Do you ever have days where it seems like you accomplished nothing? If you could just look back and say, “well at least I got that done.” I am on a mission to stop having days like that. And I think I’ve found a solution.
I’ve figured out a way to turn the most wasteful hour of my day, into the most productive. I call it the Power Hour.
The first hour of my workday always slips by without a second glance at the clock. I’m checking email, posting on social networks, slugging down coffee to try and wake up my sleepy brain and suddenly…it’s gone. Not anymore. This is going to be my power hour. The secret to the power hour is in filling it with small tasks that are otherwise left undone.
We all have them. Little projects we avoid, or just never seem to have the time to tackle.
- Clean the junk drawer
- Back-up the hard-drive
- Sort and empty the file cabinet
- Unclutter the computer desktop
- Brainstorm new marketing strategies
All of these tasks could probably be completed in less than an hour, but we simply put them off. If you dedicate one hour each day to check an item off your to-do list imagine how much you will accomplish in a week… or a month. That’s the beauty of the Power Hour.
There is also simplicity and freedom in the Power Hour. Especially for those of us who work from home.
Separating work and home duties is especially difficult when your office is in your home. You’re constantly surrounded by household distractions when you’re at work, and you never really leave the office when you know work is literally around the corner. Some days it takes zen-master focus to ignore the pile of dishes in the sink or walk past a laundry basket full of clean clothes slowly wrinkling while I creep downstairs to my office. And when I do cave, and get sucked into paying bills or sorting the mountain of schoolwork as I make room on the counter for the laptop, I feel guilty. But now I have the Power Hour.
With this one hour of freedom I can commit to tackling a small project every day, whether for work or for home, without guilt.
Celebrate the small successes in every day. Join me and find your Power Hour. What will you tackle?
Share your successes or suggestions in the comments.
marketing d.i.y. 