How to do 5 days of work in 1 day
Do you wake up tired and with no energy? Does waking up at 5 am sounds like science-fiction to you? Is it difficult for you to focus on one thing and remain focused for more than a few minutes? Do you distract easily? Is it hard for you to find motivation? Do you have no time for your hobby?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions or even to all of them, this article is for you. If you want to achieve 5 days of work in just 1 day (yes, really), this is definitely for you! I’m going to share some tips, tricks, and techniques that I personally use on a daily basis. So no theory here, but actually tested stuff, mostly backed up by scientific research.
This is going to be a scratched surface of the most important things. In the near future I may go deeper with each one, and write more in detail but for now, let me give you a little outline of what you should focus on. I’ll also try to keep it relatively short and simple, with no fluff.
Some things you can apply today, some other things need time to start fully working – days, even weeks. But once you apply all of them, you’ll see a massive difference in your productivity.
#1: Your Health
When you improve your health, then it’s gonna be a snowball effect. There are 5 elements to improve your health significantly when using all five: hydration, exercise, diet, supplementation, and sleep.
Hydration
Start with a glass of water in the morning and keep hydrating during the day. My weight is almost 100kg, and I need to drink 3 liters of water per day – you may need more or less than that. I use a “water reminder” app on my smartphone (you’ll find it in the Apple store as well as on Google Play) so I remember to drink, and it tells you on the setup stage what’s your daily amount based on your body weight.
Excercise
Even a short walk every day makes a difference. Science says that the difference between sitting all day and just a short walk outside is huge. The difference between moderate exercise and extreme training is small. So do anything for a start, and do more overtime. Walk at least 30 minutes a day, but more is better. Heck, even 10 mins are better than nothing!
If you want to save time, and achieve the same results for your health training in only about 10 minutes, try HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).
Diet
Don’t go crazy with diets. All I do is avoiding fast food, alcohol, and sugar (it’s hard at the beginning with the sugar, but you’ll feel way better after few weeks – you can replace sugar with fruits), eat fish, nuts, vegetables, and fruits regularly. If you are super busy and don’t have time or money for healthy food, replace fast food with Huel: https://huel.com. I also reduced carbs and increased protein in my diet.
Supplementation
Use at least Ashwagandha – it’s cheap and super effective. You need to take it every day for a good few weeks before you feel the difference but it’s worth it – it reduces your stress, blood sugar, cholesterol, and cortisol levels, improves your brain function including memory, you sleep better, function better, and it’s safe. The best part is that it costs about $10 for a monthly supply. Consider using other supplements too, especially when you workout.
Sleep
Sleep is crucial for how you function during the day. Sleep well, and you’ll be full of energy during the day. I recommend “Sleep Cycle” app – the most popular app to monitor and improve your sleep, and you get a 14-day sleep course with it. It costs money, but I promise you $29.99/year is worth it (that’s all, no upsells).
#2: Your Mind
Once you sort out your health, you can move a level up and focus on your mind.
Mindset
Mindset is everything! If you follow me on Pinterest (click the red “P” icon on the top-right) you probably saw a lot of motivational quotes. I encourage you to read all the quotes and think for a minute about what you read. Watch motivational videos, visualize your success, and stay positive. Believe in what you’re doing, and you’ll succeed.
Meditation or power nap
I started with ~20 mins power nap in the middle of the day last year, but since I sleep really well thanks to the “Sleep Cycle” app, I meditate for about 15 minutes in a middle of a day – it’s like charging your batteries to the full level and have 100% energy again. Try both and see what’s better for you.
Supplementation
Again – Ashwagandha. If you want to try something that’s a level up, try nootropics from the “racetam” group – I used oxiracetam and phenylpiracetam – both are great, but these are a bit more advanced than just regular supplements, so I encourage you to contact your doctor or do really good research before you decide to take it.
I also use “Qualia Mind” occasionally – it’s expensive but the best on the market. I also use something that works almost like the NZT from “The Limitless” movie with Bradley Cooper – it’s called MICRODOSING and it’s really advanced stuff, not even legal in many countries, used for many years in the Silicon Valley (that’s where it started) …however, that’s a topic for a separate blog post.
#3: Productivity Techniques
All five are equally important. Start from planning, and go from there point by point – add Pomodoro technique, add timeboxing, and at last focus on automation and outsourcing.
Planning
Rule number one: plan your day a day before – in the evening / after work. Start your work with the most difficult task, and continue with easier ones (or less time and work-consuming). Make a to-do list and stick to it – you can correct it slightly during the day.
Pomodoro
Pick a task to work on, set a 25-minute timer, focus on nothing but the task, and work on it until the timer is up, take a 5-minute break, take a longer 15-30 minutes break after 4 Pomodoro. After you master this process, you can do longer time boxes – I do 60-minute sessions.
Timeboxing
Another time-management technique – used by Elon Musk. Timeboxing means that you enter a block of time in your calendar that you’ll spend on a certain task. Instead of working until the task is done, you decide upfront how much time you’ll spend on it and when – this way you’ll learn how to do more in a shorter amount of time. Great for perfectionists like myself 😉
Automation
Always think about how you can automate your business – reduce your work to the minimum. Use automation apps, and services like zapier.com – it’s usually cheaper compared to the work you’d do yourself. Automate your marketing, invoicing, bulk and repeatable tasks, social media, and business overall. Be creative, think outside of the box, and again: always try to find what you can automate.
Outsourcing
You don’t have to be the best at everything. Outsource things you don’t know so you can focus on areas of your expertise. Outsource simple tasks, too. I use onlinejobs.ph service where you can hire a Philippino expert or virtual assistant from about $200 part-time or $400 full-time. Web developers have higher rates. Outsourcing is like cloning yourself!
The key to success
Consistency – the 30-day rule
Pick one thing from each section: health, mind, and productivity, and do it for 1-4 weeks. When you’re ready, add another method from each section, and so on. This worked for me. See how it works for you, and modify it to your needs. Don’t worry if you miss a day once in a while. Scientifically, when you do the same thing for 30 days, you’ll do it for the month after, and so on.
I used to go to sleep at 1-2 am and couldn’t imaging waking up at 5:00 am as I do now. Remember all the questions I asked you at the beginning of this article? I would answer ‘Yes’ to all of them earlier this year. Today I wake up at 5, going straight to the gym for up to 60 minutes (I’ve got the gym at home, which makes it easier), take a cold shower for 5 minutes, drink 3 liters of water a day, taking all sorts of supplements, optimize my productivity, and lately work 12 hours a day – 8 hours for money, 4h for the 6-month experiment: trying to succeed with the “Partnership to Success” program.
It might be challenging at the beginning but if you start small and keep adding one thing at a time from this article, you’ll succeed, and thank yourself in the next few months. I promise you, it’s worth it.
P.S. As always, I encourage you to watch John’s free webinar if you want to learn how to build an online empire, and also an affiliate program if you want to earn up to $3,136.50 per sale. I highly recommend the webinar! The affiliate link is just for a quick buck, but you should also work on building a stable online business (watch the webinar to get more info).
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6 replies to "How To Become Productivity Superhero (400% Increase)"
Great article Sam. I really liked the Pomodoro and timeboxing part. Another good read along the same lines of the third idea is, “The Stop Doing List” by Matt Malouf.
I’m glad you like it, Kneller. Thanks for the suggestion – I heard about “The Stop Doing List” but never read it – I’ll add it to my list of books to read 🙂
very good all of your advice is very strong and on point i need to practice more of your advice than i already do especially about staying hydrated
Jonathan Murdock
Thanks, Jonathan. I’m happy you find it helpful! Staying hydrated may seem insignificant, but it makes a huge difference! Remember your body needs maybe a week to get used to consuming a larger amount of water (based on my experience).
it has been a struggle for me for a very long time i know this sounds so bad but i hate water and consume very few liquids and the ones i do consume are not so good for me for instance coffee.
Yeah, my wife’s the same – she hates drinking water.
Unfortunately, we all underestimate how crucial body hydration is. Here’s an interesting short article on the topic: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/the-importance-of-hydration/
I usually add some powder supplements like orange-flavoured creatine or BCAA amino acids. However, the simplest method is to add some lemon juice. Remember to stay away from sugar-sweetened beverages.