It’s probably no surprise that I’m asked to coach and facilitate a lot of sessions around productivity and time mastery. What I’ve learned over the years is that this subject is a lot like golf. Golf is a game that you never really win, you just play. Some days you play really well, and some days you can even put the tee in the ground correctly. It’s on those challenging days that it’s crucial to commit to doing the things that you know will move the ball forward.

 

In the spirit of mastering the un-winnable game, as far as productivity and time management is concerned, it’s really about creating habits and routines that allow you to be successful more often than not. While there are no guarantees in this process, remember when it comes to time mastery, consistency is much more important than perfection. Doing those things that you know create value and help you manage your day consistently is a great start to being productive during the course of your days and weeks.

 

One way I’ve learned that helps me create consistently good results during my workdays is the “Win the Morning”

Winning the morning, is exactly what is sounds like. Think about those mornings when you have a perfect start to the day. You get up energized, you probably do something smart for yourself like eating a healthy breakfast or brewing that perfect cup of coffee. Then maybe you get in a quick workout, meditate, read something valuable, or simply take a few minutes to map a course for your day. By starting the day on your own terms, and setting some intention for what you plan to accomplish that day you have already started off ahead of the game.

 

I call this winning the morning. I know that if I win the morning which is something I usually have complete control over, then I have much better odds of actually winning my day. Remember this isn’t about perfection, it’s about consistency.

 

Do yourself a favor this week and script out what a perfect morning looks like in your world. What time do you wake up, what do you do in those first hours of the morning? What routines will help set you up for success? What routines will typically result in setting you up for failure?

 

We are all card counters at the casino with productivity and time mastery, let’s set some intention to win our mornings so we can tilt the house advantage to our favor.

 

Cheers to being productive and winning your mornings

 

 

 

Thoughts for the week:

 

Focus on being productive instead of being busy.- Tim Ferris

 

Have patience. All things in life are difficult before they become easy. -Saadi

 

What you do today can improve your tomorrows. -Unknown

 

You can’t get much done in life if you only work on days you feel good. –Jerry West

 

Time stays long enough for those who use it. -Leonardo Da Vinci