There you are.
An (aspiring) Untemplater, ready to take on the world.
What do you have ?
Enough passion to melt the moon ? Check.
A desire to design your own lifestyle ? Check.
The will to inspire thousands along the ride ? Check.
What’s missing ?
The magic to make it all happen.
Or to be more precise: A kick-ass workflow.
Having only your notebook as your main weapon for world domination requires discipline. Since you’re sitting down on your butt for most of the day, you better create a work habit that makes your lifestyle design feasible.
Don’t worry, I have experimented with this for ages (3 months), and I have come up with an epic way of structuring your workflow, untemplater style:
1) Get yourself into state before your work
It’s tempting to move your butt straight to the pc once you get out of bed.
But that would be bad, very bad. Humans are made for motion:
As soon as you jump out of bed, do some exercise. It doesn’t matter what you do : pushups, sit-ups, dancing. Whatever keeps your blood pumping.
If you want to upgrade that, go out for walk. Run run run and shout incantations: I can do this – yeah yeah, I CAN DO THIS. Today will be a KICK-ASS day.
This might seem totally nuts to you, but it gets your circulation rolling. You’ll enter a state of heightened awareness, what athletes call “the zone”.
Do this at least 20 – 30 mins every single day, first thing in the morning. I promise you, sitting down for the rest of your day will never feel sooo good.
Plan your day the easy and fun way
I luv minimalism, especially when it comes to planning. Having a clear plan is the most awesome way to structure your day. You probably know this, but you’re not doing it. Let’s change that once and for all: Forget about Google calendar, it’s too complex. Remember, you want to get things done. Get Teuxdeux (free) or any other SIMPLE To DO planer and write down your main goals for the day. Start with the big and important rocks first:
1)Call clients
2)Finish designs
3)Meet with Mister X
etc.
That’s ALL you need for a basic structure.
This will radically improve your productivity. The simple act of writing things down in a hierarchical order brings your goals closer to reality. It’s psychology, don’t ask me why it works.
Work with focus
Life’s a distraction when you are distracted all the time. I tried multitasking before:
I was working while listening to pop, checking my Facebook/Twitter updates and watching Animes. Needless to say, it didn’t work.
I didn’t get anything done, and if I did, the quality was usually sub-below standard. To hell with it now ! New model: I do only one thing at a time, and I make it as BEST as possible.
So if you write, really just write. Focus entirely on your writing flow – make it the pure center of your concentration. Keep the momentum flowing until you finish the post. Then take a short break and immediately tackle your next task. One step at a time. As epic as possible.
Give yourself a ridiculous time limit
When you’re self-employed, no one’s kicking your ass. You have to do it yourself, at least mentally. If think you need 2 days for something, then it will take you exactly 2 days. If you think you can do the same in 6 hours, then you’ll do it in 6 hours. Whatever time limit you give yourself is the time you will need. So, let’s speed things up a bit.
If you think you need 2 hours for your work, make it one. 45 mins for a blog post ? No way. 25 mins is the way to go.
I do that daily and it’s working like white magic. I believe most humans work better under slight pressure,and having a tighter deadline will not only skyrocket your productivity, but also sharpen your focus. The less time you have, the more you have to concentrate on the important stuff.
Get into candy-mode
When you finish an important task, cross it of your To Do list (you have one, right?) and CELEBRATE, at least for a moment. Smile, get your favorite snack or do whatever feels like a reward. This way you further establish the habit in your brain.
Will this guarantee kick-ass results ??
Of course not.
They are no guarantees in life. That’s why it’s soo much fun.
But will it quadruple the potential of creating something kick-ass ? You bet.
Question:
What’s your Untemplater workflow, and do you have any tips on how to create a better one ? Tell us in the comments, we all want to improve !
Love this post! I subscribe to two very important morning rituals…one you already mentioned: exercise. It’s invaluable in so many ways (what untemplater doesn’t want a kick-ass body?) but I think our generation forgets the most powerful action they can take sometimes involves taking no action at all. What am I talking about? Meditation. Pure & simple sitting, and just being in your body, no goals, just quieting the mind. Some people put so much pressure on themselves when meditating, and get frustrated when they cannot “shut up” their mind. Guess what? All those thoughts you’re having? They are perfectly normal! The most important thing to remember is NOT to judge your thoughts. Embrace them, just let them happen, accept them, and continue breathing. I guarantee that starting with just 5-10 minutes of quiet sitting each day will help you focus on your tasks more clearly and put your mind in a state of ease you’ve never imagined. I sit first thing when I wake up, then head out the door for a ride/run.
Not the most in depth comment, but I think I’m going to give your AM tip a go- sounds like a great idea and I had been thinking about something similar for sometime…much appreciated!
Thank you Mars for this necessary and brief reminder. Most people consider themselves gifted for being able to multi-task and yes, it can come in handy, for umm… babysitters. But honestly, up with content (work quality makes for better life content) and down with flightyness and less than best efforts.
Hey Kimberli,
yeah – it’s like Zen approach: one thing at a time, as epic as possible. I admit it’s hard, I get distracted like all the time. But it’s so worth it, because you actually get things done.
Great post Mars, I recommend an early morning walk too – to blow away the cobwebs and set the scene for a happy productive day:)
Annabel,
a morning walk ( or run ) is white magic, it clears the head and gives you all you need for a creative digital working day !
Starting the day with a workout changes EVERYTHING. Yet, I still struggle to make it happen everyday… damn.
I agree though that having a physical, handwritten list is very helpful. After moving that stuff to laptop/iPhone… I realized the value of literally having a notebook sitting there to scratch in and cross things off a list.
Hey,
a workout is amazing – you get your energies flowing and you are ready for action.
I carry a personal notebook, and I use it for my drawings / notes. I carry it most of the time, and I prefer having a “real” tangible book. It structures my goals really well.
I actually give myself MORE time than I think I need. (The other end of the ridiculous spectrum, I guess!) The reason I do this is that I tend to put too many things on my daily list. At the end of the day, if I didn’t get everything done, I feel crappy. But If I overestimate the time needed, then I’m less likely to overload myself because I can see at a glance that there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Hey Antonia,
I know this from experience – heck, I can achieve all these goals today and then – crap, didn’t finish anything !
I believe the simplest way to counter that is to set smaller goals, and to simplify them. Instead of big, do tiny steps each and every day !
I am all too guilty of the multi-tasking workflow and it’s time to stop! I’m definitely inspired to shake up my work routine and really focus on creating kickass content. I owe to myself and readers to give it my all and never look back.
Thanks for the kick in the ass, Mars!
Hey Lex,
My pleasure, that’s why I do best 😉
Focus is everything – if it’s scattered, you are lost, if you can tame it, you’ll win.
Type in online stop watch in Google, and use that to time your work. It’s pretty awesome to work under a time pressure – your productivity will rise !
I’ll definitely do that. Thanks for the advice!
Totally Mars. Keeping off artificial substitutes for focus, excitement and circulation helps too – I know many digital crusaders like the coffee, myself included.
Getting out and moving is a much better way to get in the zone.
Ah coffee ?
Ali, why ???
Promise yourself to do a little workout every morning – it doesn’t have to be much.
5-10 mins in the beginning is totally fine ! Believe me, it’s way more effective and free !
Heya Mars!
Really cool post and so true. I’ve been working for myself online for the past 2 years and it does indeed require a lot of discipline. I like to look at it this way:
I’d rather work for myself 7 days a week on my own terms and risk to make little (or a lot) than work 9-5 for a boss.
Keep up the good work!
Cheers
Diggy
Hey Diggy,
yeah – no matter what it takes, working for yourself under your own conditions is the way to go.
You just got to tame that discipline !