“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”
-Jim Rohn
You know that feeling?
The one that overpowers you at the end of a highly productive day?
It feels good right?
No, not good…
Great!
The question is; how do you make every day a highly productive day?
We know there are times when we’re not so productive, but why? And more importantly, what can we do to stop unproductive days from happening altogether?
Well, that’s exactly what this article attempts to tackle. Five simple ways to completely dominate your day – every day!
Let’s go…
1. First thing’s first; Eat the frog
Mark Twain famously said, “Eat a live frog every morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
What does it mean?
It means to complete the task you dread the most, first and foremost. In doing so, you’ll have a downhill stroll for the rest of the day. Barring no unforeseen circumstances of course.
And by getting the thing you’re likely already procrastinating on done and over with, you’ll see your motivation skyrocket through the roof!
2. Extract thoughts from your head
Most people know the importance of writing things down. What I’ve found, however, is a major disconnect between something known as common sense, and the application of this knowledge.
Many folks leave thoughts, ideas or problems swirling about mentally. And they never understand why they feel overwhelmed, out of control, or incapable of finding solutions.
Since you don’t want to be like most people, it’s important to extract things from your head – just about everything! In doing so, you free up real estate in your brain. And such releasing of thoughts allows for new ones to enter – solutions, ideas, etc.
3. Only work on the roots
Sakichi Toyoda created a process for determining the root cause of errors during the manufacturing of Toyota vehicles. The process, known as the “5-Why Method,” allowed for the discovery of problems, root problems, causing the issue.
Often, we spend countless amounts of time and energy on things with no real relevance to the root of our problem. Therefore, we waste away these precious commodities.
To truly dominate your day, work only on the root of things. Perhaps you are working on a project for a client, great, what’s the root of the project. Maybe you’re trying to reduce your stress at work, great, what’s the root of the stress.
By asking a series of “why’s” – five to be exact, though three works too – and answering them in succession, you’ll find the root. And once you do, annihilate it, problem solve through it, and dominate it!
4. Control your reactions to triggers
First, what is a trigger? In this context, it’s something that brings about an emotional response of any kind – happy, sad, anger, joy, and on.
For instance, you’re driving and someone cuts you off, should we insert anger here? Or you get an email about free tickets to a concert, insert happiness?
Each day you have hundreds, if not thousands of triggers. Some cause neutral responses while some invoke intense emotions.
A major trick to dominating the day is controlling your reactions to triggers. And we’re mostly referring to those reactions that throw you off your game – anger, frustration, sadness, etc.
I’ll admit, it’s no easy task, but when you can control your reactions and reduce irrational thinking and behaving, you become unstoppable.
5. Create beta versions
If you’re anything like me, you have struggled with perfection. Specifically, in the sense you want things you create, work on, or have any influence over, to be perfect.
The problem?
Perfection sucks time and motivation. Drastically if I might add.
As a great mental workaround, think of things you create or problems you are solving as beta versions.
What do I mean?
It’s a way of thinking that allows the creation of something while knowing there will be room for improvement. Software or electronic companies do this all the time. They create, adjust, iterate, pivot, and so on and so forth.
By thinking in terms of beta versions, you allow your motivation to remain elevated, and you realize more progress. Give this a shot and you’ll likely see significant progress on anything you’re working to complete.
Final Thoughts
With the incorporation of these five things, you are bound to dominate. You’ll likely end the day sitting in awe at your performance. Reliving the moments when you sliced through problems with operational ease.
It’s a great feeling, and one you can experience simply by deciding to incorporate these moving forward.
Are you ready to dominate the day?