Recently, I have been testing a scheduled routine. Each morning, I set a schedule for the entire day around three things: work, reading & writing, and working out. I started doing this because I have too much time on my hands. As a startup founder, no one gives me a strict schedule. I set my own every day based on the priorities and tasks that need to be done.
This turns out to be harder than it sounds. A regular day can quickly become a long, continuous yet distracted session where I jump between work, YouTube, and reading.
Though the work gets done, this is inefficient. So, I decided to set strict timeboxes and give myself limited time to complete each task. After doing this for a few weeks, the results were positive: efficiency improved a lot (less time per task), while throughput stayed the same (tasks finished).
Beyond these metrics, I had more time away from work - to go for a walk, play with my cat, or simply think about other things. Overall, the quality of my daily life has gotten much better without sacrificing work productivity.
Some takeaways:
Time is like water: It is up to the owner to shape it. If you let it flow continuously, it will. Constraints enable you to shape time into the form you want and use it effectively.
The art of not doing is real: Our brain is a weird creature. It likes to do the opposite of what it is told. If you tell it not to think about an elephant, it will immediately think of one. The same goes for productivity. If you force yourself to walk away from work, your brain will want to do more.
Energy is like a battery: It has a daily capacity. You have to think of its use not as a marathon, but as a sprint. Create the right environment, then go all in each time. Timeboxing is an effective way to do this, allowing you to dive in and get stuff done.
Future-me is real: If one has a deadline to finish a task, one immediately unlocks the inner power to finish it within the given time. This is the “future-me” one relies on when procrastinating. This power is often hidden because one is not trained to bring it out and use it. Deadlines provide a way to experience that power. The more one uses it, the better one becomes at using it to one’s advantage.
Everyone has the power to become more productive and disciplined. It requires thoughtful curation of the environment and constant practice. Adding constraints is a simple yet massively effective way to boost daily productivity, get things done in less time, and spend more time on other meaningful parts of life.