Wednesday Musings on ILLUMINATION — Start the Day Right. Write.

A productive day requires momentum.

It involves starting the day right.

For me — It boils down to the write.

Working days can be immensely fulfilling. It can get increasing frustrating as well, especially when it comes to managing distractions in parallel with getting work done. It is important to settle into a rhythm that allows us to hum through the day with a clear focus. Setting the rhythm to settle should not be seen as a luxury. It is a necessity.

One of the Principles that I adhere is the Pareto Principle.

“The 80–20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is an aphorism which asserts that 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event — Vilfredo Pareto”

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/1/80-20-rule.asp

While this is an observation and not exactly a form of hard science, I can see it having huge application in business and daily productivity.

In that sense and for the purposes of this article — I will focus on that 20% in terms of the starting the day on the right foot and setting our productivity machines up for a brilliant day.

While 20% is extracted as an example, it is not meant to be taken in an arbitrary fashion.

What is really means is 20% of our planning and effort upfront derives 80% of the results we seek.

Setting the Stage …

I am usually hyped up and ready to go when I am back from my morning walk. By the time I hit my doorstep, I would have scribbled or typed into my phone a list of items to work on for business and other activities.

I would head straight to my working desk, tear a piece of yellow Post-It note and quickly pen down the items from my phone word-for-word without elaboration.

Then I will stick that Post-It note on my laptop where it is immediately visible all day.

It looks like this.

I would power on the laptop before I head for breakfast in the kitchen.

This saves me the waiting time that I would have to incur down the line while I am at my desk.

Then Have A Light Breakfast …

My breakfast is typically light.

A bread with peanut butter with a fresh coffee brew will do wonders. Occasionally I do have sponge cake or marble cakes in place of sliced bread.

What matters is the energy that is required to get work done.

While I eat and stare at the view outside of the window, I will pause to appreciate how beautiful life can be with the scenery bathed in morning Sun. I would watch people walking in a hurry, the trains moving in predictable frequencies and people exercising.

It looks nice with a rhythmic fashion.

While I do appreciate the view in front of me — I would be thinking about the emails to send to my business partners and clients, as well as the social media posts to be constructed for the day at the back of my head.

Any new or lingering thoughts are immediately captured into the “Reminders” application in my smartphone and would be jotted on a 2nd Post-It note when I get to my desk.

The Ball Starts Rolling with a Skeleton …

By the time I get to my working desk — The laptop is powered on and ready for work.

I would start by reviewing the Post-It notes scribbled this morning and as well as the one from yesterday to check for spill-overs. Any items brought forward has to be re-prioritised for attention and completion.

Then, I would review all the line items to work on.

I typically prefer to work on writing articles and posts in the morning as the creative juices tend to flow naturally before noon.

Thus, I will work on those first.

This process begins with skeleton creation.

Using this article as an example, I would write the following into a Word Document: -

Title: Musings on ILLUMINATION — Start the Day Right. Write.

Sub-Header 1: Setting the Stage …

Sub-Header 2: Then Have A Light Breakfast …

Sub-Header 3: The Ball Starts Rolling with a Skeleton …

Sub-Header 4: … Followed by the Body …

Sub-Header 5: … Ends with Distribution and Engagement …

That is quickly followed by searching for high quality images on Unsplash.

When this is done, I have the skeleton for the article and that anchors the content body to the idea and guided by the headers.

With the skeleton and images in place, I would not need to hop in and out of article writing to think about the logical flow or image hunting.

I can just focus on writing.

This is the same approach I use for social media.

I would pen down the message that I want to spread for the day and save it as draft, allowing the idea to sit in and develop in my mind before I work on the details later.

All these are done while the face of my smartphone is flipped facing downwards.

It has to be distraction free.

… Followed by the Body …

Once I am done with the skeleton of the article and social media posts — I will kickstart the process of content creation.

Using the sub-headers as anchors, I will time-box my Medium writing efforts within 45 uninterrupted minutes. During this time, I will be in my unplug cocoon. This is to minimise any potential distraction to flow of thought processes required for writing. I would work to get the manuscript out first before performing edits as the process of iterative writing and re-writing eats up more time during writing, compared to post-draft completion.

Then I will spend some time to go through the content for flow, for sub-header consistency.

Then I will look for relevant (and high-profile tags) for publication.

Once the published button is hit, I will move on to complete the social media posts on Linkedin. Once that is posted, I will trim and replicate the posts on other social media platforms for greater outreach.

… Ends with Distribution and Engagement …

Before I start checking emails and text messages to formally partake in the grind of the day, I will do the following: -

• Content Distribution.
• Content Engagement.

I will be revisiting previous articles and posts created yesterday and curating them for distribution into various social media platforms for higher outreach and visibility.

After all, these are valuable digital content assets that can be used and re-used to disseminate Thought Leadership and business marketing purposes.

Engagement is then followed quickly after distribution.

I will start looking for the posts that are from my professional networks and start commenting on them to boost higher viewership. Naturally not all content posts will speak to me, so I choose those that I can resonate with to provide that boost by a “Like” and a comment.

It is also important to support our network.

I would replicate the same for Medium via highlights, especially for those articles that well written and thoughtful.

I get to learn new ways of expressing ideas as I highlight.

And that is the last leg before I start attending to the onslaught of emails.

That would be 830am.

By then, my productivity machine will be up and running, ready for hustling.

When it comes to setting the day up for success, I believe that a little planning and penning goes a long way.

Writing, could be a way of starting with the right things on the right footing.

Some writing can be brief and highly useful, such as the Post-It note reminders.

Some writing as such long form article writings or short social media posts are best done and completed while unobstructed, natural creative juices run high.

That, I believe, is the way to start the day right.

For me, I write.

First.

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About the Author:

As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.

Because simplicity adds value.

Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow.

And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?

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