Basic workday schedule

Sleep plenty. can do 7 if well rested, at least 9 if tired.

Prep the day if possible. Having things like clothes and bag ready (and so minimising decisions to make in the morning) gives a head start.

Go to work. If desired, can start at some other place for inspiration.

Start the work day with a nice cup of coffee and minimal 15 minutes of writing on a blank A4 paper. Jot join what’s in your head regarding work. Ask questions like “What’s important right now?”, “What are my priorities?”, and “What have I, in professional context, learned recently?”. End this process with planning the day/week/month. I write this in a dedicated physical professional journal.

Do a good chunk of deep work on one of the priorities. Aim for 3 hours, but if it is possible to do more, why not? Try to protect this time. Don’t plan meetings.

/ Take a break.

Fill the rest of the day with tasks. This will probably not be the most exciting things, but it keeps the organisation running. I operate my tasks from the Do dashboard.

Go home whenever feels right. If the energy is up, a task can take 5x more time and effort to do then when going home. Go home and rest at 90-95%, save that final energy for deadline days!

Enjoy life. Work comes tomorrow. The rest of the day is for the other pillars of human life.

Stressed? Don’t solve it by thinking about work. Solve it by writing about my thoughts, feelings, and the process.

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How to effectively do tasks

“aim for your North Star, plan for the foreseeable future, live in the moment.”

Bram – on how to work towards big goals

Clearly define the foundational target:

• your North Star

Any type of work that is progress towards the North Star is categorisable in either:

• Practices
• Initiatives

executing principles I follow

• To touch is to finish
• It’s okay to remove/archive things, this means you’ve learned something
• Be kind to yourself in setting to do’s. Be strict to yourself in executing to do’s.
• If possible, wrap a little tie around it when finishing something up. This give more standalone value to the created piece, and it both cleans the mind and provides satisfaction.
• It is I who distracts myself the most
• I am explicit to myself (SMART)
• Approach work as sport: 1. warmup → 2. work → 3. cool down
• I organize my thoughts. I write down, such that I don’t have to remember.
• I pay attention to what I do. This rules out multitasking. Multitasking is terrible → to touch is to finish.
• I am aware of the type of energy the task requires, and I am aware of my current energy. Aligning those two is critical for stress-free work
• I track my time. Time can feel very different depending on the task and the success of execution. Tracking time calibrates my time intuition, and so enables me to learn how to pace my work. I’ve learned to do this quite automatically, so it’s not needed anymore.
• Day one thinking. Each day again, consider it as the first day at the job: what would you do?
• I can sense what my body and mind need to function well. I create an environment where I can easily act to those needs. (couch; food; go for a walk.

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How to make a decision between many things:

• Longlist: how many are you okay with trying?
• Shortlist: 1/3 see without choosing
• Then: Choose the best next option you find

Spend significant time on understanding the problem and asking the right question. Often, this results in an answer spontaneously (with a little help of a LLM).

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How I perform good work

Written December 1, 2024

Principles

• Log decisions. Log them in a place visible from the place where that decision is constantly made in some practice.
• Whenever possible, wrap up the work before switching to something else. This gives value to the work, even if its not in its desired state yet, and it keeps the mind tidy.

System

• North Stars
• Sprints
  • 12w → then reflection week
• Initiatives
• Practices

Brakes

• Take brakes, they are effective
• Before starting a break, make clear to yourself for how long you will take a break. Time bounding the brake will create clarity such that you can actually rest. I personally like 15-30min breaks. Shorter is often not feasible for me.
• Minimise input during breaks. No music, no phone, no writing. A break is to pause input and output.
• Breaks are great for checking in with the holy trinity. How is the body doing? Need some rest? → take a 10-20min nap. Need some nutrition? → eat or drink moderately. Need some movement? → stretch or exercise.