Work work work. We schedule 10-hour and 12-hour work days because it makes us feel productive, accomplished and important. Well, I just started reading the book The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris and it is changing my entire view on productivity.
The reason most of us keep ideas in our head instead of executing them is because we think we don't have the time. Maybe you want to start a business, but you've said you don't have the time. Or you really want to write a book, but have told yourself, you don't have the time. Even I said, I want to start a blog, but the time was just not there.
The truth is not that we don't have time. The truth is that we are unfocused and distracted. Don't believe me? What used to take me a full-day to complete, took me a couple of hours today. Why? I delegated. I wrote out a full to-do list last night, I stayed off of social media (okay I cheated twice), and I just focused on my work. That was it!
When we look at news sites, social media, check email every second, it is almost impossible to be efficient. As a matter of fact all of these things start to creep into our subconscious making us anxious or nervous about the task at hand. It's unproductive.
My suggestion for just one day:
Take your mental to-do list for the entire week and write it down. Challenge yourself to complete the entire to-do list for the week in 1 day. Now, challenge yourself to get it done or have it be in-progress by noon that day.
When you do this, turn your phone on silent, no alarms, no emails, no social media, no web surfing. No wondering. Just work.
Let me know how it turns out. I want to hear how it turns out. Your life is about to change. Trust me.
Brandice Daniel has worked as a business consultant for the Harlem Business Alliance as well as conducted multiple speaking engagements throughout New York. She has been featured in New York Times, Essence.com, NY Daily News, NBC NY, Huffington Post, and BET 106 and Park for her work with Harlem's Fashion Row.