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I started with the best of intentions. I walked into my office in the morning with a vague sense of what I wanted to accomplish. Then I sat down, turned on my computer, and checked my email. Two hours later, after fighting several fires, solving other people’s problems, and dealing with whatever happened to be thrown at me through my computer and phone, I could hardly remember what I had set out to accomplish when I’d first turned on my computer. I’d been ambushed. And I know better.
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When I teach time management, I always start with the same question: How many of you have too much time and not enough to do in it? In ten years, no one has ever raised a hand.
That means we start every day knowing we’re not going to get it all done. So how we spend our time is a key strategic decision. That’s why it’s a good idea—as we’ve seen in the last few chapters—to plan ahead, to create a to-do list and an ignore list, and to use our calendars. The hardest attention to focus is our own.
But even with those lists, the challenge, as always, is execution. How can we stick to a plan when so many things threaten to derail it? How can we focus on a few important things when so many things require our attention?
We need a trick.
The late Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru, knew all about tricks; he’s famous for handcuffing himself and then swimming a mile or more while towing large boats filled with people. But he was more than just a showman. He invented several exercise machines, including the ones with pulleys and weight selectors in health clubs throughout the world. And his show, The Jack LaLanne Show, was the longest-running television fitness program, on the air for thirty-four years.
But none of that is what impresses me. He had one trick that I believe was his real secret power.
Ritual.
Right up until his death at the age of ninety-six, he spent the first two hours of every day exercising. Ninety minutes lifting weights and thirty minutes swimming or walking. Every morning. That ritual enabled him to achieve his goals of staying fit, healthy, and strong. His eleventh book, published when he was ninety-five, was titled Live Young Forever.
So he worked, consistently and deliberately, toward his goals. He did the same things day in and day out. He cared about his fitness, and he built it into his schedule.
Managing our day needs to become a ritual, too. A ritual that’s simple enough to do each day. Clear enough to keep us focused on our priorities. Efficient enough to not get in the way. And comprehensive enough to incorporate what we’ve learned in the last few chapters about what works, and what doesn’t.
That ritual should take a total of 18 minutes a day:
STEP 1 (5 Minutes): Your Morning Minutes. This is your opportunity to plan ahead. Before turning on your computer, sit down with the to-do list you created in chapter 22, “Bird by Bird,” and decide what will make this day highly successful. What can you realistically accomplish that will further your focus for the year and allow you to leave at the end of the day feeling that you’ve been productive and successful? Then take those things off your to-do list and schedule them into your calendar, as we discussed in chapter 24, “When Tomorrow?” And don’t neglect chapter 25, “The Three-Day Rule”: Make sure that anything that’s been on your list for three days gets a slot somewhere in your calendar or move it off the list.
STEP 2 (1 Minute Every Hour): Refocus. Now, remember chapter 26, “Who Are You?” Set your watch, phone, or computer to ring every hour and start the work that’s listed on your calendar. When you hear the beep, take a deep breath and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively. Then look at your calendar and deliberately recommit to how you are going to use the next hour. Manage your day hour by hour. Don’t let the hours manage you.
STEP 3 (5 Minutes): Your Evening Minutes. At the end of your day, shut off your computer and review how the day went, asking yourself the three sets of questions listed in chapter 27, “It’s Amazing What You Find When You Look.” Questions like: How did the day go? What did I learn about myself? Is there anyone I need to update? Shoot off a couple of emails or calls to make sure you’ve communicated with the people you need to contact.
The power of ritual is in its predictability. If you do the same thing in the same way over and over again, the outcome is predictable. In the case of 18 minutes, you’ll get the right things done.
This particular ritual may not help you swim the English Channel while towing a cruise ship with your hands tied together. But it may just help you leave the office feeling productive and successful.
And at the end of the day, isn’t that a higher priority?
Just 18 minutes a day can save you hours of inefficiency. The trick is to choose your focus deliberately and wisely, and then consistently remind yourself of that focus throughout the day.
