Get 5 Extra Hours In Your Day

Actually, it's more than 5 hours.

Neilson has reported that in 2016, the average American watched over 5 hours of TV per day.Now multiply that by the ~300 million people in the country.That's 1.5 billion man/hrs that could have been spent doing something useful.We could build cities, discover cures, or even just get 6 pack abs.Maybe it's not TV for you--so what is it?What is the thing that's so hard to give up? The thing you think you need to relax, unwind, unplug?What would happen if someone took it away? Would you die a slow and painful death?Probably not.

2 Minute Action:

Since we're moving from TV to our smart devices . . .Unlock your smartphone and check your battery settings.On an iPhone: Settings > BatteryThen check how much power you've used (or screentime you've logged) in the last 24 hours and in the last week. The results may surprise you.Try deleting one app from your phone for a week. Just one week.If you don't explode, maybe you might have the time to think about the life you really want to be living.

The Most Fundamental Lesson Of Productivity You Can Learn From Apple

Right now, Apple is spending money building "Apple Numbers."For all you non-Mac users, this is the pre-loaded spreadsheet tool you get when you buy a Mac.How many people use it?How many people rely on Apple Numbers? The truth is that we didn't buy the Mac because it was great at spreadsheets. We bought it because of the experience of using it over other computers.So why bother building all the rest?This isn't how these companies BUILT their brands in the first place. They built their brands by focusing, relentlessly, on the single most important features to THEIR customers--and no one else's.This is an important lesson to remember as we focus on what we want in our lives. Everything we do costs time and money.It's up to you how you spend it.We can only be productive when we put those resources into what matters; everything else is a distraction. Apple is wasting resources going after segments of the market that are useless to capture. If Apple really wanted to, they could be the best spreadsheet developers in the world, but they're not, they're Apple. As Apple's stakeholders grasp more influence over the direction of the company, the company's alignment with customers begins to fade.What made them successful was the attention to the needs of the market without being distracted by what companies like Microsoft were building or saying. It turned out, Apple's customers had different needs than Microsoft's customers, and they were able to carve out a huge market segment with which they could align.Boom. Product/Market fit.By focusing on what consumers actually responded to, Apple was able to build a cash cow brand without anyone seeing it coming.You only have a limited amount of time and resources to make your impact.Being productive doesn't mean working 100 hours a week. It means deciding what's important and having the discipline to stick to it and pull back when you get distracted.Don't be Apple Numbers. Be Apple.

2 Minute Action

Make a list of three things that make you feel alive.What activities give you energy?What things drain you?Now take the last two weeks of your calendar. How many hours were at work? How many were outside? How many were with others?Look carefully at your time audit and compare it to your list.Are you focusing on the right things, or will you look back at a life lived untrue to yourself and interests?

Are You A Fish? (What It Could Mean For Your Future)

What's a Fish?

A Fish is a hunted resource. It's lured in and snatched up. It's indirect, at best, at determining its future. (At worst, it's entirely passive.)You're a fish if you:

• Put your resume out on Monster.com
• Are hoping someone picks you to get promoted.
• Are waiting to be discovered.

If you're waiting for someone to notice your work or choose you for the team, you're betting on a highly unlikely strategy.A more productive strategy is deliberation.What would happen if you found someone you wanted to work with and sent them a video about the specific things you can do to add value to their project? That's not being hunted. That's hunting and it helps you stand out from the pack of identical resumes.What would happen if you put together a report of the work you're doing and how specific decisions have been saving the company money? What would happen if you asked your boss to add even more value by promoting you?What would happen if you called/emailed/DMed the big players in your field and pitched them on the work you can do for them in exchange for some exposure?

This is taking the bull by the horns. This is doing the fishing.

This is a productive mindset that will leave you feeling powerful and in control of your future.All you have to do is move forward. You already know what to do.

2 Minute Action

What's something you've been waiting on? The novel you want to write, the promotion you deserve, getting fit?Now's your chance.Email me and I will respond with some action options to help you get the ball moving. :)