How to Use Power Hours to Rule The Day in Less Time?
A time comes when you think, “Screw it, I am doing it.” It happens when you strike a terrible blow, hits the ego spot, and you work like a beast. Another case is understanding the importance of a task and finishing it before it becomes urgent.
Power hours in productivity dictionary is a term where we set aside a time slot to work on the less essential tasks. One hour, multiple jobs and boom, Done!
Since they are less critical, it doesn’t mean they are comfortable too! Depending on your practice and focus, you can finish multiple tasks in this power hour. It starts with knowing at which time of the day you are most focussed.
Removing distraction during power hours
How hard is it to focus on the present work for just an hour? I spend 30 minutes daily on nonstop writing, and when I look at the word count after each session, it is mostly higher than expected.
I generally aim to keep my articles about 3–7 minutes read-time, and when I reach the 4 minutes threshold in just say 20 minutes, I start trusting this process and do it every day. Yesterday it took 18 minutes; today was 16. Let’s see where this will converge. Train the brain and feel the magic!
If you can change your environment, please do that. This time you have a lot of options to modify your workstation ( if you have one ) by just decluttering it in a way which suits you. Since every adult respects privacy after a phase, you can build a productive environment where no one can disturb you.
To avoid all distractions at once, I prefer writing around 6 AM at the terrace with a view of nature. The only electronic device in the picture is my computer.
Rewards are quick
If you have only one task to complete, the reward can get at least one hour to show.
Imagine you have so many serialised tasks to finish in one hour that you feel pumped up after completing each of them. You may also want to keep going. The immediate rewards build momentum and motivate you to keep pushing even after the task is complete.
It is like the inertia of rest and motion. If you are in motion, how can you halt abruptly? In a way sleeping is peaceful, and you prefer to respect the gravity of bed before waking up, similarly the adrenaline while hustling is also fun!
This productivity compounds
In the starting, you will prefer to have at least one power hour in the week. After seeing great results, you will ramp up to daily frequency. Before you know it, you are crushing deadlines, nailing presentations and getting more time for self-improvement and self-care too.
When I published the first article of 2020, I aimed to set a monthly target to post on the 1st of every month. After the imposition of nationwide lockdown from March 25, a close friend suggested me to start writing my blogs instead of sharing from the famous authors. I learned a lot from well-known writers, and now it’s time to give back to the community!
I gave it a shot and today is day 54 of my 100 days writing streak. My monthly frequency had just started on March 1 when I hit all of a sudden to the daily one with a plan in mind. I even want to publish more than one articles every day, but not any time soon. It is a distant target.
Finding the power hours
Power hours have a lot to do with your sleep schedule. Unless you have a consistent sleep pattern, it is difficult to find out what time of the day you are most energised. Mostly after waking up, you are ready to rule the day.
But that’s not it. Your environment set-up can depend on the time of the day. That’s why it is vital to have a consistent sleep routine to find what time of the day you feel most energetic.
For the morning people, you know what I’ll say here. Yes, the after-breakfast time. For the night owls (I have been one myself), I don’t have a say because I did not maintain a sleep schedule, so my most productive hours were the ones after a few hours of waking up. It was inconsistent, but worked for some time until I realised the need to have regular sleep hours to have a more dedicated power hour!
Following a consistent sleep pattern will help you in finding the time when you are most creative and ready to tackle any task thrown at you. But if sleep is what you are struggling to maintain, even just one hour of hustling at a regular frequency will build trust in this process because of the momentum it accumulates with time. You will find out how much work you can get done in just one hour!
So, find an environment, remove the distractions and take off for the whole day by just working for one rewarding hour. You will feel the positivity and will want to do it more often!
This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing in this 100-days streak. Navigate to the end of article 22, for the references from day 23 onwards. If you would like to read the ones before day 22, here is the first one that documents them in the end.
~ Sanjeev
