How do top performers manage to accomplish so much? Do you want to structure your week that could dramatically boost your productivity and success?
In their book 10x Is Easier Than 2x, Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy explore strategies for how to plan your week effectively through strategic time blocking and task organization. They show how you can transform scattered schedules into a purposeful system that maximizes productivity.
Keep reading to learn how restructuring your weekly schedule can help you achieve extraordinary results.
Schedule Tasks to Maximize Productivity
Sullivan and Hardy write that if you want to perform at a 10x level, you must learn how to plan your week effectively to do your best work. You can do this by grouping similar tasks on specific days. The authors explain that switching between different tasks like creative work and administrative tasks disrupts your focus and makes you less efficient. If you have a meeting scheduled in the middle of your creative work time, you’ll keep thinking about that upcoming meeting and struggle to focus on the task at hand.
(Shortform note: Grouping similar tasks is a productivity strategy called task batching. The benefits of task batching go beyond just getting more work done: The practice also reduces stress and mental fatigue. Research shows that frequent interruptions and context switching increases cortisol production in your brain, leading to frustration and burnout. When you batch similar tasks, you create a more manageable workload and clearer schedule. You’re less likely to feel overwhelmed by scattered responsibilities and more likely to produce higher quality work, leading to better recognition from supervisors and improved health and well-being.)
Sullivan and Hardy suggest segmenting your time into three types of days:
1) Rest days: Disconnect completely from work and engage in activities that help you relax and feel good—such as exercise, hobbies, or spending time with loved ones.
2) Prep days: Focus on preparing for your high-value tasks and staying organized. You might use these days for team meetings, planning sessions, or administrative tasks that set you up for success on your achievement days.
3) Achievement days: Do deep, uninterrupted work on your most important tasks. These are the days when you perform at your peak, doing the work that directly contributes to your 10x growth. For example, if you’re a consultant, you might use these days for client meetings and delivering presentations.
| Daily Rhythms vs. Dedicated Days: Which Is Better? Sullivan and Hardy recommend splitting your time into rest, prep, and achievement days, but research suggests it may be more effective to incorporate elements of each into every day based on your body’s natural rhythms. According to Daniel Pink in When, our energy and focus levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day in a predictable pattern of a crest, slump, and recovery period. This pattern is dictated by our individual chronotype—whether we’re morning larks, evening owls, or in-between third birds. Pink recommends you figure out what your chronotype is to strategically schedule tasks for when you’re best equipped to handle them. For morning larks, it makes sense to tackle your most important, “achievement” work during your morning crest period when you’re feeling alert. Then, use your midday slump for more mundane tasks like answering emails or for taking a restorative break. Finally, save creative work for your evening recovery period. So while designating entire achievement, prep, and recovery days has merit, Pink’s research suggests you may get more out of each day by structuring work around your body’s natural ebb and flow of energy. |
Additionally, Sullivan and Hardy suggest you tackle no more than three key objectives each day. Having too many items on your to-do list leads to shallow work instead of going deep on what matters most. These objectives should be clear, specific, and slightly beyond your current skill level to promote growth and flow—a state of high performance.
(Shortform note: In The One Thing, Gary Keller argues that you should go even smaller and focus on just one high-impact task each day. He explains that trying to juggle multiple priorities often leads to mediocre results, high stress, long hours, and missed time with loved ones. So when planning your day, consider whether you can pare down your to-do list even further to that essential “one thing” that will move you closer to your bigger goals.)
