What would you do with an extra 10 hours a week? Would you engage in professional development? Spend more time marketing your business? Pick up a hobby? Get a massage? Take a day off? Do nothing? If you can imagine that but have no clue how to make it happen, then stick with us as we break down a simple formula that will help you explode your productivity AND improve your work habits.
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Your Perfect Hour Bundle
Your Most Important Assets
[Theresa] I remember when the thought of having some extra time was a dream. Back then, “extra time” meant not having to go back to work after dinner or taking a few hours off on a weekend. So the idea of creating 10 or more free hours during the workweek seemed hopeless.
But as I learned how to work more effectively and efficiently in my business, while also improving my work habits, what seemed impossible became possible. What made the biggest difference was the epiphany that there were two assets I was not using wisely.
Those assets are time and attention.
[Meghan] How you use your time and focus your attention directly impacts the quantity and quality of the work you accomplish. And, yes, you need both of those resources to work together in order to optimize your productivity.
But the work habits you’ve created also have consequences. If you’ve created good habits, it will be significantly easier to use time and attention more effectively. If you have bad habits, it can be more challenging.
[Theresa] Right. The good news is that it’s not impossible to create better work habits that will support your work efforts in a positive way.
We’ve said it before, but the first step to making lasting change is awareness. Once you admit that there’s a problem, you can then make a choice to change it.
It can be tricky to change your habits though. You don’t get up one day, decide to be different, and change is instantaneous. Changing your behavior takes persistence, patience, and a little grace.
[Meghan] But we’ve got you. Today we are sharing a strategy that will pull double duty. It will:
Help you maximize your time and focus your attention so that you are getting work done in a timely manner
Provide you with a structure that, when practiced, leads to more efficient, productive work habits
And that means you’ll be able to get to those marketing tactics you’ve been putting off! You may even free up enough time to do something fun, imagine that?!
Your Most Productive Hour Ever
[Theresa] That’s right. The strategy is called Your Perfect Hour. This is a formula I devised to help me break down work tasks so that I could get them done easily with less distraction.
Your Perfect Hour is designed to help you focus one hour at a time. The formula supports leveraging a single hour by employing your time and attention in a more laser-focused way.
Before we dive deeper into this method, let’s address the elephant in the room.
You might be thinking that one hour doesn’t sound like a lot of time. And you’d be right. However, the issue you’re having isn’t really with time itself. It’s how you’re using the time you have.
One hour of intentional, focused work is worth more than a day filled with distraction and other people’s priorities.
[Meghan] Yes. When a task is overwhelming, it helps to break it down into smaller tasks. The same concept holds true for your time.
By working in one-hour segments, you:
- Create better work habits
- Are less likely to procrastinate
- Reduce overwhelm
- Have less resistance
- Minimize distraction
[Theresa] Distraction alone is a big problem. We’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Research shows that the average person spends 2.1 hours every day in distraction. Then, it can take more than 23 minutes to refocus your attention.
[Meghan] Add all that up and you’ve got lots of wasted time. And you know I can’t stand wasting time.
With distraction and wasted time eating up your days, it’s no wonder you don’t get things done. Or, worse—you get the wrong things done!
Nobody wants that.
The “Your Perfect Hour” Structure
[Theresa] I sure don’t. If you’ve been struggling with using your time and attention proficiently, then Your Perfect Hour is the solution. It works because it helps you create the right structure and process so that you can concentrate and get any given task over the finish line.
That’s a huge win in my book.
Your Perfect Hour utilizes the Pomodoro Technique. We shared this technique in our episode where we broke down how to plan your day. So, we won’t go deep into it here.
In case you need a refresher, the traditional Pomodoro Technique breaks down your hour as follows:
25m work + 5m break + 25m work + 5m break
But this breakdown also works well:
5m prep + 25m work + 5m break + 25m work
[Meghan] You can be so productive when you use this method.
At first, it’s best to assign one task to each 25-minute work block. Then, after more practice, you’ll learn how much time you need to dedicate to the tasks you’re working on.
[Theresa] In addition to getting work done, you’ll build better work habits as a result of applying a technique like this. It’s a double threat!
Your Perfect Hour performs double duty: getting work done while building better work habits.
Next, we’re going to break down the 3-step formula that will help you have your most productive hour ever. However, you may be wondering what to do when you plan to work for longer than one hour.
[Meghan] It’s simple. When you have bigger projects, just stack Your Perfect Hours together.
You’ll use the same structure for each hour. However, after every third hour, you’ll take a longer break.
For example, you may stack three hours from 9 am to 12 pm. Then, instead of a five-minute break, you’ll take a 25-minute break. Or, even an hour for lunch.
The structure of the Pomodoro Technique provides the container for how you’ll do work. But it’s not enough by itself. You also need to set the right circumstances.
3-Steps to Creating Better Work Habits
[Theresa] While Your Perfect Hour follows the structure of the Pomodoro Technique in regards to time, the process for Your Perfect Hour consists of the three steps to help you use that time in the best way possible.
Step 1: Create Your Plan of Attack in Advance
Step #1 is to create your plan of attack in advance. In other words, you have to know what you want to accomplish before you sit down to work.
And yet, you often don’t.
Before I created this strategy, I’d sit down to work not having any idea what I wanted to achieve. This would help me get—you guessed it—a whole lotta nothing done.
[Meghan] Yeah, having goals and identifying your tasks are super important.
By the way, it’s equally as important not to overestimate what you can complete in a work block. Sitting down to work Your Perfect Hour with too many tasks can backfire. As an overachiever, I can attest to this!
It’s important not to overestimate how much you can accomplish during a work block. Sitting down to work Your Perfect Hour with too many tasks can backfire.
Cramming too much work into a small time frame sets you up for failure. In the beginning, it’s best to have time left over rather than be left with incomplete work.
[Theresa] You may be wondering what to do if a task is going to take longer than an hour? In those instances, we suggest breaking that task down into smaller steps.
And, because I can’t help myself, I’ll add that if you’ve not yet set any goals for your business for this quarter, use Your Perfect Hour to create them.
But, the point here is to plan ahead, so you use your time wisely. You shouldn’t waste Your Perfect Hour wondering what to do.
[Meghan] When you know exactly what you are going to focus on and how it’s moving you towards your goals, you become a productivity powerhouse.
Step 2: Set the Stage
[Theresa] Step #2 is to set the stage. Knowing what you want to accomplish during Your Perfect Hour isn’t enough.
You need to “set the stage” by creating what I like to call your Distraction Free Zone. The purpose of this zone is to support the right circumstances that will help you focus your attention.
To create your Distraction Free Zone:
- Choose a location that works for you
- Turn off your phone
- Turn off all notification
- Only open programs, websites and documents you need for the task you’ll be working on
- Keep materials you need at an arm’s length
- Communicate with people in your home or office so they know not to disturb you
[Meghan] Your Distraction Free Zone should remove as many temptations as possible, like your cell phone, social media, and even your beckoning refrigerator.
Every time you prepare your zone for work, you’re reinforcing new work habits that will improve your efficiency and effectiveness. In other words, you’ll be more productive.
Step 3: Take Focused Action
[Theresa] Finally, step #3 is to take focused action.
Taking focused action is key to achieving Your Perfect Hour. This is where the Pomodoro Technique is invaluable.
When you’re giving extreme focus to one task for only 25 minutes, it’s easier to get that task completed in that timeframe.
[Meghan] The Pomodoro Technique also pulls on the principle of Parkinson’s Law, which states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
For example, if you leave yourself an hour to complete something that should take 10 minutes, you’ll end up taking the entire hour.
[Theresa] It’s so true. I’ve done this countless times. Having too much time available to complete a task allows distractions to creep in and take over.
So, once you’ve planned and entered your Distraction Free Zone, get ready to focus like a laser on the task at hand.
Set a timer for 25 minutes and GO.
[Meghan] At the end of the 25-minute block, take a 5-minute break. Don’t skip it or start doing other work. Get up, stretch, move around, take some deep breaths. It’s super important to take that break!
[Theresa] After your break, set your timer for another 25 minutes of focused work.
And that’s how you create Your Perfect Hour! To make it even easier to get started, I’ve created a cheat sheet and organizer for you. You can download the bundle here.
Create Better Work Habits with the Your Perfect Hour Formula
[Meghan] Although this process sounds simple, it can be challenging to change the work habits you’ve already created. And, that’s ok.
If you’ve struggled with focusing in the past, then it may take some time to learn how to focus again. That’s normal.
At first, you may feel more distracted than ever. You may even feel resistant to the process.
But, give this process a chance! Really practice it, and have a little patience. Eventually, you’ll discover just how productive you can truly be—whether that means getting your marketing done or having more freedom in your business. This is certainly one strategy that helps me to squeeze more marketing tasks into a day.
[Theresa] Every time you put Your Perfect Hour into action you’ll get better and faster at completing work. That means that you’re getting things done, relearning to focus, weeding out things that are not as important and creating better work habits.
It also means you’ll have more time, which brings me back to where we started…
What will you do with all of that free time? Let us know in the comments.
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