I was paid a lovely compliment this week.
A colleague said: I don’t understand how you manage to get so much done.
He was talking about my latest book, to add to the series I’ve been fortunate enough to produce on business communication (below).
Along with the University of Cambridge communication course I’m currently developing, plus various bits of teaching, running Creative Warehouse, as well as plodding/jogging/sometimes sprinting (a bit) 10k three times a week.
I smiled, and thanked my kind friend, but later thought about what he had said.
How did I manage to get lots of stuff done?
I have a varied workload, and delight in it, which helps with the energy levels.
Doing the same thing all the time just makes me bored, lethargic and miserable.
But it does raise the question of how to stay on top of everything you’re working on.
Which for me comes down to one small, simple, but effective solution:
- Identifying when your mind is at its most productive.
When I first started trying to write novels, about 20 years ago, I was still working for the BBC.
Being a News Correspondent for TV and radio is a demanding job, as you can imagine.
Which meant, understandably, that I struggled to find the time for my lust to write more creatively.
So I changed my life.
I used to go to bed at the usual kind of time, around 10.30, and wake up groaning with the alarm at seven.
Instead, I started heading for bed around nine.
(Yes, I am a big baby!)
But that shift of life meant waking up much earlier, about 5.30, fresh and ready to go.
I immediately rolled out of bed, got dressed, sat at my desk, started writing, and discovered something marvelous…
The words flowed beautifully.
The painful grind of the evening writing sessions became a mere memory, and all my work was done in the morning.
I could usually get through around 1000 words before setting off for my BBC day.
And wow, it felt so good.
Currently, I’m not writing novels.
I’m still working through my contract for non-fiction books, as well as developing the University course.
But the habit of getting up early to start work has stayed with me, come what may.
It doesn’t matter whether I’m thinking about a teaching problem, how to explain some subtle concept…
Or a writing issue, about how to explore an important point…
The answers come far easier when my brain is freshest, most active, and happy to rock ‘n’ roll.
So there’s your answer for how to get stuff done.
You could think of it as the Golden Hour of your mind, as a friend put it.
Work out when it is, whether early or late, and make the most of it.
Take it from me, you won’t regret it.
