How this one activity can increase your productivity by 200%

When I landed back in Vancouver last week, I was coming off the laziest trip ever. 

That included 40 days and 40 nights of waking up, adventuring through a random Asian country for 10-12 hours, while eating the best food ALL the time. There was no exercise, not much work, and not much reading (though I did read Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath. However, I did write a ton and create extremely positive relationships with everybody back home in Singapore.

Being back, I struggled with my schedule for almost a week. Struggling with personal maintenance, I wasn’t doing all the things I knew I needed to do. Of course, my self-esteem shot down, knowing that I was continuing down my lazy path. By Saturday night, I realized I had to get it together, so I decided to start by controlling my bookends.

Controlling the bookends
Controlling the bookends is a great concept that I learnt from… (I forget who), but here’s the concept.

We generally have no idea what is going to happen throughout the majority of our day (8:00am to 8:00pm). Therefore, to maintain control and balance, you control the things you do right after you wake up and the things you do right before you go to sleep.

While we have different priorities, here’s what my morning and evenings look like.

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The Morning (5:00am-8:00am)
When the alarm goes off, the mental requirement I have is that before I can shut it off, I have to get out of the bed and be on the floor. The thought “Just get it over with” helps a lot. Here’s what the routine looks like so far.

• Exercise, 3 sets of 12 push-ups, cobras, and frog squats
• Hygiene, Go sit on the toilet, shower, moisturize, brush teeth + floss 
• Reading, Sit down for a cup of tea while reading 1 chapter from the Old Testament and 1 chapter from the New Testament. I’m working through Isaiah and Acts now. 
• Health/Diet Eat breakfast, which consists of 2 hard-boiled eggs, banana, an apple (replacing the apple with any other fruit that is accessible). I may brush my teeth again if I feel dirty. 
• Reading, Read a chapter of professional development (Currently Pro-Active Selling) and take notes 
• Head off to work

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The Evening (9:00pm – 10:00pm)
Do you like to relax in the evenings? Here’s how I unwind from the day.

• Switch off wifi and computer by 9:00pm
• Exercise, 3 sets of Crunches, table-top crunches, and hip drops (8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 reps (Monday to Sunday) 
• Exercise/Entertainment, Watch an episode of whatever (20 minutes max) while doing 3 sets of 50 squats. 
• Entertainment, Play piano (for however long I feel like)
• Writing, whether it’s a journal article like this, or emails back and forth with accountability partners + life coaches, I like to update not only others, but ask for advice. Writing enables you to reflect on the day and where you’re at. No need to go deep every day though!  
• Relationships, call my girlfriend to see how her day went (not daily, but frequently 3-4 times/week)  
• Reading, Read a positive personal development book (currently Robin Sharma – Discover your Destiny with the Monk who sold his Ferrari)
• Rest/Health, Sleep at 10:00pm 

If you’re just getting started, slowly add in 1 thing a day, while pushing your wake-up time earlier and earlier as you fill it with activities. As long as you get 7 hours of sleep, you’re good. ;)  If I'm heading out for the night with friends, then the night schedule adapts accordingly to what time I get back. I might just head straight to bed when I get home past 2:00am.

Setting up this simple schedule results in 5 HOURS of productivity and personal fulfillment!  So, there’s 1 simple tip to not only waking up with purpose, but also finishing your day with purpose: CONTROL YOUR BOOKENDS! =D

Play around with it and let me know how it goes!  

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