Action Enforcer

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the last tip in this series:

Use Time Boxing (The Powerhouse Technique)

Up to this point, we’ve talked about a lot of ways to take more action every day. Each one being an important step to becoming a human action machine.

But probably THE most important skill you can master is that of managing your time for maximum productivity.

There are a lot of ’systems’ out there for helping you do this, but many of them require you to live almost like an automated robot with a set of instructions that need to be followed precisely or the system collapses.

This is probably why time-management continues to be a big problem for a lot of people. But it doesn’t have to be, because it really boils down to some simple concepts that you can begin using immediately.

You see, in your life, you have:

• Things to do
• Time
• The ability to do your things to do

What you need in order to bring this all together to produce some results is order and structure. That’s it!

The way you get that order and structure is to:

• Identify the things you need to do
• Assign a specific amount of time each day to complete them
• Focus solely on the task at hand and take action!

That’s the golden-ticket to being a human action machine!

The reason I think it works so well is because it gives your brain 2 key ingredients that drive it to taking action: Clear definable goals (even if they are very small goals), and a specific time-frame to accomplish them.

This is what time boxing is all about. Each day you:

• Create a list of things you want to get done for the day
• Assign a box (chunk) of time for each one, from 15 minutes to 2 hours
• Select a task, start a timer (like an egg timer or your watch), and work on getting that task done, without distraction, until the timer goes off. Afterwards, take a break, and move on to the next task for the day.

The structure, order, and mysterious driving-force this simple process creates in you, often produces mind-boggling results!

A Machine Built For Time Boxing

I believe that this powerhouse productivity technique can propel you forward in your life so fast, that I recently set out on a mission to create a simple and intuitive software-based tool to help make using the time boxing process a total no-brainer for you!

The software I created, known as “The 5 Bucks a Day Action Enforcer” (or “Action Enforcer” for short, does only one thing – time boxing, but it does it really well.

Action Enforcer is simple to use, but oh so powerful once you allow it to take charge of you daily time.  Don’t let the simplicity fool you, this is a beast when it comes to helping you take action!

If you’re ready to get more done, starting today, visit ActionEnforcer.com right now to discover what Action Enforcer can do for you.

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Take Care Of Your Health

No productivity list would be complete without mentioning the importance of maintaining your health.

Instead of spending a considerable amount of time going into detail about some very simple ideas, let me just get right to the point:

Drink more water and a lot less soda. With the amount of sugar (or high fructose corn syrup) in most soda’s, start visualizing each gulp you take as thick, gooey, liquid being poured on a fire, because that’s essentially what you’re doing – dampening your ability to think and take action with a sugary mess that takes a while to wear off.

Throw out most of the processed foods in your pantry. If a majority of your diet requires just a microwave to enable you to ‘heat and serve’ it, you’re really doing yourself a BIG disservice in both food quality and taste. Not only that, but most of it is bad for you, thus not too great for your brain. Regularly spend a few minutes to select 4 or 5 fresh foods/recipes to prepare for the coming week. It’s not that difficult, and it can really do a lot to contribute to your ability and desire to take action.

Occasionally take several deep breaths. It helps get blood flowing to your brain, instantly energizing it.

Exercise a little. Not a lot is necessary, but just enough to get you blood flowing.

Plan to sleep better. Avoid anything before bed that stresses out your mind or your body (including most prime-time ‘entertainment’, the daily news, and intense video games.)

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Practice ‘Early To Bed, Early To Rise’

You know by memory what will happen when you do this, right? But do you believe it? Do you think you can go to bed at 2:AM, get up at 11:AM and still be as productive as a ‘morning person’?

Well, for some people that may be true. And I used to think I was one of them, but I changed my schedule just to see what would happen, and the saying proved true for me.

Why?

I’m not really sure, but I suspect is has something to do with the psychological boost that comes from realizing how much you can accomplish by 1:00 in the afternoon when you do start early. It feels so much better than knowing you just dragged your butt out of bed while the world around you is just a few hours away from wrapping up their day.

Start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Just try it for month and see how it goes.

It’ll require you to give up the cool and mysterious ‘I’m a night-owl’ mantra, but it may have a huge impact on your productivity.

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Dig For Plenty Of ‘Why’s’

For motivation to do anything with some passion, our brains need plenty of ‘why’s’.

We tend to forget this step when we plow through our to-do lists and goals. As a result, we have a little initial steam simply because we ‘know’ we’ve got to get things done for some reason. But that kind of steam only powers us so far.

To have a long-lasting, consistent drive to take action toward anything, we need to fully grasp and appreciate the end-result we’re after, especially the emotional benefits – or how we’re going to feel when we’ve complete a goal and we’re experiencing it.

To give true power to any goal or task, get clear on why you want to accomplish it.

Depending on the size of the goal or task, this can be a simple exercise of just closing your eyes and thinking about a couple of motivating reasons why, or for larger goals, getting out a sheet of paper and making a list that you can look at regularly.

Get into the habit of always discovering the why’s for what you’re doing in your life. Dig deep, and dig with emotion.

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Beat It Into Your Head That Small Is Huge!

I’m not a big professional basketball fan, and you may not be either, but it really doesn’t matter because when you examine the elements of an entire game, it can teach you a lot about taking action.

Many games have teams scoring more than 100 points.

Have you ever stopped to consider all that goes into scoring that many points?

Last time I checked, there aren’t any 20 point shots that make it quick-work to get to 100. The most that can be scored at any time (without a foul) is 3 points. In the overall score of 100, even 3 points isn’t that much.

In reality, most of that 100 points is racked-up in small 1 and 2 point increments – or a bunch of small actions.

And to take it a step further, most of each of those small points are scored only after dozens of dribbles, several passes, a blocked shot or two, and many more minute details we rarely stop to give thought to.

In the end, it’s the team that executes more of all the small stuff better, even slightly better, that wins!

The point you want to hammer into your head that we all tend to forget sometimes is that it’s the small actions you take every day that propel you forward to reaching your goals.

Every tiny bit of time (5, 10, 15 minutes) you spend doing something toward your goals, the closer you get to winning the game!

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Dumb-Down After You Eat

For most people, the worst time to do any kind of ‘brain-work’ is shortly after eating.

You know why this happens, it has to do with your body’s need to divert blood from the brain to the stomach for the energy-draining digestion process.

Despite knowing this is how our body works, it’s easy to totally forget about it and dig into something that requires a lot of concentration and focus right after lunch.

This usually results in not-so-great results.

As with most things, the first step to solving the problem is to become aware that you’re doing it. Think about your personal work habits and the things you typically do after eating, and where possible, only take care of things that require  minimal brain power.

For me, that means a short nap occasionally, but if that’s not an option, there’s always checking email, clearing your desk, reading the news, and so on.

Each day for a few weeks, I’ll give you a new tip on how to get more done with the same hours you already have.  Here’s the next tip:

Keep A Tangent Log

No matter how hard you try to stay focused on the task at hand, sometimes a little voice inside your head just won’t leave you alone, so to shut it up, you allow it to lead you off on some unproductive tangent.

It’s reminding you about something you need to get at the store, or it’s sharing with you a great idea you don’t want to miss, or it gets really annoying and starts singing a song that you haven’t heard in a while, but you remember you love and you don’t want to forget again.

Since there’s no removing yourself from your voice, at least you can pacify it without letting it derail you altogether.

All you need is a pen and paper.

As you focus on the task at hand, anytime that little voice urges you to fire-up your browser to look for something or to get up, go to the kitchen, and add potatoes to your grocery list, instead of obeying it without argument, write down what your being told or reminded to do, then at the end of the day (or during another break), go through the items your list and take action on them.

Don’t let the voice interrupt the flow of your work.