I used to react to my days. Whenever something came my way, I’d deal with it. My mornings in particular had little or no structure to them. What I did the night before pretty much determined how my day would pan out.
Nowadays, things are a lot different. By lunchtime I’ve already aced my day and anything I do after that is icing on the cake. So what changed? Two things, to be precise. I got clear on my fundamentals and I started doing my deep work first.
THE CONSISTENCY OF FUNDAMENTALS
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In his book, A Philosopher’s Notes, Brian Johnson talks about the consistency of fundamentals. Drawing on Robin Sharma’s wisdom, he explains that while the specific manifestation of one’s greatness will differ from person to person, all masters have one thing in common: a passionate consistency for the fundamentals.
He says they show up day in and day out to rock the things that are most important to make them exceptional in their field. Essentially, it doesn’t matter what your goal is, if your fundies (as Brian likes to call them) aren’t solid, everything else is going to be shaky, too.
What are Fundamentals, Exactly?
Fundamentals are different for everyone, but the results they bring about are the same. You’re more focused, more grounded, more energetic, more everything you need to be to achieve your goals.
My daily fundamentals include drinking a glass of warm water and lemon juice when I wake up, meditating for 10-20 minutes, visualizing, journalling, doing a round of Tibetan Rites, exercising and finally, stretching. Healthy eating is also a must for me. When I eat badly I’m lethargic and grumpy, ’nuff said.
Yours may look similar or they could be completely different from mine. Figure out what works for you and instill it as a daily habit. If you’re not sure, try something for a few days and see how it makes you feel.
Don’t force yourself to do something because you ‘think’ you should do it, you’ll never turn it into a daily practice if your heart’s not in it. And don’t set the bar too high to begin with, either. Rather make it so low it’s impossible not to succeed.
For example, if you want to make meditation a daily habit, start by committing to one minute each morning. That’s it. From there you can progress to five and ten and so on. Also, don’t give yourself permission not to do it. Remember, 99% is a bitch – 100% Is a breeze.
DO YOUR DEEP WORK FIRST
In his book Deep Work, Cal Newport talks about honing your ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. Similar in sentiment to Steven Covey’s habit of putting first things first, doing your deep work before anything else is a recipe for success. As Brian Tracy says: Eat That Frog.
According to Cal, people who consistently engage in deep work are more productive and accomplish more than those who spend more time on mundane tasks —what he refers to as shallow work— like hanging out on social media, reading and answering emails and organizing data in Excel. These are all things that fall into Q4 of Covey’s time-management matrix.
As with any new habit, start small. Social media has left us humans with a pathetically tiny concentration span. To truly master the art of deep work you’ll need to begin by doing 45-60 minutes at a stretch. Only when that becomes easier should you up the amount of time. If you try to do too much too soon, you’ll probably end up falling short and giving up.
From personal experience I can tell you my days have gone from so-so to out the ball park awesome since engaging consistently in these two practices. Give them a try and see for yourself. Side note: be sure to check out Cal’s TEDx talk on why you should quit social media. He has some interesting points.
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