm influences bodily systems, controlling the flow of hormones throughout your body. When your energy is on an upswing, you’re capable of focusing deeply and getting a lot accomplished. When it’s on a downswing, all your mind and body want to do is rest and recover. There’s nothing abnormal about these changes in energy during the day, but we often act as though being on a downswing is somehow a problem that needs to be fixed.”
Most people resort to hacking a downswing with caffeine or sugar, but the truth is that taking a break is much better, and doing so is neither a sign or laziness or weakness, it’s simply human nature. Thus, Kaufman says that we need to pay attention and understand our natural Energy Cycles so that we can perform at our best in a consistent way over time.
In order to do this, he suggests four ways to work with our bodies instead of against them:
1. Learn Your Patterns. “Use a notebook or calendar to track how much energy you have during different parts of the day, as well as what you’re eating and drinking. If you do this for a few days, you’ll notice patterns in how your energy waxes and wanes, allowing you to plan your work accordingly.”
2. Maximize Your Peak Cycles. “When you’re in an up cycle, you’re capable of getting a lot accomplished, so plan your day to take advantage of that energy. […] Carve out a 3-4 hour block of [creative work… and] plan the most important meetings during the up cycle.”
3. Take a Break. “When you’re in a down cycle, it’s better to rest than attempt to power through it. Rest and recovery are not optional—if you don’t rest now, your body will force you to rest later, either by cycling down longer than usual or getting sick. During a down cycle, go for a walk, meditate, or take a 20-minute nap. Relaxing on the down cycle can restore your energy, allowing you to take full advantage of the next up cycle.”
4. Get Enough Sleep. “Sleep deprivation results in a prolonged down cycle, which gets in the way of getting things done.”
While none of these points are Earth-shattering and we somehow already were aware of them, Kaufman points on his webpage, “Useful advice often sounds boring, but acting on that advice can produce amazing results.”
TODAY: Carry a piece of paper with you all day and write down your energy levels. Notice the times you feel most energetic and the ones when you’re falling asleep or can’t concentrate. Notice the time(s) when you function best to tackle certain tasks.
FUTURE: Start adapting your schedule (if you are able to do so) to coincide with your ultradian rhythms. That way you’ll be as productive as possible during an upswing. And during a downswing you can fully rest and recover to be fully prepared and energetic to tackle on the next upswing.
Know someone who needs to learn about the ultradian rhythms? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
“The only purpose of starting is to finish,” writes Seth Godin in his remarkable book Linchpin. Finishing or shipping, as Godin calls it, “means hitting the publish button on your blog, showing a presentation to the sales team, answering the phone, selling the muffins, sending out your references. Shipping is the collision between your work and the outside world.”
But one of the things that makes shipping so difficult is thrashing. Thrashing is “the apparently productive brainstorming and tweaking we do for a project as it develops… sometimes thrashing is merely a tweak; other times it involves major surgery.”
Thrashing is essential; however, it’s the timing of the thrashing that can make or break a project. In the video below, Godin insists on thrashing early because that is when it’s easy and cheap. He is right. Professionals thrash early and then they get to work so as to ship with top quality and pride, respecting deadlines and other people’s time, and doing so within budget. It’s not a dream, it can be done.
The problem comes when people behave in an amateur way and do all the thrashing near the end. Godin continues, “the closer we get to shipping, the more people get involved, the more meetings we have, the more likely that CEO wants to be involved. And why not? What’s the point of getting involved early when you can’t see what’s already done and your work will probably be redone anyway? The point of getting everyone involved early is simple: thrash late and you won’t ship. Thrash late and you introduce bugs. Professional creators thrash early. The closer the project gets to completion, the fewer people see it and the fewer changes are permitted.”
Thrashing allowed at the end leads to missed deadlines, much stress, unnecessary changes, late nights, much heartache, frustration and resentment. Coordinating all the thrashing from teams of people that increasingly get larger as the deadline approaches is very difficult. “Projects stall as they trash. Nine women can’t have a baby in one month, no matter how closely they coordinate their work.”
So, what to do? Godin offers two solutions. Both will make people uncomfortable, yet they are the only way in which projects will be shipped on time and without the unnecessary heartache that too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen brings. Here they are:
1. “Relentlessly limit the number of people allowed to thrash. That means you need formal procedures for excluding people, even well-meaning people with authority. And you need secrecy. If you have a choice between being surprised (and watching a great project ship on time) or being involved (and participating in the late launch of a mediocre project), which do you want? You must pick one or the other.”
2. “Appoint one person to run it. Not to co-run it or to lead at task force or to be on the committee. One person, a human being, runs it. [His or] her name on it. [His or] her decisions.”
In the video, Godin tells the story of how his boss loved to show up the day before with “just a little suggestion” that led to a domino effect of changes resulting in missed deadlines. Godin’s solution was to adopt a disciplined approach: thrash at the beginning and allow people to share their input and ideas early on. Then, have the thrashers sign a form stating that they have given their input and that they will not provide further input or changes after a certain deadline. This allows the people who are working on the project the necessary time for completion and shipping.
ACTION
TODAY: Think of ways in which you can apply early thrashing to your projects. How can you also instill the discipline in your team of thrashing early and shipping on time?
FUTURE: As you encounter the start of new projects, think of the optimal time and way in which thrashing should take place. Should it be a meeting? Should it be one-on-one? Should it be via a form? Think also of the time when thrashing should come to an end. Don’t veer away from the discipline of thrashing early and having a cut off point. Then take the best ideas, incorporate them into the project and get to work so that you can ship the best possible project on time and on budget.
Know someone who needs to stop thrashing at the end of a project? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
I can’t take naps. Well, technically I can, but they always last between 3 and 5 hours with at least an additional 20-30 minutes to shake the grogginess and be fully awake. That rules them out of my regular life and leaves them either in the luxury category when I’m on vacation, or in the rescue category when I’m so sleep deprived that a nap is a preferred alternative to the state of zombieness.
Dan Pink, author of WHEN, had a similar dislike for naps: “when I’ve awoken from these slumbers, I usually feel woozy, wobbly and befuddled—shrouded in a haze of grogginess and enveloped in a larger cloud of shame.”
However, after doing research for his excellent book about timing, Pink changed his mind and became nap devotee. “Naps, research shows, confer two key benefits: They improve cognitive performance and they boost mental and physical health. […] The returns from napping extend beyond [alertness and] vigilance. An afternoon nap extends the brain’s capacity to learn… boosts short-term [and] associative memory… and improves our overall health.” (Hmmmm, I may try this after all, but clearly following Pink’s formula below, not mine…)
Pink found out that the so-called power naps—the ones that produce these great results—last anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes, no more. Once you wake up, you are fully rested and ready to take on where you left off. If you sleep longer, then sleep inertia (grogginess) kicks in and you’ll spend time trying to awaken your mind as Pink used to do: “splashing water on [his] face, shaking his upper body like a soaked golden retriever and searching desk drawers for candy to get some sugar into [his] system.”
There’s a further powerful secret that Pink shares from his research, and you can use it to boost your mental alertness by the time you wake up: caffeine. Most likely in the form of coffee. But it’s not coffee ingested after waking up, instead, it’s taken before your nap.
Whaaaaat?!
Yes. You read that right. Let me introduce you to the napuccino: “the coffee-then-nap combination [that] is the ideal technique for staving off sleepiness and increasing performance.” So, how does this work? “Since caffeine takes about twenty-five minutes to enter the bloodstream, [you get] a secondary boost… by the time [your] nap is ending [and you’re awaking].”
Pink offers five steps to take a perfect nap:
Find your afternoon low time. “You’ll likely see a consistent block of time when things begin to go south, which for many people is about 7 hours after waking. This is your optimal nap time.”
Create a peaceful environment. “Turn off your phone notifications. If you’ve got a door, close it. If you’ve got a couch, use it. To insulate yourself from sound and light, try earplugs or headphones and an eye mask.”
Down a cup of coffee. “Seriously. The most efficient nap is the nappuccino. If you’re not a coffee drinker, search online for an alternative drink that provides about two hundred milligrams of caffeine. (If you avoid caffeine, skip this step.)”
Set a timer on your phone for twenty-five minutes. “Since it takes most people about seven minutes to nod off, the twenty-five minute countdown clock is ideal. And, of course, when you wake up, the caffeine is beginning to kick in.”
Repeat consistently. “There’s some evidence that habitual nappers get more from their naps than infrequent nappers. So if you have the flexibility to take a regular afternoon nap, consider making it a common ritual. If you don’t have the flexibility, then pick days when you’re really dipping—when you haven’t gotten enough sleep the day before of the stress and demands of the day are weightier than usual. You’ll feel a difference.
Happy napping!
ACTION
TODAY: Try taking one of these power naps and see how it goes. Pay close attention to how you feel. Please let me know!
FUTURE: Give regular napping a shot. The research on the benefits of napping is astonishing. Give yourself the opportunity to try out this hidden gem for better health and cognition. I know I will. If it doesn’t work out for you, you can always leave it aside and go back to zero napping, but you may find a wonderful way to become more alert, productive and healthy.
Know someone who could use a nap? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
In his very charming style, Pink regaled us with the many stories, insights and research findings included in his book. Needless to say I got a copy, which I immediately started reading!
One of the things that he said during his talk is that we need to take more breaks. It specifically struck me the way he stated it: “professionals take breaks, amateurs don’t.” What he meant was that all of us who think that taking a break during the day is going to slow us down (I’m the first one here and so guilty of this—you can find me many times eating lunch at my desk to try to respond to a few more emails …) are not accomplishing as much as the professionals who have tested and proven to themselves that breaks are restorative to our mood and performance, replenish our energy and make us more productive.
But what kind of break should we take? In his book, Pink offers five kinds of restorative breaks:
Micro-breaks. “A replenishing break need not be lengthy. Even breaks that last a minute or less—what researchers call micro-breaks—can pay dividends.” You might want to consider giving your eyes a break from the computer screen every 20 min and focusing on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds (this is called the 20-20-20 rule). Or consider getting a very small water battle so that when it runs out frequently you can get up to refill it and that way you move, hydrate and take a micro-break. Or you can stand up and shake arms and legs, rotate your core and then sit down again.
Moving breaks. Since our lifestyle/work is quite sedentary, “build more movement into your breaks.” You can take a 5-min walk every hour, do office yoga poses at your desk, or sneak in a few push-ups.
Nature breaks. “Study after study has shown the replenishing effects of nature. What’s more, people consistently underestimate how much better nature makes them feel.” Walk in nature (say, a park) if you can, or simply go outside (if your place of work has a little green space with trees or lawn and a bench, “sit there instead of inside.” Remember the quote by Ramon Inmon: if you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”
Social breaks. “Don’t go it alone. At least not always. Social breaks are effective, especially when you decide the who and how.” Pink suggests calling someone and catching up for five or ten minutes, plan to walk regularly with some colleagues that you like, or don’t schedule it at all if your calendar won’t allow for it. “Buy someone a coffee one day this week. Bring it to her. Sit and talk about something other than work for five minutes.”
Mental gear-shifting breaks. “Our brains suffer fatigue just as much as our bodies do.” Pink recommends giving our brain a break by trying meditation (doesn’t have to be long, 3 minutes will do), controlled breathing (45 seconds) or lighten up by watching a funny video or listening to a funny podcast, etc.
ACTION
TODAY: Stop reading this now and go take a restorative break! 🙂
FUTURE: Build breaks into your schedule. As you saw, they don’t have to be lengthy, they just need to be powerful enough to take your mind off from what you are doing. Breaks also provide the bridge between a finished task and the beginning of the next. Build the habit of incorporating breaks into your schedule and soon you’ll be working like a pro!
Know someone who needs to take a break?Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 3: Mental Energy
To ensure our brains are ready to perform at their best when we need them, we must understand the emotions that our tasks generate on us, and the effect this will have on the subsequent tasks. We must plan accordingly. “Being ‘on’ at the right moment matters so much [that] saying no to tasks that will get in the way of that is key to deciding what should get our attention.”
