First thing after breakfast

The other day, I went for a walk and got on the phone with a friend. We chatted about what’s going on in our lives while I paced back and forth in a forested part of a nearby park.

Unsurprisingly, he and I are each struggling with spending so much time at home. Don’t get me wrong: he has a good job and I have a healthy business, so we can’t complain too much. Still, we’re feeling the effects of being stuck at home.

My friend mentioned that he has, for a while now, made it a habit to work with great focus for an hour immediately after breakfast. He doesn’t check his email, he doesn’t read the news—he just dives straight into work. (In his case, that’s writing his first book.) He sets a timer and stops working when the timer goes off. He says it’s done wonders for his progress.

I’ve copied my friend’s method and the initial results are great: I’ve been highly efficient and very focused in these post-breakfast hours. At that early point in the day, I haven’t accumulated worries and thoughts from the hundreds of other daily inputs yet. It’s just me, my fresh mind, and my work. (In my case, the work is creating the content for my next course.)

Does this mean that working without interruption for an hour after breakfast is now my latest “productivity hack” or “the number one thing everyone should do”? No. It’s just something that works for me, right now.

I’m sharing this particular technique because, due to the pandemic, I have been less motivated than usual. I needed a way to shake things up and get going again. This particular method happens to be a hit for me.'

Working with great focus for an hour immediately after breakfast might work for you too, right now. Or it might not. I’m not pushing this particular method.

But if you’re not doing as well as usual, why not try something new?