Maybe we just need to subtract to get ahead
For the last couple of weeks I have been trying a new habit. So far I am finding it really helpful, and it has transformed my working days.
So what is this new habit?
Sitting in silence and doing nothing at the start of the day -for thirty minutes.
My life coach suggested it when we were talking about my struggle to concentrate and get work done in a limited amount of time. With little structure to my days, I found myself staring into the void of Shrodinger’s workday: neither working nor not working.
I would come to work and get lost online: reading, doing ‘research’, getting distracted on YouTube, reading but not processing emails.
Because I wasn’t getting work done I found it hard to go home, so I was wasting hours in this fog of distracted non-productivity.
At first I wasn’t impressed by the idea of doing nothing in the morning. Take 30 minutes out of my day? That would mean I got even less work done!
But in fact after doing the 30 minutes of sitting and looking at my plants, and the sky outside, and the carpet, I found myself burning through work, getting enormous amounts of useful work done, and vanquishing tasks that had been painfully hanging around my to do list for months.
Don’t get me wrong, sitting and doing nothing for 30 minutes is not fun. It is almost agonizing, especially as you are not supposed to have a clock or any way of telling time (I set a timer on my phone and leave it in the next room). But after you finish there is a clarity of purpose and energy that took me by surprise.
It’s a bit like cold showers, which similarly are not fun, not something you want to do, not enjoyable, but feel great as soon as you finish and for me at least have provided physical and mental benefits.
I don’t sit in silence every day, but the days I do I get a lot more work done, so I can deliberately take it easy other days, or even take them off entirely.
After all, what is the point of leaving formal work if that just means you end up ‘working’ (or not working, but not doing anything else either) 24-7?
Other habits
There were another couple of things I started doing at the same time that I think have also helped.
I turn off my computer when I leave.
Previously I would leave it on, and have dozens of open tabs that would derail me immediately the next day.
Now I come in, do my 30 minutes of quiet time, make a coffee and THEN turn the computer on for the first time.
The other thing is after I turn the computer off, I write down 1-2 things I want to get done the following day. On paper.
I leave this on my desk in front of the computer so I see it before I turn it on.
Since I started doing these things my productivity, happiness, and ‘work’-life balance has improved immesurably.
So I would recommend some or all of these things if you are struggling with staying on task, or with distraction.
It’s funny because it wasn’t the topic I brought to the coaching call. I actually wanted to talk about burnout and my frustration with being involved in two businesses, but my coach got me to figure out what was actually wrong and gave me some suggestions to fix it.
So if you need someone to help you think about things, you might want to think about coaching. I have done business coaching, life coaching, even financial coaching over the last couple of years and it has been incredibly useful. Almost like a cheat code for life.
And of course we have coaching here at RetireJapan too.
How about you? Do you have any coaches to help you with things? Any recommendations?
Thanks for sharing this approach to start the day, get centered. Habits are important, earlier this year I also started writing (on paper) the 2 or 3 critical things that I want to either complete or get enough traction on to call it a “good day”. And i am like you, sitting in silence is painful and feels like a waste time. Eventually, I realized it wasn’t “wasting” time, but rather “spending” time doing something that was going to yield a positive result. After doing this for a while, I also realized that there were many things i was doing, but not focused on that thing. For example, when i was younger (much younger) and in my teens and early 20’s, I would actually sit down and listen to music. Not doing anything else. I realized that I had gotten away from that 30 or so years ago. I recently started doing that again….just sitting and listening to music. No scrolling, no looking up things, just hearing the music. It isn’t silence, but it leaves me with the same feeling.
“…my coach got me to figure out what was actually wrong and gave me some suggestions to fix it.”
I once read something that said: “Others know us better than we know ourselves.” Perhaps not always, or in all cases/situations, but that effect can be there, it does happen, and the ‘truth’ or accuracy of what others see in you can be striking–be it a coach, life partner, stranger on the street, bartender, etc.