Brief Summary
This video provides a step-by-step guide to redesigning your time to achieve your goals, treating it like a second job. It emphasises the importance of understanding your available time, energy levels, and potential distractions. The key takeaways include:
- Conducting a reality check to assess available time.
- Mapping your energy levels to schedule tasks effectively.
- Creating identity-based time anchors to maintain consistency.
- Prototyping your week to find the optimal schedule.
- Implementing guardrails to minimise distractions.
- Reflecting weekly to tweak and improve your time management strategy.
Step 1: Reality Check
The first step involves a reality check to determine how much time you genuinely have available to pursue your goals. This requires calculating the hours already committed to essential activities such as sleep (aim for at least eight hours), work, school, and commuting. Identify the time that is non-negotiable and cannot be used for other activities. The goal is to realistically assess the variable hours you have, providing a clear understanding of your available time for goal-oriented tasks.
Step 2: Energy Mapping
Energy mapping involves identifying your "cup fillers" (activities that energise you) and "cup drainers" (activities that deplete your energy). It's crucial to determine the specific hours when you experience high and low energy levels. Schedule new goals and challenging tasks during your high-energy periods, while mundane tasks like washing clothes or cooking should be reserved for low-energy times. Understanding your energy patterns ensures optimal task performance and prevents wasted energy, leading to greater consistency and success.
Step 3: Identity
This step focuses on creating identity-based time anchors, linking specific hours to desired identities rather than specific tasks. For example, instead of scheduling "gym on Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7 a.m.," designate that time as a "health hour." This approach allows for flexibility; if you cannot go to the gym, you can still engage in other health-related activities like meal prepping or juicing. By focusing on the identity you want to embody, you maintain consistency and purpose, even when specific tasks are not feasible.
Step 4: Prototype Your Week
Prototyping your week involves experimenting with different schedules to find the most effective one for achieving your goals. Try out two to three different prototypes for a week or two each, paying attention to your energy levels and overall feelings. Examples include dedicating early mornings to health, evenings after work to fitness, or weekends to deep work on business or skill development. This experimentation helps determine the optimal time for specific activities, ensuring better consistency and enjoyment.
Step 5: Guardrails & Good Friction
This step emphasises the importance of identifying and mitigating distractions to protect your designated time blocks. Determine what distracts you—whether it's your phone, other people, or specific places—and implement "guardrails" or "good friction" to minimise these disruptions. For example, put your phone on "do not disturb," work in a quiet environment like a library, or prepare meals in advance to avoid cooking during your goal-oriented hours. Addressing distractions is crucial for maintaining focus and achieving your goals.
Step 6: Weekly Reflection
Weekly reflection involves regularly assessing your progress and making necessary adjustments. Ask yourself three key questions: Did I protect my anchor hour, and how? Did I spend more time in reaction mode (putting out fires) or creation mode (building my future)? What am I going to tweak next week to improve? This reflection process helps you identify what's working, what's not, and how to refine your approach. It ensures continuous improvement and helps you stay on track towards achieving your dream life.
