Why? Because you can’t happily sustain success in your professional
life if you neglect your personal “re-creation” time. Time block your
time off, and then make time for your ONE Thing.
The most productive people, the ones who experience
extraordinary results, design their days around doing their ONE
Thing. Their most important appointment each day is with
themselves, and they never miss it. If they complete their ONE Thing
before their time block is done, they don’t necessarily call it a day.
They use the Focusing Question to tell them how they can use the
time they have left.
Similarly, if they have a specific goal for their ONE Thing, they
finish it, regardless of the time. In A Geography of Time, Robert
Levine points out that most people work on “clock” time—“It’s five
o’clock, I’ll see you tomorrow”— while others work on “event” time
— “My work is done when it’s done.” Think about it. The dairy
farmer doesn’t get to knock off at any certain time; he goes home
when the cows have been milked. It’s the same for any position in any
profession where results matter. The most productive people work on
event time. They don’t quit until their ONE Thing is done.
“Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.”
—Ambrose Bierce
The key to making this work is to block time as early in your day
as you possibly can. Give yourself 30 minutes to an hour to take care
of morning priorities, then move to your ONE Thing.
My recommendation is to block four hours a day. This isn’t a
typo. I repeat: four hours a day. Honestly, that’s the minimum. If you
can do more, then do it.
In On Writing, Stephen King describes his work flow: “My own
schedule is pretty clear-cut. Mornings belong to whatever is new—the
current composition. Afternoons are for naps and letters. Evenings are
for reading, family, Red Sox games on TV, and any revisions that just
cannot wait. Basically, mornings are my prime writing time.” Four