Work From Home

7 Easy Ways to Tame Your Inbox and Save One Hour Every Week

July 3, 2021 by Eva Keiffenheim

Make the most of asynchronous conversations.

Emails kill productivity. They point your attention towards random tasks and distract you from focused work.

A McKinsey analysis showed we spend around 2.6 hours a day reading and answering emails. Data analysis from RescueTime revealed we check e-mails every 6 minutes.

If you spent the same time playing an instrument, you’d soon be a musician.

But for your inbox, the opposite is true — the more time you spend on e-mails, the less effective you become. That’s why inbox-driven workdays are a source of anxiety and stress.

Luckily, there are quick fixes you can use to tame your inbox and reclaim your attention. Here are seven things that help you become an effective email manager and save you hours every week.

1) Don’t use tags or folders

Managing your mail with folders is 9% slower than searching with keywords and 50% slower than searching for names.

When you archive your emails in different folders, you add an unnecessary step (deciding which and where to stare emails). Instead, use the search bar to find what you’re looking for (e.g., “from:hello@evakeiffenheim.com”).

Don’t create folders to deal with emails later. Instead, answer and archive directly, or reschedule the mail to reoccur in your inbox. Here’s how it works for G-Mail.

2) Follow the single touch rule

Many professionals keep e-mails in their inboxes (200 on average). But even if you only reread the subject lines from some of them, your brain will restart thinking about the issues.

Re-reading e-mails equal brain waste.

Instead, have a bias towards action. When you read an e-mail, always archive, delete, reply, or reschedule. Don’t let any mail you read linger in your inbox.

3) Anticipate the next move

As a project manager, checking your e-mails once a day for 20 minutes doesn’t work. 90% of a PM’s work is communication.

I currently lead an entrepreneurship education project. On busy days, I receive 60 and send 50 emails (this doesn’t include my personal and work e-mail account or replies to The Learn Letter).

Email statistics from my project management account for June. (Source: E-Mail Meter)

This got me thinking — is there a better way to reduce e-mail volume and stop information overload? There is. Here’s how.

Before you press ‘send,’ ask yourself which questions your recipient might have. Add the answers in your mail. When you anticipate your reader’s questions, you save time for both of you.

“To RECEIVE less email, SEND less email.” — Jeff Weiner

4) Delete the mail app from your phone

I used to check my email when walking up the stairs and while waiting in a line. But unless you’re working for an atomic plant, nothing is so urgent it’d require your immediate attention.

When you want to build muscles, your body needs rest days. Your muscles recover, and your nervous system regenerates. The same goes for your brain.

To get maximum focus during your working hours, you want enough time away from work. Plus, boredom brings benefits.

Deleting the mail app from your phone will prevent you from disrupting your break time.

5) Pause your inbox for most of your day

Compulsive inbox checks don’t go well with focused attention. Some reports suggest it can take people up to 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus after an interruption.

“You can’t get meaningful things done when you’re constantly going start, stop, start, stop.” — Jason Fried

I protect my focus is by using the pause add-on for Gmail. New emails only enter my inbox only during specific times. Alternatively, you can use BlockSite for Chrome to block your email provider during specific time frames.

Don’t be among the workers who check their mail every 6 minutes. Installing inbox zero and scheduling dedicated e-mail response windows can help.

7) Create calendar invites with a single click

Even if you use a scheduling tool like Calendly or Chilipiper, creating calendar invites is sometimes inevitable.

Luckily, you can save a minute each time using this built-in Gmail feature that converts an email into a calendar appointment.

All you need to do is clicking on the three dots and select ‘Create event.’ Then, Gmail will distill the information from your e-mail and add them to the email fields.

7) Use Parkinson’s Law to get more done in less time

According to Parkinson’s Law, “the work expands as to fill the time available for its completion.” You can use this principle for you.

Set a timer for 25 minutes and aim for inbox zero. Try to beat the clock. Repeat this twice or thrice a day. Making your email inbox a game against time will help you become more productive.

Final Thoughts

Sivanathan said in his TED Talk: “You cannot increase the quality of an argument by simply increasing the quantity of your argument.”

In a perfect world, everybody would follow this rule, and email would be more concise.

But until we’re in our perfect world, you can use the tips from above to become more effective at managing your e-mails. Thereby, you’ll save one hour every week.

Want to feel inspired and improve your learning?

Subscribe free to The Learn Letter. I read a book and 50 articles a week, and each Wednesday, you’ll receive the best in your inbox. This newsletter will make you find tools and resources that help you on your path to health, wealth, and wisdom.

7 Tools That Make Working From Home More Productive

June 1, 2021 by Eva Keiffenheim

How you can focus on what matters.

Maximizing productivity doesn’t mean minimizing leisure. Working more hours doesn’t equal getting more done. It just means you spend more time working.

Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing less. It’s about blocking distractions so you can focus and get things done.

Here are the tools I use every day to make most of my work time. Every single one can help you overcome procrastination traps, maximize focus and enter flow states.

1) Notion for Weekly Reflection and Planning

If you don’t set your agenda, somebody else will. Without a weekly reflection, it’s easy to be busy without doing what matters.

David Allen, a productivity guru and author of ‘Getting Things Done,’ writes: “The Weekly Review will sharpen your intuitive focus on your important projects as you deal with the flood of new input and potential distractions coming at you the rest of the week.”

I use the free version of Notion for my Sunday review. There are a few things I tick off to make the most out of my work week:

Plan my week in Google Calendar (including food and sport).
Review last week’s tasks in my Bullet Journal and set goals for the next week.
Empty my E-Mail inboxes to zero (reply, delete, or schedule).
Clean my Mac desktop and downloads folder to zero.

This end-of-week review takes me around 60 minutes. While a weekly review might feel like an additional burden, it’ll make your workweek more intentional and productive.

2) Your Phone‘s Flight Mode

Ever wondered why you get much work done on long-haul flights? It’s because no call, no message, no notification can distract you.

I tried app-blocking with apps like Freedom or Forest. But what worked best is charging my phone in flight mode outside of my bedroom.

My phone is in flight mode from 8 PM to 12 PM. I’ve been using this schedule for half a year, and it’s the single most effective productivity booster.

3) Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Flow States

Three hours of creative flow might be all you need to improve your career. Flow states helped me make a full-time income from writing by writing 12 hours a week.

And the best thing — flow feels like joyful, easy work.

Yet, flow is fragile. Noises like a knock on the door can break it.

When interruptions are flow state’s enemies, noise-canceling headphones are its alley. Once you put them on, it’s just you and full focus on the task ahead.

Whenever I want to get into flow, I put on my headphone, pick one song from my playlist, and listen to it on repeat.

4) Site Blocker for Distraction-Free Productivity

How often do you check social media? Whenever I faced a difficult thought, I’d check Gmail or LinkedIn.

I felt my behavior was in the way of great work, yet I couldn’t manage to change it. Red notification badges and infinite scrolling made me crave the next dopamine rush.

Compulsive social media checks will make your thoughts bounce around like a ping-pong ball. A study from Irvine University found it takes 20 minutes to refocus after distractions.

Chamath Palihapitiya, former Facebook executive, says: “We were not evolved to get social approval being dosed upon us every 5 minutes.”

For better productivity, fix your environment. If you don’t want to get distractions, use a site-blocker. I use this free chrome extension to block LinkedIn, Facebook, and Mail from 9 PM to noon.

5) Use FocusTimer to Practice Deep Work

Focused and uninterrupted creation time is your secret weapon to maximum productivity. Cal Newport coined the term Deep Work as “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.”

To unlock deep work and get more done in less time, you need practice. Learning to focus feels hard first. That’s why you want to start small.

After learning about deep work four years ago, I started with a single 20-minute block a day. Gradually I increased the duration. Now I’m at 3×50 minutes with 10-minute breaks in between each deep work session.

Once you can focus for more extended periods, your work’s quality and quantity improve.

To schedule these sessions, you can use any timer. I use the free BeFocused Timer for Mac. You can adjust the duration for breaks and deep work sessions.

6) Delete Any Messaging Apps from Your Devices

Instant messaging, including e-mails, can be addictive. I checked my email when walking up the stairs, waiting in a line, or waiting at a red light.

I disabled all phone notifications for more than three years and stuck to my flight mode schedule. Still, I found myself checking work-related apps like Gmail and Slack.

Nothing is so urgent it can’t wait until your back at your desk. When working from home, your computer is always within reach. Don’t take work-related communication with you on the couch or to your bed.

To get maximum focus during your working hours, you want free thinking when you’re not sitting at your desk. Deleting these apps from your home will prevent you from compulsive e-mail checks.

7) Virtual Co-Working with FocusMate

Focusmate is virtual coworking that helps you get things done. You work side-by-side with another worker somewhere across the globe.

You sign up and schedule your desired focus hours. When the time comes, you log into your account and turn on your video camera. You greet each other, communicate your goals for the session, mute your mic, and start working.

The tool can improve your productivity with accountability, commitment, and implementation intentions.

If you ever feel like you procrastinate too much, it’s not because your lazy or unmotivated. Often procrastination is caused by distraction. These tools helped me find focus and get things done. I hope they do the same for you.

Want to join a community of lifelong learners? Subscribe free to The Learn Letter. Each Wednesday, you’ll receive the best in your inbox. This newsletter will make you find tools and resources that help you on your path to health, wealth, and wisdom.

5 Proven Ways You Can Use Notion to Organize Life and Work

May 23, 2021 by Eva Keiffenheim

Productivity, life-long learning, relationships, and much more.

I’ve been using Notion almost every day for the last year, and it has supercharged my creativity and organization.

Notion went live in 2016 and has since become a popular note-taking and organization tool with 4 million users in 2020. Here’s how I use it to improve my productivity, health, and organization.

1) Unlock the Power of a Weekly Review

If you don’t set your agenda, somebody else will. Without a weekly reflection, it’s easy to be busy without moving the needle. Productivity consultant David Allen wrote:

“The Weekly Review will sharpen your intuitive focus on your important projects as you deal with the flood of new input and potential distractions coming at you the rest of the week.”

Here’s how I use Notion to prepare for a productive and healthy week.

This end-of-week review takes me 60 minutes every Sunday evening. While a weekly review might feel like an additional burden, it’ll help you become more aware of how you live and spend your time.

2) Supercharge Your Learning with This List

Continuous learning is one of the most powerful habits you can build. Naval Ravikant once said:

“The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner.”

While life-long learning pays great dividends, many people stop learning after school. They don’t know how to learn or where to start.

A great motivator to continue learning is a long list of stuff you’ve always wanted to know more about. Similar to a want-to-read shelf, your want-to-learn list creates urgency. You’ll feel there’s so much you’re curious about and only limited time left to pursue your dreams.

Here’s how my want-to-learn list in Notion looks like.

Notion Want to Learn List (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

Don’t worry if you start with a blank page. Repeatedly ask yourself what you want to learn to find the answers. You’ll go through the world with a beginner’s mind, and the list will grow organically.

You can then specify what you want to learn. When I click on ‘Playing the Guitar’ I’m directed to an overview page with 30 songs I want to learn. The emojis indicate whether I’ve started practicing the song (🌱), can play chords and rhythm (🌿), or even sing along while playing (🌳).

Notion Guitar List (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

3) Get Inspired by Your Favorite Recipes

I used to be a lousy food planner. I always thought about what I wanted to eat when I was already hungry. I checked the fridge but then felt uninspired. Often, I settled for a mediocre random meal.

Thanks to my recipe collection, things changed. I included pictures, and they help me figure out what I’m craving. On Sundays, I drag the necessary ingredients to my shopping list.

I filter the recipes by duration, seasonality, course, or theme. When friends come over for dinner, I have an easy time finding meals to cook.

4) Offer Gifts that Improve Your Relationships

People have always exchanged gifts to show appreciation and improve interpersonal bonds.

Even though birthdays, religious traditions, and consumerism have kept this tradition alive, most of us struggle to give decent gifts. We have a lot on our plate, and finding a present can often feel like a burden.

I love delighting other people, yet I’ve been guilty of gifting random souvenirs.

Since I read Scott Stockdale’s idea of using spreadsheets, I became a better gift-giver. Here’s how the idea list looks like in my Notion (I changed the names and ideas because some of my friends will read this):

Notion Birthday Present Ideas (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

Whenever I spend time with friends and have an idea for a gift they might love, I write it down. It helps me take the focus away from what the gift says about me to what it means for my friend.

5) Keeping Track with Your Ideas and Plans

Another way I use Notion is to track my ideas and plans. One strategy I borrowed from Janel is to use an idea hub for my newsletter editions.

Each Wednesday morning, I’ll browse through the following list, where I store everything that might be worth sharing with my subscribers.

Notion Newsletter Idea Hub (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

All you need to do is note down any idea you come across into this table, then move your idea into a newsletter issue.

If you don’t run a newsletter, you can still use Notion to keep track of the projects you’re working on. Here’s how I use a simple kanban board for one of my bigger projects

Notion Kanban Board (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

What I Don’t Use Notion For

There are a few things I don’t use notion for. Either because it lacks functionality or because there are tools that better fit my needs.

Idea Management. I stopped using Notion as an idea management tool. Instead, I switched to Milanote. The user interface helps me become more creative.
Food shopping. I don’t like the Notion App. Instead, I switched back to Google Keep. It syncs more reliably with my partner’s account, and the mobile version looks cleaner.
Personal Knowledge Management. For my creative workflow, I use a Zettelkasten note-taking system within RoamResearch. Through networked thought, it helps me build a second brain.

My outdated Readwise Notion connection. (Source: Eva Keiffenheim)

Final Thoughts

Use these proven ways to organize your life and work. The effort is worth it: you’ll save a lot of time and feel in control.

Here’s how to do it:

Create a weekly review process.
Elevate your learning with a want-to-learn list.
Eat your best meals thanks to your recipe collection.
Give better gifts.
Tracking your ideas and plans.

Instead of feeling discouraged by all the ideas about what you could do with Notion, enjoy experimenting at your own pace. Keep what works for you, and screw the rest.

Choose one or two new ways until you find a pattern that helps you on your journey to health, wealth, and wisdom.

Sign up for the Learn Letter and get weekly inspirations on reading, learning, and growth.

The Creator’s Guide to Optimizing Your Day for Productivity, Focus, and Health

April 15, 2021 by Eva Keiffenheim

Make your time work for you.

When I started working for myself a year ago, I felt bombarded with suggestions on structuring my days. I was overwhelmed by conflicting advice and struggled to find a balance between hustle and rest.

This is the article I wish I’d had when starting to work for myself. I skipped the self-help fluff and distilled what made my days such a massive force for achievement and joy.

The following structure helped me earn a consistent +$5K monthly income, generated through writing, podcasting, and consulting.

You may not like all of these suggestions, or you might have great routines for some areas. If so, skip the paragraph. Your life, your rules. This article has only a single purpose: helping you, dear creator or solopreneur, getting smart at building your thing and excelling at whatever you’re doing.

The ten building blocks of creator days. (source by author)

A morning routine to set you up for success

Many people talk themselves down when they don’t check all of their morning routine boxes. I was the same. Unless I did oil-pulling, drank a glass of warm water, took a cold shower, meditated for at least 15 minutes, journaled about my dreams, visualized my goals, and practiced 20 minutes of yoga, I felt like a failure.

When a routine feels like an obligation, it misses the point. There’s not the perfect routine. Your morning routine is less about what you do than why you do it. Design a routine around your goals.

But this doesn’t mean you need to follow the same pattern every day. If you get up and feel like going for a walk, do it. If you don’t feel like journaling, skip it.

The best results often come from a combination of structures and intuition. Adjust your routine to your needs, and wants and don’t judge yourself on checking the boxes.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
Which activities help you get excited for the day?
Are there any habits you can do to feel fresh and awake before you open your laptop?

A calendar setup that will make you thrive

If you ever feel like you have too many things to do and not enough time to do them, it’s likely because your calendar isn’t set up for success.

As a creator, time is your most valuable resource. To make the most of it, learn to master a respectful no and use time blocking.

Time blocking is a simple productivity trick people like Elon Musk use. While a to-do list shows you what you need to do, time blocking reveals when you’re going to do it.

The technique works because it’s designed for focus. When you work towards one goal at a time, you are more productive than splitting your attention across various projects.

Plus, when you know you have time set aside later for checking messages, you’re less likely to give in to hooking mechanisms and random e-mail checks.

A time-blocked week in my calendar (Source: Eva Keiffenheim).

My high-level priorities include writing, reading, eating good food, moving my body, and client work. These time blockers are non-negotiable. Even in a work-intense week, I won’t skip the sports and food blocks because that’s how I keep my balance.

When you see in your calendar the time that’s blocked for existing projects and your thinking time, you’re less likely to say yes to other people. You take ownership of your time. Y

“In this day and age you cannot call something distracting unless you know what it’s distracting you from.”

— Nir Eyal

Probing questions to ask yourself:

What’s the proportion of calendar events you created vs. events other people invited you to?
Which meetings can be replaced by a call, an email, or a shared document?
How can you integrate time-blocking to focus on your high-level priorities?

Deep work is your most valuable skill

If you can create three focused hours of uninterrupted creation time, you solve most of your time management issues. Because once you’re in deep work and focus on one thing for an extended period, you produce your best work.

Cal Newport says Deep Work is “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit.”

From an 8-hour workday, how much do you really work? Your best work does not emerge from the total time spent but from the intensity of focus. Here’s the equation:

High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus)

To get into deep work, choose a space free of distractions. Then, determine how much time you’ll devote to the task ahead. For a start, aim for 10–15 minutes. After a few days of deep work, your ability to focus on one task will increase.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

How much time do you do deep work during a day?
Do you protect your deep work sessions with time blocks in your calendar?
What’s your deep work structure? (Will your phone be off or on? Will you let yourself check the internet? How will you measure a session’s success (pages read, lines coded, words written)?

Cultivating helpful phone habits

If you’re like 80% of smartphone users, you check your device every morning within the first 15 minutes after waking up.

By checking your phone early in the day, you condition your mind for distraction. Notifications and messages will make your thoughts bounce around like a ping-pong ball.

Throughout your day, your morning behavior repeats itself. By checking your phone too early in the day, you won’t produce any deep work. You’ll get distracted and lose focus again and again.

According to this study from Irvine University of California, it takes 20 minutes to refocus after distractions.

As a self-employed creator, you have the ultimate freedom over your days. No boss can schedule an unproductive meeting at 9 AM. Protect your time by cultivating smart phone habits (pun intended).

My phone is in flight mode from 8 PM to 12 PM. I’ve been using this schedule for half a year, and it’s the single most effective productivity and health booster. It helps me focus on my tasks and makes my mind calm down.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

Do you control your phone, or does your phone control you?
Do you charge your phone at a place you don’t see it?
During which hours do you want to be available for calls and other people’s requests?

Quality breaks you need to take every day

Did you ever finish your workday realizing you haven’t moved away from your chair for the past 4 hours? In our work culture, many people see breaks as a luxury. But to find long-term joy in your workdays, you need them.

Luckily breaks don’t need to be complicated. A study compared break lengths of 1, 5, and 9 minutes, and even the shortest break made workers feel better.

To take regular breaks, I use Be Focused. The timer starts in 50-minute intervals for my writing sessions and reminds me to take a 10-minute break. When it rings, I stop whatever I’m doing and move away from my screen.

This is how what I typically do during my breaks: Drink a cup of water. Make a tea. Practice the guitar for a few minutes. Dance and shake to a song. Take a short walk outside. Puzzle. Prepare lunch or dinner. Sit down to meditate. Clean the bathroom. Stretch. Take a long walk outside and call a friend.

The list is endless. Your breaks might look completely different. But take them. Scheduling meaningful breaks inside your days will help you enjoy your workdays and prevent you from overworking.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

How often do you take breaks during a working day?
Have you scheduled breaks in your calendar?
Do you have non-negotiable playtime for undirected exploration?

Focus on learning and knowledge expansion

Knowledge is power. That’s why learning can improve any life. Yet, only very few people make learning an ongoing habit.

No life skill can earn you greater dividends than learning how to learn. We can’t expand our time, but we can expand our minds. Learning is the virtuous circle that can help you create the life of your dreams.

Reading is the easiest way to learn every day. Books are to the mind what exercise is to your body. They make you discover truths about the world and yourself. Page by page, they help you live a happier life.

Reading is liberating. Freedom means choosing from a set of options. The more options you have, the freer you are. But most people don’t know about all their options. And that’s where reading kicks in. It helps you explore options you never knew existed.

So, read outside of your specific field. Say less and ask more and better questions. Let curiosity guide you to learn something new.

I reserve time to read books, newsletters, listen to podcasts, take online courses, join learning communities, attend educational conferences, and take notes after exciting conversations.

“The most important skill for getting rich is becoming a perpetual learner. You have to know how to learn anything you want to learn.”

— Naval Ravikant

Probing questions to ask yourself:

Which three skills do you want to learn this year?
What’s the ratio between spending time on social media vs. learning something helpful?
Does your calendar reflect your learning goals? Do your learning activities align with your goals? If not, how can you adapt?

Unlock the power of reflection

“Most people are other people,” Oscar Wilde once said. “Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

Whenever I have a spare moment, I try to fill it. I listen to podcasts, read books, have a conversation with my beautiful boyfriend, answer messages, or hop to the next task in my bullet journal.

And while these activities can be enjoyable and add energy to my life, they have a marginal return on thinking utility. After a certain point, every additional minute of doing decreases the ability to think for yourself.

When we’re so busy doing, we don’t spend single second thinking. Entire days go by without a single deep thought. At the end of your life, you realize you’ve lived the life of others.

“We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”

— John Dewey

Before learning from Warren Buffett, Bill Gates said he had every minute packed and thought that was the only way you could do things. Bill concludes Warren taught him the importance of giving himself time to think and reflect.

Reflection is the active decision to think about your past. Researchers define reflection as the intentional attempt to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the key lessons taught by experience.

I integrate reflection every Sunday. They are the most valuable 60–90 minutes I spend every week. Here’s how my Sunday reflection checklist looks like:

My weekly reflection in Notion (Source: Eva Keiffenheim).

Probing questions to ask yourself:

Do you have a daily, weekly, and yearly review in place?
Do you block time to think about what you achieved instead of moving forward?
Do you have a habit of asking yourself after each completed job “what went well” and “even better if”?

Design your environment for desired behavior

I long believed that I need motivation and willpower to adopt new habits. But both resources are limited. When I first read the following section by James Clear, I realized I overlooked one of the most critical factors in building desired behavior:

“Our behavior is not defined by the object in an environment but by our relationship to them. In fact, this is a useful way to think about the influence of the environment on your behavior. Stop thinking about your environment as filled with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships. Think in terms of how you interact with the spaces around you. For one person, her couch is the place where she reads for an hour each night. For someone else, the couches where he watches television and eats a bowl of ice cream after work.”

When you design the right environment for your desired habit, you link the habitat to the desired habit. That’s why it makes sense to design an environment around the person you want to become.

If you want to write every day, your environment’s essential elements are a computer, site blockers, noise cancellation headphones, and a distraction-free place to write. That way, you turn into the architect of your reality.

“If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us.”

— Marshall Goldsmith

Probing questions to ask yourself:

Is your physical workspace supporting you? (screen at eye level, daylight, a healthy seating position).
Is your digital workspace setting you up for success? (which apps are installed, do you use site-blockers, tools to manage your knowledge)
Do you keep your phone and distractions away during your deep work session?

End-of-day shutdown rituals

If you work in an office or co-working space, you can skip this. Your natural shutdown ritual is leaving the building and heading home.

If you, however, are among the 50% of people in the US who work from home, a shutdown ritual is crucial for your mental health.

After a full day, it’s challenging to calm down and get ready for the evening. In the early days of my self-employment, I found myself working until late. Sometimes I replied to mail or watched online courses when I knew I should be calming down.

This works if you do it once in a while. But after a few days working long evenings, you have to search for the energy and enthusiasm to create great content. A shutdown ritual will improve your remote work productivity.

“A shutdown ritual is a set routine of actions that you perform at the end of each work day to finalize your day and signify that your work day is done.”

— Cal Newport

A great shutdown routine ensures that you review incomplete tasks, goals, or projects and you confirm that you have a plan you trust for its completion, or you wrote it down somewhere you’ll see it at the right time.

Your end-of-work-day ritual can have different elements: updating all to-do lists, review the calendar for tomorrow, writing a plan for the next day, closing every tab on your computer, leaving your working desk.

Before dinner, I take 5–10 minutes to go through my Bullet Journal and review the daily log. I tick off To Do’s, move them to the next day, and add items with a look on my weekly goals and my calendar. I close all computer windows and leave my desk.

Consciously ending your workday gives you a beautiful feeling that everything you needed to do is done or schedule.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

Do you wrap up your day and plan for the next one?
How do you know your workday is over?
What reminds you to start your shutdown ritual? (time, feeling, alarm)

Evening routine

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 45% of Americans state poor or insufficient sleep affected their days at least once in the past seven days.

But even if you’re among the lucky ones who fall asleep quickly, a proper evening routine can improve your focus, well-being, and health.

As with the morning routine, there’s not the perfect evening routine. Do whatever feels good for you.

My evenings vary, but most include some of the following activities: having a friend over for dinner, foam roll, guitar practice, calling a friend, cooking, talk to my fiancé, or go for a walk. The only constant thing is that I put my phone into flight mode and go to bed around 9 PM.

Probing questions to ask yourself:

What helps you sleep better and relax?
Which activities do you enjoy in the evening?
What’s the last thing you want to do before sleeping?

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How to Make Your Time Work for You

November 13, 2020 by Eva Keiffenheim

6 key principles for making the most of your time on this planet.

Plenty of people spend their time as if they’d never die. They say yes when they should be saying no. They get dopamine shots from social media instead of fostering deep human connections. They chase what they haven’t instead of enjoying what they have.

“I wish I could, but..” is one of the sentences you hear them say often. They waste their time on low-quality activities that don’t add happiness or meaning to their lives. And yet, you hear them complain about lacking time to pursue the things they always wanted to do.

As best-selling author Grant Cardone wrote:

“Most people have no clue what they are doing with their time but still complain that they don’t have enough.”

Many people could live better lives (if they made their time work for them), but instead, continue to repeat the same patterns all over again, which leaves them feeling unhappy, ineffective, and stuck.

But what if you made your time work for you?

How would that change your life, your relationships, your future?

What things and people would you say no to?

What activities would start doing?

1) Schedule Health Blocks in Your Calendar

When asked what surprised him about humanity the most, the Dalai Lama once said:

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

In our current economy, self-worth seems to be tied to productivity. Sitting curled up in a desk chair and answering emails is worth more than going to a yoga class. Making phone calls during our lunch break looks better than taking the time for a proper self-cooked meal. I used to feel guilty and unproductive when I cared for myself.

But prioritizing work over health is toxic.

We only have one body to live in. When it breaks or stops to function, we downgraded our life. That’s why putting your health first is one of the most important time management principles.

How to do it:

Schedule regular walking and stretching breaks.
Plan time slots for grocery shopping, cooking, and eating.
Block out non-negotiable time for sport sessions a week in advance.

2) Set Achievable To-Do Lists

Many people confuse to-do lists with wish lists. They write down any item that would love to have resolved without factoring in the time it takes. At the end of the day, they feel drained, restless, and anxious. In moments like this, it’s valuable to keep Shery Sanberg words in mind:

“You can only do so much. There are five more projects you want to do, but you pick the three that are really going to matter, and you try to do those really well, and you don’t even try to do the others.”

Don’t even try to do the others. You’ll soon realize life is more fun if you set realistic expectations. Instead of rushing after unachievable to-do’s, start living life at your own pace. Your life, your rules.

How to apply it:

Include time estimations after listing the to-do item.
Differentiate between must-dos and nice-to-haves.
Find fulfillment in knowing what can’t get done today will be done tomorrow.

3) Stop Prioritizing Work Over Relationships

Ryan Holiday, the guy that was hired by Benjamin Hardy and Tim Ferriss to improve their books, wrote recently:

“Many relationships and moments of inner peace were sacrificed on the altar of achievement.”

We fail to acknowledge that work-related achievements won’t make us happier or healthier. We cancel friend meet-ups because of tight work deadlines, skip a family call to complete another task, or skip vacation altogether.

While many of us think fame, fortune, and hard work will bring us happiness, science proves us wrong. Robert Waldinger, psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School analyzed the longest study on human happiness. Having high-quality social connections is the best ingredient for long-term happiness. According to the study, good relationships even elevate our mental and physical health.

How to apply it:

Initiative regular meet-ups with the people you care about.
Postpone your work instead of social appointments.
Keep in mind that relationships, not achievements make us happy.

4) Reflect on Your Day Before Falling Asleep

One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to time is only looking forward. By not pausing to reflect, they don’t reap the lessons learned from past experiences. In a book on learning, neurologist Doug Larsen and neurosurgeon Mike Ebersold write:

“Cultivating the habit of reflecting on one’s experiences, making them into a story, strengthens learning.”

And Jack Mezirow, a former professor at Colombia University, adds:

“By far the most significant learning experience in adulthood involves critical self-reflection — reassessing the way we have posed problems and reassessing our own orientation to perceiving, knowing, believing, feeling and acting.”

How to apply it:

Every evening, before falling asleep, ask yourself:

What went well today?
How could I have spent my time better?
What strategies will I use tomorrow to use my time wiser?

5) Stop Saying Yes When You Should Be Saying No

We often forget that every ‘yes’ means a ‘no’ to a million other things. By saying no to 95% of all requests, you’ll make your ‘yeses’ a lot more meaningful.

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

— Warren Buffett

How to apply it:

Remember that every “yes” means a “no” to a million other things.
Browse through respectful ways to say no and choose your favorite ones.
Know that saying no will become easier every time you do it.

6) Spend Less than One Hour on Your Phone

For a decade, I was among the 80% of smartphone users who check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. I started every morning with thoughts about the news, my inbox, and other people’s social posts.

Our phones evolved to life-shortening devices that take our time without consent. Engineers did a great job of designing apps that capture our attention for as long as possible. Mechanisms like infinity scrolling, pull-to-refresh triggers, social validation cues, and push notifications to keep us glued to the screen.

Without realizing, many of us spend hours every day in front of your phone screen. Time that’d be better spend on meaningful activities. Since I limited my screen time to one hour a day, I reached my goals. And if I, a former tech-addict, can do it, so can you.

How to apply it:

Charge your phone outside of your bedroom.
Use flight mode whenever you do deep work.
Delete mail and social media apps (you’ll be faster from your desktop).

The Bottom Line

Making your time work for you doesn’t need to feel hard or exhausting. There are no complex techniques you need to master.

All it takes are six simple principles:

Schedule non-negotiable health blocks in your calendar.
Aim for achievable To-Do lists.
Make your relationships matter more than your work.
Reflect on your day when lying in bed.
Say no to things that dilute your focus.
Minimize the time you spend on your smartphone.

Your life your rules. Choose the ideas that resonate with you and screw the rest. Eventually, you’ll find a pattern that helps you maximize your time on any day.

And, remember what Steve Jobs said about his time on earth:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

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5 Simple Ways To Be Your Best Boss

October 10, 2020 by Eva Keiffenheim

About health, productivity, environmental design, and much more.

Working for somebody else is easy. Working for yourself isn’t.

As a solopreneur, no one ever tells you what you should or shouldn’t do. There isn’t a scenario where somebody comes to your desk and says, “Now listen up: you finish this task by the end of the day, and we’re good. Continue like this for another 8 months, and you’ll get your promotion.”

While the absence of such a boss motivated employees to become self-employed in the first place, there are new challenges that come with extreme self-ownership and freedom.

And unless solopreneurs figure out the most important one — how to become the best boss for themselves — they find themselves back working for somebody else faster than they think.

Here are five things that will prevent you from going back to employment. Fundamentally, each one can turn you into your best boss.

Set a Hard Limit for Your Maximum Work Hours

Working as long as you can is no way to get more done. Consistently working too much will make you less productive.

Economists call this invariable drop the ‘law of diminishing returns.’ After you reach an optimal level of capacity, adding an additional input will eventually result in an output decline.

So after you’ve reached your maximum amount of productive hours, any additional hour will worsen your work output.

This is why Henry Ford reduced the 48-hour workweek to 40-hours. In his experiments, he found 40 to be the optimum number of hours for highly-productive workers. Working beyond 40 hours a week meant their productivity dropped.

This applies to factory workers, a 60-hour online hustler could argue.

Recent findings show, however, the optimum workload for knowledge workers could be even lower. Grace Marshall and Cal Newport write in their respective books on productivity and deep work that our capability for hyper-focused knowledge work is far lower than we might expect.

How many working-hours a week will maximize your long-term producitivy?

4? 20? 35? Productive solopreneurs who want to produce their best work set a hard limit for their maximum working hours. They don’t work for work’s sake. Once they reached their maximum working capacity, they stop.

Work From Places that Inspire You

Two decades ago, the well-known academic journal Science, published a study called Do Defaults Save Lives? Researches demonstrated that default choices significantly affect organ donation rates in different countries.

Then, behavioral scientists Thaler and Sunstein dug deeper and came up with findings that, in 2017, brought them the Nobel Prize in Economics.

In essence, both findings show that ‘choice architecture’ can nudge people toward desired decisions. So the question for solopreneurs is:

How can you design your work environment to influence your desired behavior?

Environment design is a hidden secret that determines whether you enjoy your work. A lot of what we attribute to success is the result of our environment. As a solopreneur, you are free to choose the location of your work.

A blanket in the park? A rooftop café with a view over your city? The lobby of a hip hostel? Your dad’s office? A flex-desk in a fancy co-working space? The living room of your best friend?

If you want to be your best boss, make this choice a conscious one. Once you’re deliberate about designing your environments, you become the architect of your reality.

Or, as James Clear, author of Atomic Habits put it:

“Our behavior is not defined by the object in an environment but by our relationship to them. In fact, this is a useful way to think about the influence of environment on your behavior. Stop thinking about your environment as filled with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships. Think in terms of how you interact with the spaces around you. For one person, her couch is the place where she reads for an hour each night. For someone else, the couches where he watches television and eats a bowl of ice cream after work.”

Design Your Personal Health Program

When you read through the routines of world-class performers, you see a common thread between their minds. Success seems to be intertwined with some form of physical and mental exercise.

Yet, too many self-employed working bees forget about this.

Whether it’s a sport, daily meditation, journaling, or going to the gym, being aligned with your mind and body will help you get through the mental marathons required to produce great work.

What habits will you schedule to protect your health?

As your best boss, you want to take ownership of your health. Just like Henry Ford wanted to keep his employees healthy, you want to look out for yourself. You’re generating 100% of your income, so you want to make your function.

Here’s how my health program looks like:

5x Movement Sessions a Week (2x Yoga, 2x Gym, 1x Hike)
7x 15-Minute Meditation a Week
2x Sauna Visits a Month
1–2x Health-Related Seminars a Month
1x 60-Minute Shiatsu Massage a Month

To ensure there’s enough space in my calendar, I’ll block the activities 2–3 weeks in advance and make them non-negotiable.

Plus, instead of only thinking of exercise as a way of “getting fit,” I think of it as a routine that will help me excel in any aspect of my life.

By prioritizing your mental and physical health, you’ll become a better boss for yourself.

“The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself.”

— Warren Buffett

Build an Emergency Fund 6x Your Living Costs

As a solopreneur, you likely know how to make your money work for you. You know you shouldn’t save what is left after spending but spend what is left after saving. You know your salary won’t make you rich, but your spending habits will, and most importantly, you know the single best investment you can make is one in yourself.

But despite all your financial knowledge, have you ever worried about money instead of calmly sinking into your pillow?

I did. And it sucked.

As humans, we don’t like to lose things. Behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman names this ‘human loss aversion,’ meaning you prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains. So the question is:

How much money do you need to break your fear of loss?

Once you build an emergency fund, 99% of your money worries will vanish. By having a safety net, you’ll still have something to live from if you lose a client or face a personal crisis.

Here are the three steps you need to take to build it:

Open a separate account.
Determine the money you need to survive for six months.
Set an automatic transfer order and start saving.

Cherry Pick Your Co-Workers

Many people confuse solopreneurship with working alone. There’s a difference: Solopreneurs can choose whether they want to work alone or in a team.

Instead of being forced into a team and having to make friends with people you don’t look up to, they can decide whom to work with. They don’t need to make friends with co-workers they don’t respect.

Remember this rule of thumb: The 5 people you spend the most time with are a reflection of you.

If you surround yourself with people that are interesting, intelligent, warm, and driven, then those qualities will spill over to you.

So as a solopreneur, it’s even more important to take a look at whom you work with, as your self-selected co-workers are the people you spend the most time with.

With whome would you love to co-work?

Make a courageous move and reach out to them. If nobody comes to your mind, go to co-working spaces and cafés. By surrounding yourself with people you admire, you’ll enjoy your work even more.

Dr. Dre said it best:

“The people you surround yourself with can either be the rise or fall of your career.”

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These 7 Books Will Improve The Way You Work

August 20, 2020 by Eva Keiffenheim

About productivity, mindsets, decision-making, and so much more.

Most people spend most of their life working.

Yet, only a few try to improve how they work.

By working only one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. This is what James Clear calls the accumulative advantage:

“What begins as a small advantage gets bigger over time. One plant only needs a slight edge in the beginning to crowd out the competition and take over the entire forest.”

Reading the right books is the simplest and fastest way to get one percent better each day.

And by learning and applying strategies from the smartest minds, you can improve how you work step by step.

I regret I didn’t make reading a habit earlier. Yet, since I realized the books’ potential, I read every day. Since 2016, I’ve read 161 books.

Here is the list of seven books that will change the way you work, including why they‘re relevant and when you might want to read them.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker

This one is a fantastic meta-analysis of the latest scientific findings related to the Western idea of “success.”

Barker combines storytelling with science and shares how you can apply his findings to your work life.

If you question whether you’re on your right career path and look for bulletproof advice, this one is for you.

Most of Barker’s lessons are so simple yet effective that you will be astonished.

“Great mentors and great teachers help you learn faster. Not only should you care about your mentors; the mentors who really make you succeed need to care about you. When you relate to someone you look up to, you get motivated. And when that person makes you feel you can do that too, bang-that produces real results.”

Deep Work by Cal Newport

This book will improve how you work on various levels. After reading Deep Work, I stopped procrastinating and quit Instagram and Snapchat.

Deep work is a must-read for anyone doing any kind of work as it teaches you how to produce your best output. It’s also an excellent read for anyone who struggles to concentrate and achieve great results when life is distracting.

Cal Newport provides concrete, actionable advice on how to focus and engage in, what he calls, deep work. By putting deliberate thought into what you do, you’ll be less inclined to procrastinate.

“Who you are, what you think, feel, and do, what you love — is the sum of what you focus on.”

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

I love Ryan Holiday. Especially his articles about managing your time management and developing better habits.

In Ego is the Enemy, he helps us to get a deeper understanding of who we are. After reading, you’ll understand the anatomy of our success and failure.

The book is not only packed with inspiration that will empower you to produce your best work, but also includes actionable advice on how to live your best life.

It’s an ideal read for anyone who is either early in her career or achieved success and wonders what to do next.

“There’s no one to perform for. There is just work to be done and lessons to be learned, in all that’s around us.”

Bad Blood by John Carreyrou

This one is quite different from the rest of the list, but there are a lot of life lessons to learn from this page-turner.

Bad Blood portraits the breathtaking rise and the surprising collapse of a unicorn startup in a way every reader can relate and form her own opinion.

I gasped out loud while reading this thriller-like business book as it shows what happens when a CEO and prioritizes ego above all else.

Bad Blood is worthwhile for anyone struggling with ethical questions or interested in the importance of honest work.

“The way Theranos is operating is like trying to build a bus while you’re driving the bus. Someone is going to get killed.”

The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhou

A consultant shared that she’d read and discussed this book at her Boston Consulting Group book club.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much. I thought it would go along the lines of other mediocre self-help fluff.

Turns out I was wrong.

Julie Zhou might turn into the Peter Drucker of our time. She shares everything from leading teams to managing oneself and nurturing culture.

Throughout the book, she asks powerful self-reflection questions and shares simple, yet applicable principles to excel at work.

This book is a growth bible for anyone who wants to step up from employee to a manager or recently got promoted to managing people.

“What opportunities do you see for me to do more of what I do well? What do you think are the biggest things holding me back from having greater impact?”

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

The title sounds like clickbait, I know. But this book delivers on its promises as you access the brains of world-class performers.

I’ve read all books of Tim Ferriss but found this by far the most inspiring piece. Tools of Titans is an encyclopedia for personal growth and productivity.

The world-class performers in this book share all their strategies on how to become healthy, wealthy, and wise. This sounds like too much to cover in a single book, but the titans deliver the value.

“Losers have goals. Winners have systems.”

Mindset by Carol Dweck

If you’re only going to read one book on the list, you may want to choose this one. Why? It covers how to program your mind to excel at anything.

Dweck demonstrates how success in work, sports, and almost every area of human endeavor is influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

This book is a must-read for every person looking for personal growth. After reading this book, you’ll be able to integrate a growth mindset into your life, and you’ll see mistakes as valuable learning opportunities.

“No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.”

Once you get enough of an answer to act on, stop reading, and start doing.

Applied knowledge is power.

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How To Prioritize Your Goals When Working From Home

May 10, 2020 by Eva Keiffenheim

Don’t let others dictate your day.

During the ongoing quarantine, many (privileged) people are working from home.

The initial euphoria of working in sweatpants gave way to a new realization: You can easily prioritize the goals of others over your intentions.

Finally, after many days of self-experimentation, I found a way to structure my time in a way that makes me feel satisfied and content.

By following these steps, you can integrate this structure, too.

The importance of prioritizing your own goals

If you’re a people-pleaser like me, you know how good it feels to promptly reply with “yes,” both in private and business context.

Mentor: “I wrote a new article on business transformations, and I’d love to have your opinion on that. Can you feedback?”

Me: “Yes, of course, I’d love to help you with that as I find the article’s topic interesting (and I appreciate our relation).”

Schoolfriend: “Do you want to join our trivia night via Zoom tomorrow night?”

Me: “Sure, I’d love joining our Zoom reunion (as it’s always fun to see you).”

Former boss: “We haven’t talked in a while. I’d love to know which projects you are currently working on.”

Me: “Yes! Let’s schedule a call on which of the following dates are you available?”

Here’s the problem with saying yes to everything: By consistently fulfilling the requests of others, you stop advancing your goals.

In my case, the result of pleasing people is an exhausted, drained, and unsatisfied individual that isn’t looking forward to her next working day.

There will always be a next new exciting opportunity to say yes too, but doing so too often means you say no to your own goals.

Saying no doesn’t mean you can never join any trivia nights again. But it does mean that you work towards your goals FIRST before you prioritize the requests of others.

There is a simple way to evaluate whether you prioritized saying yes to others over saying yes to your own goals: How much progress are you making towards your ambitions?

Is there something you always wanted to do, but “never find the time to” because you keep saying yes to others? How do you feel after a home office day? If your answer is along the lines of “unhappy, dissatisfied, exhausted, drained,” take the chance to change the flow of your days.

You have control of how you feel at the end of a day.

You are in charge of acting on your dreams. If you don’t take ownership of prioritizing your tasks, others will take over with ease. Eventually, you will live the life of others.

Excursion: The diminishing return of fulfilling requests of others

There’s a diminishing return of fulfilling the requests of others. On the x-axis, you see the time a person spends on completing the requests of others at a ten-hour workday (0=0 hours 10=10 hours). On the y-axis, is the person’s personal satisfaction level after a day of work (0=very unsatisfied 10=very satisfied).

The diminishing return of fulfilling the requests of others (Source: Own Illustration)

The graph demonstrates that fulfilling the requests of others has a diminishing return on your satisfaction level.

The green slope shows that our satisfaction sharply increases with the first hours spent on fulfilling the requests of others.

For me, a day on the green slope means I enjoy my morning routine and focus the next few hours on writing. Only afterward, I focus my mind on fulfilling the requests of others. For about three hours in the afternoon, I enjoy doing good for others, like proofreading a friend’s thesis or checking in with a friend who feels lonely these days. Later afternoon, I shut off my phone again and take the time to do one of my favorite things from this list, like writing a Goodreads review of a book I finished.

The yellow slope visualizes that with every additional hour spent on fulfilling requests of others, your satisfaction levels alters slower. Replying with “yes” and working or helping two more hours of your workday does not do any harm. Being on the yellow slope, you might ask, “What could I be doing instead, that increases my satisfaction level more with the same time invested?”

In the words of economists: “What are your opportunity costs?”.

For me, a day on the yellow slope means I started the day, again, with my morning routine and deep focused work on writing. At lunchtime, I check my inbox and messages. The first hours of helping and replying still feel amazing. But in contrast to a “green slope day,” I continue helping others, while some part of me is longing for other activities. I ignore my need for “alone quality time” and continue helping others.

That behavior is still tolerable. While you could have found more satisfaction in another activity, fulfilling the requests of others is still ok for your satisfaction.

Sounds ignorant? How much good can you do to others if you feel unsatisfied with yourself?

On the pink slope, shit hits the fan with every additional hour spent on fulfilling the requests of others, your satisfaction decreases.

If you already helped other persons for 5 hours that day, any additional hour spent can feel like a burden.

When entering the pink slope, there is no good in continuing fulfilling the requests of others as it drains your energy.

For me, a day on the pink slope starts with my phone interrupting me during my morning routine. I pick up and begin fulfilling the requests of others right away. “There is no time” for working on my writing or podcasting. I continue replying to e-mails.

The thing is, you do not do any good or help society if you give yourself up in helping others.

3 ways to prioritize your goals over the goals of others

1. Know your personal goals and write down the three next steps

Logically, you need to know your life goals to prioritize them. As you are reading this article, you probably know your intentions.

If not, read John Strelecky’s guide on finding your big five for life. Once you know your big goals, break them down into the three next steps.

One of my life goals, for example, is to become a speaker and writer. Why? I want to inspire others to live following their mind, body & nature. As this goal is still kind of abstract, I break it down to three achievements for the next day. Today, for example, goes as follows;

Distraction-free writing for >2 hours
Research two strategies for podcast marketing
Prepare one new podcast episode.

In fact, during the home office, distraction-free working is quite a challenge.

That’s why you need to do another step.

2. Each day, block time for deep work

Next, you need to schedule a time for your work on your calendar. According to behavioral scientist Dan Ariely, your mind is most productive 2–3 hours after waking.

You want to use this time to make progress on your goals. We schedule our meeting times, but we barely schedule deep thinking time for our work.

I start working on my most important task of the day right after waking up (tea+yoga+meditation). I protect the clarity of my mind by rigorously turning off all distractions the night before.

Instead of my phone waking me, I use an alarm clock. I have an alarm clock without the possibility to check any messages or news directly. For my inbox, I use the inbox when ready for the Gmail extension. So, I turn my phone off, and I don’t visit any social media or news sites during my first deep working block.

3. Protect your deep thinking blocks

As demonstrated in the beginning, one readily agrees to help and please other people. Don’t get me wrong. Helping other people is essential and valuable.

I strongly believe that we rise by lifting others. So you should even OFFER help to people you feel you could help. But helping others is even more powerful when you do so while also accomplishing your priorities.

Here is some advice on how to protect your deep thinking blocks

Only say yes to projects that fully align with your goals or where you are the perfect person to help. To all other frame something like:
“Thanks for reaching out. I appreciate you asking XYZ. It sounds as you’re making great progress at XYZ. Unfortunately, I have to decline your request as I have committed to three big projects. That’s why I decline every other request, regardless of how small, big, interesting, or exciting it might be.”
Maintain a “Said no to list”
On this list, write down everything you said no to before. This list can help you in making a decision when you feel unsure whether to say yes or no.
Bundle “fulfilling the needs of others” into blocks during a day. For example, commit to checking your phone only after you have completed your three most important tasks of the day.

The Bottom Line

Prioritize your goals first, before fulfilling the dreams of others.

Your goal is to reach the sweet red spot where you help others while still taking the time to advance your ambitions.

Prioritize your goals by knowing your priorities.

Then, schedule and protect your deep thinking time.

If you do not take care of advancing your personal goals, nobody will.

What are you going to do less? What is the next request you will say no to make time for what matters most to you?

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