We’ve all had packed days where we bounced from one task to another for the duration of the day and were amazed by how much we’d accomplished by the day’s end.
Of course, we’ve also all had days where despite having no other obligations, we couldn’t even achieve our goal of heading to the gym.
Some of this is just natural variation. We’re all operating on our own personal rhythms. On some days, we can run faster or think more creatively than others.
Really though, the more we can optimize our lives to be in an “UP” state and pass through the lows quickly the better we’ll be. In this post I’d like to theorize that there are two main factors within our immediate control that influence whether a particular day will be productive or not for us.
Obligations Are Important
While the word obligation may have negative connotations, there’s actually no reason to fear putting obligations onto your own shoulders. Obligations are only a problem when they’re placed on us by others and they do not align with our own values or purpose.
The reason giving yourself obligations or setting constraints on your own behavior is valuable is due to the fact that you’re limiting your options. This isn’t a negative behavior. It’s actually one of the most useful things you can do for yourself.
Think of it this way; the more free time you have the more decisions you have to make about how you’re going to use your time. This taxes your willpower and eventually leads to decision fatigue.
In general, the more judgement calls you force yourself to make the poorer quality of decisions you’re likely to make. This is why many world-class entreprenuers like Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg were famous for wearing the exact same outfit everyday bloody day.
By premaking decisions or making “obligations” for yourself (gym at 9am, write a blog post between 10:00am and 11:30am), you can increase your overall decision quality.
While executing on decisions you’ve premade for yourself can be challenging, it’s at least easier than also having to make a decision on WHAT you’re going to do because at least you’ll have clarity on what the best use of your time is.
Purpose
Adding things to your todo list and giving yourself clarity on WHAT you specifically you’re planning to do on each given day is valuable but unfortunately it isn’t enough.
The other important aspect of using your free time effectively is purpose. You need to know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Hustling on your side business to set yourself up for financial independence and not having to work a job you hate is motivating.
On some days, however, it’ll be easy to rationalize to yourself that your job really isn’t that bad and that the suffering and challenges you face in building that side business are actually worse than those you encounter in your job. Sometimes you’ll feel that going to the gym isn’t worth losing your last few pounds of body fat.
Sometimes these doubts are warranted. Not everyone needs to build a billion dollar business or benchpress 350 pounds. Realistically, however, many of us give up on our goals too easily and our rationalizations are just an excuse for us to let up and stop striving so aggressively towards the life of our dreams.
Maximizing your free time, and your productive usage of time in general will require you to have a more compelling vision for yourself that extends beyond merely you. As Grant Cardone would say, you need to look at success as your obligation.
If you don’t get rich, your future family is going to miss out on some things. If you don’t become successful, you may not be able to get your parents the medical attention they deserve or take them on peaceful vacations in their golden years.
If you don’t become fit your children are less likely to take care of their bodies as they see the poor example you’ve set for them. Your future spouse is also more likely to wander or feel less deeply in love with you (hey man, love is ruthless).
By seeing success as your obligation and seeing all of the people that will be let down if your diddle your time away, you’re far less likely to waste large amounts of time.
Just having a compelling mission and believing success is your obligation isn’t enough, however. You also need to buy into what you’re capable of achieving. It doesn’t matter if you know that learning to program will increase the quality of your family’s life is you don’t believe you’ll actually be able to do it.
Yet, there’s no obvious switch you can turn to instantly increase the level you buy into yourself. What I would say, however, is that you’ll believe in yourself more as you acheive things on a small-scale.
Just keep hitting small milestones, and over time you’ll observe your self-trust and belief in your own abilities increases.