How to Get One Step Closer to Success

“A black alarm clock on a chair” by Szűcs László on Unsplash

It’s 8am and I’m sitting at my desk at work, ready to start the day. I’ve already let the dog out, fed the cat, set up the kids’ breakfast, been to the gym, grabbed a coffee, completed some correspondence and now I’m typing out this note.

To do this, I woke up at 6am.

If you want to be successful, you need to set aside time when you’re most productive. I used to have ‘me’ time after the kids went to bed and I did the dishes. However, at 9pm — following a long, grueling day — the mental and physical capacity just isn’t there to do anything meaningful. I found that what takes 1hr to do at 10pm, often takes 10 minutes at 8am.

Of course, this is not the same for all people — you need to identify the time of day during which you are the most productive. For me, I found that during the first couple hours at work I could check off tasks like a maniac. So I decided to extend this productive period by waking up earlier.

Let’s be frank, I’m not a morning person. So the only way I can make this work is to 1) ensure I get 6–7 hours of sleep, 2) prepare for the morning the evening before, 3) have a plan for the morning. This way, I just get up and go and I’m not wasting any of my productive period on mindless tasks.

Here’s your simple takeaway:
1. Determine when you are most productive.
2. Plan ahead so that you have more time to pursue what you want during your most productive period of the day. (Eventually this becomes routine.)
3. Prepare for your productive period outside of your productive period.

Do this and I promise you are one step closer to becoming a more successful person.