Abraham Lincoln
It really is something when you work for yourself. You have to set a schedule, or an agenda almost every hour. Even if you work for someone else you still tick the bosses list as the days spiral towards the weekend. As CrossFit athletes we do this by setting goals, or by planning out our food in advance, and making time to get to the gym. Oftentimes, CrossFitters are "type A" personalities, Alpha/Omega, In-fucking-charge folk who won't stand for a minute of lost productivity - which is great. Do more, be more, have more fun doing it - I can sink my teeth into that. But lets look in the rearview for a minute. When is the last time someone accused you of being REALLY GOOD at something? If you've been accused recently and if it's something you are really good at, then your first thought was sure to be "Yeah but it could be better if I..." And that's the point. With a limit of 24 hours we really have all the time we need, but none to spare. An average day might be: 8 hours of sleep (if you are concerned about gaining strength and conditioning at all), 1 hour of training (if you can warmup and get it done without being a jabbajaw), 3-5 hours eating/cooking/cleaning (minimum, right?), and 8 hours working (Not if your self-employed - suckers!). Not much time left after that, is there? Thank god for rest days and a pocket calendar! So thats 22 hours of your day right there. Every person on the planet, rich or poor, strong or weak, black or white, has the same 24 hours to play with. Some will find a bar stool with their name on it, some will be a slave to the moving picture box, and yet others will find a way to get it all done.
If you had 2 hours a day to get what you needed to get done signed, sealed and delivered perfectly - how would schedule yourself? Where during the day would you do this? How would you stay at maximum effort for that amount of time? Anyone who has put a serious mental project at the forefront of their operation will tell you - it's fucking exhausting doing real hard thinking and planning!
I'd think an outline or plan would be in order - an agenda that you wrote and can adjust on a whim if needed. Then I would plan short bursts of work into my day during times I am most alert and undisturbed. Personally, the 15-20 minutes time allotment is where I do my best output. Some days, and only on some types of projects, I can go for an hour or two in one shot, but capping a work period quickly forces me to keep focused and allows my brain maximum output with minimal fatigue. Best work in minimal time, yup, that's CrossFit. Metal.
Most of my work is done between 4 AM and 2 PM. Most of that is used up coaching classes, eating, WODding, reading Chaos and Pain, and answering phone calls and emails. Which really leaves about 2 or 3 fifteen minute chunks here and there, and a few hours around noon to make something of myself. I don't care if this is not your schedule, its an example, figure your own life out and keep reading. The first focused amount of time is spent choosing which projects to tackle that day based on importance, how much time it will take in its entirety, and whether or not I even need to do this or if I should find a friend to help me with it. (You do delegate, don't you?)
Based on the law of diminishing returns, we know that the longer I work on one thing, the less it will yield overall. Here's a novel concept, KEEP YOUR INTENSITY UP. Nourish your intake (Steaks and Heavy Squats) to cover your energy expenses (anything requiring your attention for more time than it takes you to sneeze). Once your agenda is set blast away working on it in small chunks until your 15-20 minutes is up. Then stop. Get the fuck out of the room and do something, anything else. Try drinking water, stretching, or juggling knives doused in gas set on fire.
Working at higher intensities will yield more maximal output over a longer period of time than if you were to try to maintain a constant pace for the entire day.
Interval working. And if your LSD addicted boss or partner tell you to stop fucking around with knives you can tell them to stick one up there ass. Your too busy being fucking awesome and getting more done in 15 minutes than they did all yesterday because they were tired or some bullshit.
Working yourself to death is not an answer to an ever-increasing workload demanded by your pursuits or goals. Smart interval training dialed into your life where you are getting the most out of yourself at your most productive times of the day/week/month/year is something that takes tweaking and constant refinement but in the end will yield you more out of less.
Sweet, succulent efficiency.
Take your time, it is all you have.
One of the most vicious, brutal, and throat-crushingly hardcore mammals to ever nut-punch a lion unconscious by swinging a couple King Cobras around like a pair of serpentine nunchucks – the African Honey Badger. Your time is as precious as he is ferocious. Go forth...
If you had 2 hours a day to get what you needed to get done signed, sealed and delivered perfectly - how would schedule yourself? Where during the day would you do this? How would you stay at maximum effort for that amount of time? Anyone who has put a serious mental project at the forefront of their operation will tell you - it's fucking exhausting doing real hard thinking and planning!
I'd think an outline or plan would be in order - an agenda that you wrote and can adjust on a whim if needed. Then I would plan short bursts of work into my day during times I am most alert and undisturbed. Personally, the 15-20 minutes time allotment is where I do my best output. Some days, and only on some types of projects, I can go for an hour or two in one shot, but capping a work period quickly forces me to keep focused and allows my brain maximum output with minimal fatigue. Best work in minimal time, yup, that's CrossFit. Metal.
Most of my work is done between 4 AM and 2 PM. Most of that is used up coaching classes, eating, WODding, reading Chaos and Pain, and answering phone calls and emails. Which really leaves about 2 or 3 fifteen minute chunks here and there, and a few hours around noon to make something of myself. I don't care if this is not your schedule, its an example, figure your own life out and keep reading. The first focused amount of time is spent choosing which projects to tackle that day based on importance, how much time it will take in its entirety, and whether or not I even need to do this or if I should find a friend to help me with it. (You do delegate, don't you?)
Based on the law of diminishing returns, we know that the longer I work on one thing, the less it will yield overall. Here's a novel concept, KEEP YOUR INTENSITY UP. Nourish your intake (Steaks and Heavy Squats) to cover your energy expenses (anything requiring your attention for more time than it takes you to sneeze). Once your agenda is set blast away working on it in small chunks until your 15-20 minutes is up. Then stop. Get the fuck out of the room and do something, anything else. Try drinking water, stretching, or juggling knives doused in gas set on fire.
Working at higher intensities will yield more maximal output over a longer period of time than if you were to try to maintain a constant pace for the entire day.
Interval working. And if your LSD addicted boss or partner tell you to stop fucking around with knives you can tell them to stick one up there ass. Your too busy being fucking awesome and getting more done in 15 minutes than they did all yesterday because they were tired or some bullshit.
Working yourself to death is not an answer to an ever-increasing workload demanded by your pursuits or goals. Smart interval training dialed into your life where you are getting the most out of yourself at your most productive times of the day/week/month/year is something that takes tweaking and constant refinement but in the end will yield you more out of less.
Sweet, succulent efficiency.
Take your time, it is all you have.
