How To Get More Done in 2024 (Best Advice for Focus and Productivity)

Do you want to do more this month? How do you effectively become more productive? Today, Jay will share with us how to maximize your efficiency, ensuring that this month becomes your most productive one yet. Are you ready to unlock your full potential? Jay introduces the concept of 25-minute stretches of focused work, strategically interspersed with 5-minute breaks—a game-changer for heightened productivity. Or engage in job-related tasks for 52 minutes and then take a 17-minute break. Jay sheds light on the wisdom behind the practice of tackling the easiest or hardest tasks first, providing valuable insights into mastering time management. Let's uncover the secrets of distinguishing between creative and logical days, understanding how to harness each for optimal results. In this episode, you’ll learn: How to become more productive effectively How to manage your time without stress How to be more intentional with time management The best way to remain productive is to find ways to eliminate distractions that keep you from accomplishing your tasks. With Love and Gratitude, Jay Shetty What We Discuss: 00:00 Intro 01:20 Do you want to become more productive this month? 03:44 #1: Engage In Job Related Tasks For 52 Minutes And Then Take A 17-Minute Break 06:57 #2: The 25 minute stretches of focused work broken down by 5-minute breaks 11:32 #3: TTC - Task, Time, Calendar 15:44 #4: The Practice of Doing the Easiest/Hardest Things First 17:38 #5: Creative Versus Logical Days 22:00 #6: Energy Versus Time 25:13 #7: Putting Your Phone Away Lessens Distraction See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jay Shetty?

  This episode is brought to you by AG1. Are you feeling September reset too? Shorter days, longer to-do lists, earlier alarms, all those routines you promised yourself you'd pick back up. It can feel like your whole life is recalibrating. And when everything around you is changing, it helps to have a few things you can rely on. AG1 Next Gen is one of those easy habits to keep. It's the clinically-backed, comprehensive daily health drink that supports your gut health, energy production, and foundational nutrition all in one scoop. AG1's ingredients are sourced from quality partners for absorption, potency, and nutrient density to deliver the foundational nutrition your body needs. And alongside a proper diet,

• 0:44Jay Shetty?

  AG1 Next Gen meets 94% of nutrient requirements and it's clinically shown to enrich the gut microbiome. For a limited time, save 20% on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro at drinkag1.com/onpurpose. That's drinkag1.com/onpurpose. This episode is brought to you by AG1. Are you feeling September reset too? Shorter days, longer to-do lists, earlier alarms, all those routines you promised yourself you'd pick back up. It can feel like your whole life is recalibrating. And when everything around you is changing, it helps to have a few things you can rely on.

• 1:29Jay Shetty?

  AG1 Next Gen is one of those easy habits to keep. It's the clinically-backed, comprehensive daily health drink that supports your gut health, energy production, and foundational nutrition all in one scoop. AG1's ingredients are sourced from quality partners for absorption, potency, and nutrient density to deliver the foundational nutrition your body needs. And alongside a proper diet, AG1 Next Gen meets 94% of nutrient requirements and it's clinically shown to enrich the gut microbiome. For a limited time, save 20% on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro at drinkag1.com/onpurpose. That's drinkag1.com/onpurpose.

• 2:16Jay Shetty?

  This episode is brought to you by Vinted. Value can be found anywhere, even in the clothes sitting untouched in our closets. That's where Vinted comes in. Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app where you can sell clothes you no longer want and get more value out of them. Whether you're running out of space, moving, or simply updating your wardrobe. Listing items is a quick and simple process, and once something sells, Vinted creates a prepaid shipping label for you. And the best part, there are no seller fees, so you keep what you earn. It's a simple way to clear out your closet, be less wasteful, and maybe make some extra money along the way. And if you've been thinking about a wardrobe refresh, this can make it feel a little more worthwhile. You're not just letting go of clothes, you're getting more value from what you already have.

• 3:00Jay Shetty?

  Give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free to start selling with no seller fees, so you keep every dollar you earn. Mental health is now talked about more than ever, which is awesome. I mean, I don't have to tell you that it's a primary focus of On Purpose, but on a day-to-day basis, many people don't know where to turn or which tools can help. Over the past couple of years, I've been working with Calm to make mental wellness accessible and enjoyable, or as I like to say, fun and easy. Calm has all sorts of content to help you reduce anxiety and stress, build mindful habits, improve sleep, and generally feel better in your daily life. So many bite-sized options from the most knowledgeable experts in the world,

• 3:44Jay Shetty?

  along with renowned meditation teachers. You can also check out my seven-minute daily series to help you live more mindfully each and every day. Right now, listeners of On Purpose get 40% off a subscription to Calm Premium at calm.com/jay. That's C-A-L-M dot com forward slash J-A-Y for 40% off. Calm your mind, change your life. If you're sitting there on your emails for hours and hours and hours, it's obvious that you're gonna switch to YouTube, you're gonna switch to another page, you're gonna get lost on a rabbit hole, and all of a sudden, you go from answering your emails to ending up watching videos about cats and babies, or whatever it may be, right? Like, it's so easy how we lose thought.

• 4:37Jay Shetty?

  Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose. Thank you so much for coming back to listen, learn and grow. If you're tuning in right now, whether you're working out, driving, cooking, walking your dog, whatever you're up to, thank you so much. Keep those stories coming in. I love seeing the clips on TikTok, what you're learning on Instagram and of course, your reviews mean the world to me. Thank you so much to the amazing group of humans I bumped into on a hike this morning, who said that the podcast had moved them, helped transform their life and especially conversations around masculinity and vulnerability. It moved me, it touched me, it made my week.

• 5:18Jay Shetty?

  I want you to know how much I value the impact that you all experience and that I experience from the love you share with me. And this episode today, I've been noticing how you all want 2024 to be your year. And if you right now are thinking, Jay, January was good, or maybe it wasn't even good, but I want February, March and April to be epic and incredible and amazing, this episode is for you. If you're thinking you want to be more productive, you want to be more laser focused, you want to have the power, the strength and the organization to get more done this year, then this is the episode for you.

• 6:01Jay Shetty?

  I'm going to be sharing with you all of my personal and the most researched productivity tips and hacks that are going to help you build a schedule and craft a calendar that's going to make sure that you will achieve your targets and goals. I think what we often don't realize is we start to think that there's some weakness in us, we start to feel like, maybe I'm not good enough, maybe I'm not fast enough, maybe I'm not organized enough. And the truth is, no one ever taught us this, right? No one ever broke down at school how you could be more productive. No one ever taught you at home how you could get more done. So often, we waste so much time self criticizing, self judging.

• 6:45Jay Shetty?

  Actually, if we use that same energy to just implement these skills, what I'm going to share with you today, you can implement starting right now. It's not something you need to learn, it's not something you need to develop, you just need to start it. All you're going to need is a timer, that's going to be really useful for some of these. And I highly recommend if you want to get a small little hourglass or a big one, whatever it is that you need. Or if you do want to use a timer, maybe you're going to use a stopwatch. I want you to find a way to use a timer that's not on your phone ideally, because that way you don't get distracted. But hey, if you can put it on airplane mode and then use the timer, that could be the easiest and simplest way.

• 7:29Jay Shetty?

  I know that when I'm building these habits, sometimes I need to switch away to a new timing device in order for me to build the habit so that I can go back to my phone. That's often the way I like to play it through at least. But like I said, if you put your phone on airplane mode, you can use it as a timer, which is going to be so useful to so many of the tips I'm about to give you. Now, I want to dive into the first productivity tip. Now, the most productive workers engage in job-related tasks for fifty-two minutes, then take a seventeen-minute break. And studies show that that fifteen-to-twenty-minute break window is productivity's golden hour,

• 8:13Jay Shetty?

  or quarter hour, as the case may be. It's long enough for your brain to disengage and leave you feeling refreshed, but not so long that you lose focus and derail momentum on what you are doing. This research is so powerful because I find that a lot of us think, well, if I'm doing deep work, I need to work for three hours in a row, four hours in a row. And often, you get into that first hour and now you're actually feeling drained. How many times have you overpushed yourself? And you said to yourself, I'll take a break tomorrow because I've been taking too many breaks. And all of a sudden, you're drained, you're tired, you're challenged, you're just feeling like,

• 8:58Jay Shetty?

  gosh, I feel like I've been working this whole time. And what's really interesting is when you factor in your break, when you know that in fifty-two minutes, you're going to take a seventeen-minute break, all of a sudden, your mind... Let's go off that pressure. If you're going to push yourself to work, there's a bit of pressure. Oh, my gosh, I have to stay focused. I have to stay organized, otherwise this isn't going to get done. Now, what happens is when you talk to your mind in that way, your mind can be somewhat like a child. And the child goes, well, I don't want to do that right now. I don't want to focus right now. You've probably had that conversation before. Right, you're telling your mind, hey, we got to focus now. We've got some serious work to get done. And your mind goes, uh-uh, I'm out.

• 9:42Jay Shetty?

  Like, I don't want to do this right now. Guess what? You turn on the next episode of your favorite reality show, and there you go, right? And what's really interesting about this is actually when you say to a child, you say, hey, I want you to work for this much amount of time, but then you're going to get this break. All of a sudden, there's a bit of give and take there. And so the same works for your mind. We have to train our mind to commit, knowing that there's reward at the end of it. That incentive also relieves that stress. It relieves that pressure. That's my goal for you. The tips I'm sharing today are tips that will help you be more productive, but also reduce the stress.

• 10:24Jay Shetty?

  I don't want you to get more done and be more stressed. I want you to get more done and be less stressed. That's the goal. So remember, 52 minutes and a 17-minute break. And here's the thing you have to promise yourself. You put on a timer for both of those, and you go back to it, knowing that you're going to have another 17-minute break after the next 52 minutes. So this is a rolling cycle, right? This is a rolling cycle that you can repeat three times over in order to get 52 times three, right? 156 minutes worth of work completed in that time.

• 11:04Jay Shetty?

  Now, the Pomodoro technique is a slight adjustment to this one. This is a time management method based on 25 minutes stretches of focused work, broken by five-minute breaks. Now, I'll tell you the difference in when I use these. When I'm doing 52 minutes at a stretch and then a 17-minute break, it's usually deeper, creative work. It's work that requires me to bend my mind. It's work that requires writing and lots of thought. It's work that requires innovation and when I'm challenging myself.

• 11:41Jay Shetty?

  But if I'm trying to do more logical tasks, if I'm trying to get emails done, if I'm trying to get functional things, scheduling, my task list, if I'm trying to check off what parts of the project have been completed, if I'm doing any sort of that organizational work, I find the Pomodoro technique to be great. So again, the Pomodoro technique is a time management method based on 25-minute stretches of focused work, broken by five-minute breaks. Now, they say that longer breaks, typically 15 to 30 minutes, are taken after four consecutive work intervals. So once you've done four rounds of 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off, et cetera, once you've done that four times,

• 12:26Jay Shetty?

  you can now extend your break periods to 15 to 30 minutes. Now, I really, really like this method, like I said, for really functional tasks like emails. I find that if you're sitting there on your emails for hours and hours and hours, it's obvious that you're going to switch to YouTube, you're going to switch to another page, you're going to get lost on a rabbit hole, and all of a sudden, you go from answering your emails to following a link to someone's video that they sent you to ending up watching videos about cats and babies, or whatever email, maybe, right? Like, it's so easy how we lose thought. Whereas when we say to ourselves, "I'm going to work for 25 minutes, and then I'm going to have a five-minute break,

• 13:11Jay Shetty?

  and guess what? In that five-minute break, I'm going to allow myself to do whatever it is." Now, I do have some recommendations, because our natural tendency is to scroll on TikTok or scroll on Instagram, and we know that that can outlast five minutes. But one of my favorite things to do is to really use that five minutes to walk around, to get some blood pumping, to get some energy pumping. It's to get some water, to get hydrated, right? Allowing yourself to walk, to get some water. Finding a window, if you can open it to get some fresh air, fantastic. If you can't, the ability to look out into the distance. So much of our life has become consumed by what's close to us.

• 13:54Jay Shetty?

  We're so used to looking at our phones up close, our Kindles up close, all of our devices up close. So when you look off into the distance and you find a bird, a tree, you look at a cloud, you look into the sky, right? Just allow your eyes.

• 14:10Jay Shetty?

  To gain some relaxation, to gain some rest, to gain a bit of a break, it can be really, really powerful. The three Ws, walking, water and window are my go-to in that five-minute break, so that I can come back refreshed. If you go from your screen of your laptop to the screen of your phone, and your whole life becomes screen time, it can be really tiring, really, really exhausting. So those are two really core techniques that I use when I'm actually breaking down my work. For deep work, I'm using 52 minutes, 17-minute break. For functional email-type work, I'm using 25-minute stretches of focused work, broken by five-minute breaks.

• 14:53Jay Shetty?

  And the way you do this is you identify the task or task you need to complete. You set your timer for the 25 minutes. Then you work on the task and you put everything aside. That's why I said airplane mode. And then finally, when the alarm goes off, you allow yourself to take that break. Then you can repeat that process four times in total, and then you can extend your breaks to 15 to 30 minutes. So that's how I work effectively with tasks. And I want to give you one more before I talk to you about my week's schedule. So I don't look at planning and organizations just as tasks and to-do lists. I see it also as a week plan.

• 15:36Jay Shetty?

  I couldn't be more excited to share something truly special with all you tea lovers out there. And even if you don't love tea, if you love refreshing, rejuvenating, refueling sodas that are good for you, listen to this. Radi and I poured our hearts into creating Juni sparkling tea with adaptogens for you, because we believe in nurturing your body. And with every sip, you'll experience calmness of mind, a refreshing vitality and a burst of brightness to your day. Juni is infused with adaptogens that are amazing natural substances that act like superheroes for your body to help you adapt to stress and find balance in your busy life. Our Super 5 blend of these powerful ingredients include green tea,

• 16:19Jay Shetty?

  Ashwagandha, acerola cherry and lion's mane mushroom. And these may help boost your metabolism, give you a natural kick of caffeine, combat stress, pack your body with antioxidants and stimulate brain function. Even better, Juni has zero sugar and only five calories per can. We believe in nurturing and energizing your body while enjoying a truly delicious and refreshing drink. So visit drinkjuni.com today to elevate your wellness journey and use code ONPURPOSE to receive 15% off your first order. That's drink J U N I dot com and make sure you use the code ONPURPOSE. Now, a lot of you have been asking me, Jay, what about the to do list?

• 17:04Jay Shetty?

  Right? Do you recommend to do list? Do you not? Here's how I like to break it down. I like to break down what I need to do by something I call TTC, Task, Time, Calendar. So first, what are the tasks you need to complete? A task could be write a summary chapter for my book. A task could be write my next episode of my solo podcast. A task could be research a guest, right? These are all tasks. Now, what you really want to do for repetitive tasks is to know how long they take. And that's the time. So remember TTC, Task, Time, Calendar.

• 17:45Jay Shetty?

  Once you've got the task, how much time is that going to take? This is where I see most of us making the biggest mistakes. We often overestimate how much time we need. By that, we end up wasting time. Or we underestimate the time and by that, we end up feeling like we failed. Right? When was the last time that you had a task? You know, you needed to get it done, but you gave yourself too much time. Maybe you gave yourself two weeks. And actually, you lost momentum and you lost enthusiasm for it. And two weeks later, it kind of didn't feel as good. Or you've had the other option or other situation where you gave yourself two hours. And really, you needed like five or six.

• 18:29Jay Shetty?

  And now, when you don't complete in two hours, you feel frustrated. So one of the key things that we need to understand when it comes to being productive is we need to start getting better and knowing how long something takes us. So for example, when I used to first script my solo episodes, they used to take eight hours worth of work. Today, they take two hours worth of work because of the time invested over the last five years. And so I know that in two hours, I can research and record my solo episodes. And so that's what's scheduled in my calendar, task time calendar. The task is recording a solo episode, researching and recording. The time is two hours and it's in my calendar every week

• 19:13Jay Shetty?

  on a day when then I can send it to the team for editing. So again, it's calendared in. I find that to do lists end up being a long list without the time and without the calendar. And without the time and the calendar, all you have is a task list or a to do list. And that can kind of stretch over too many days or too little days. It can keep adding up. Whereas if something goes straight from task and time into your calendar, you know when it's going to be completed. So if I opened up my calendar right now, every single task I have to do this week is in my calendar, scheduled during my work hours. And so there is no room for me to miss anything.

• 19:56Jay Shetty?

  The only mistake I can make is not correctly allocating the right amount.

• 20:03Jay Shetty?

  This episode is brought to you by Indeed. I know how important every hire is for a business. If you need to make the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed sponsored jobs helps find quality candidates when you need the most. You can reach who you need based on whatever criteria you're looking for, like skills, certifications, or location. In fact, people are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. In the minute I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com/podcast.

• 20:46Jay Shetty?

  That's indeed.com/podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. If you're talking about quality food, you can't forget Whole Foods Market, who've been holding themselves to the highest standards since they opened in 1980. That means you'll see thousands of organic products across their stores, from the produce department to the aisles. It also means you'll never see certain ingredients. They've banned artificial sweeteners and colors, high fructose corn syrup and more, so you can shop with peace of mind. Shop Whole Foods Market in-store or online. This episode is brought to you by Wayfair.

• 21:31Jay Shetty?

  Home should be a place that feels like a sanctuary, a space that truly reflects who you are. But it can be challenging to balance style, budget, and endless options. I was looking to create a dedicated, calm space for my morning meditation and reading, but I was struggling to find pieces that felt grounding but could also stand up to daily use. I went on Wayfair and found a beautiful, solid wood accent chair and a bookshelf. Now that corner is my favorite place to anchor my day. The quality is incredible, it's built to last, and it completely shifted the energy of the room. Plus, you can shop with Wayfair Verified, where product specialists carefully vet items for quality and functionality, so you can shop with more confidence. And if putting it all together sounds like a headache,

• 22:13Jay Shetty?

  Wayfair can handle delivery, installation, and assembly. Join Wayfair Rewards today to get 5% back on every purchase and start saving on your next home upgrade. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W A Y F A I R dot com. Wayfair, every style, every home. Now, if you're someone who has lots of new tasks, tasks that you don't often do and are not repetitive, that can be challenging. But what you want to do is get a better estimate, maybe from the person giving you the task. You can always say, hey, how long do you think this should take? Hey, how long or when would you like this back? And what level would it be at? What quality would you like? I think asking those two questions is huge. How much time do you think this will take me?

• 22:58Jay Shetty?

  And secondly, what quality do you expect in that time? And then after doing that a couple of times, you get a sense of how that works for you. So these are my core ways of breaking down task, time and calendar. And what I like about this is it stops me from being indecisive. Right? I don't have to wake up and go, oh, my God, what am I doing today? Or, oh, I don't like doing that one. Maybe I'll do this other one. Maybe, oh, which, oh, no, I got started on this one. Let me carry on. You actually set your whole week up and you have it all in the calendar. So it really takes away that indecisiveness. The other thing is it gives you the opportunity to schedule for work-life balance.

• 23:41Jay Shetty?

  You get the opportunity to say, okay, well, I'm doing that many hours that day. Let me take a bit of time off here as well. And it helps you stay on track. Now, one thing I will add is when you start calendaring out your days, you have two options. Something called eat the frog, right? Or the frog first thing in the morning. And this is the idea of doing the hardest thing first. The idea is if you can do the hardest thing first, everything else becomes easier. The other one that I like is eat the fly, which is do the simplest thing, the easiest thing. Now, I don't want to eat frogs or flies, so I don't like those terms. But you get the point. Eat the fly. Let's start with the fly. Let's start with the smallest, easiest thing first, so I can build my confidence.

• 24:24Jay Shetty?

  This is really based on your psychology and it's based on your personality type. So maybe you're someone who gains confidence from doing big things first and hard things. Or maybe you're someone who gains confidence from doing small things. And doing them well, and now you wanna do big things. This is where the idea of make your bed first thing in the morning came from. It was the psychology of making your bed is really easy. When you get that done, you feel a sense of accomplishment. So this comes back to a point of self-awareness. Are you someone who likes to start with the hard thing or start with an easy thing? I'm definitely someone who's oscillated between the two. I've definitely done both of these things.

• 25:07Jay Shetty?

  And I find that if I keep putting something off because it's hard, that's when I'm gonna start on that thing. If I've noticed that too many weeks have gone by, I keep putting off the hard thing, I keep pushing back on it. It keeps becoming something that's frustrating me, I'm overthinking it. That's the thing that I'm going to start with. So so far, we've covered some brilliant techniques of how to actually break down each hour of your day. We've also talked about how to break down your tasks overall. And now I wanna get into how I look and map a week of my time. So the first thing I have, which has changed my life, is something called creative versus logical days.

• 25:52Jay Shetty?

  I have creative days and I have logical days. Let me explain what I mean by that. Logical days are when I'm processing data, numbers, analytics, functional, project management. And then I have creative days when I'm doing things like innovation, creativity, coming up with new ideas, brainstorming, trying to challenge myself out of my comfort zone, learning, being curious, right? And I've found, and I will tell this to you, and I really want you to implement this. If you try and do both in the same day, it's like trying to drive from one side of town to the other in the middle of rush hour, right? It's a longer journey.

• 26:35Jay Shetty?

  You can do it, it's just more stressful. Imagine you're on one side of town, and this happens a lot in LA. You're in Santa Monica, and then your next meeting's in West Hollywood. And all of a sudden, you gotta drive in the middle of the day. You're gonna get stuck in traffic, you're going to get stressed, and you're going to be late for the meeting. When you try and rush from being logical to being creative. So let's say you just had a numbers meeting, and then the next meeting, you've gotta come up with a new creative idea. It's gonna be really hard. You might be able to do it for a while, but eventually you'll get exhausted, or you've had a creative day. And all of a sudden, you've got to be organized and numbers focused. So what I like to do is I like to break down my days and say, okay, Monday's gonna be a creative day.

• 27:17Jay Shetty?

  Tuesday's a logical day. Wednesday's a creative day. Thursday's a logical day, right? Whatever it may be, whatever may work out. I often do this when I'm interviewing for the podcast. So if I'm interviewing for the podcast, I'm trying to do two episodes a day for three to five days a week. Because I know I can go really deep into interviewer mode. I know that I'm going to be able to ask the right question. I know that I'm gonna be in flow state. That's how we access flow state. But if I said to myself, I'm gonna do two podcasts today, and I'm gonna look at analytics, and I'm gonna look at my finances, that becomes challenging. Now, if you don't have the luxury of planning each day, you can plan the morning and afternoon. Before and after lunch is a great way of thinking about this.

• 28:02Jay Shetty?

  Before lunch, I'm being creative. After lunch, I'm doing the logical tasks. This is a great way of creating separation for your mind and creating that space for yourself. Now, at the same time, when I look at my logical or creative days, I can go even further into whether I want them to be effective or efficient days. Now, effective days are where you do one thing and you achieve one thing, but you feel really accomplished. Efficient days are when you do lots of things. You check loads of things off your to-do list, your laundry, your groceries, your, you know, your taxes, whatever else it may be. Now, what's really interesting about this is often we do so many things in a day,

• 28:46Jay Shetty?

  but mentally, we still feel dissatisfied. How many times have you ever checked everything off your to-do list and still felt like you hadn't done the most important thing? Or how many times have you had it the other way where you actually only did one thing, but you felt like you had lots left to do? This is because we haven't mentally made a choice. As to whether it's an efficient day or an effective day. So efficient days are days when I'm like, alright, this day I'm gonna get lots of logical tasks done. Effective days are where I'm like, okay, I just need to get this one big thing done, and I'm going to feel really accomplished. All of this takes a bit of planning on a Sunday night or a Monday morning. And that's what I recommend. If you like doing it on a Sunday night because you like to be set for the week,

• 29:30Jay Shetty?

  I like to wake up on Monday and not have to think about what I have to do. But if you're someone who wants to plan your week and your work week when you're at work, Monday morning is a great time. If you set aside time to do this every week, it will save you hours, weeks, even months of time. I promise you, it's a game changer. Getting on with work doesn't get more work done. Planning out your work gets more work done. So that's the key, right? I think so many of us are thinking, oh god, I just gotta get on with it. If I get on with it, I'll get more done. It doesn't work that way. Now, there's one thing I really wanted to add, because I think it's often not spoken about.

• 30:12Jay Shetty?

  And it's this idea of energy versus time. And what I mean by that is often sometimes we feel we have the time for something, but when it gets to it, you realize you don't have the energy for it. So me and Bradi were talking about this. We love seeing our friends, but we realized that on weeknights, we really struggle because we like to go to sleep early. And we've realized that our cutoff point on a weeknight is 9pm. We wanna be in bed by 9pm. And so recently, I started sharing with my friends who I'd still wanted to see on weeknights. And I said, well, I just need to be in bed by 9pm. I had to set that boundary for myself, because what I realized was, friends would come over, I would then push myself to stay up till 10 or 11 on a weeknight.

• 30:57Jay Shetty?

  I'd feel really upset that I wasn't good company after 9pm, because I'm yawning and tired and not as present. And then I'm feeling like I also am missing out on sleep. And so I'm thinking to myself, well, wait a minute. What is it that I actually need? I want to show up as my best self for others. I want people to have a good time with me and I want to have a good time with them. And for that, it's not about whether I have the time. It's about whether I have energy. So I want you to also think about your schedule in terms of energy. If you have a meeting, are you setting it at a time when you know your energy is going to be amazing? Think about your most important meetings this week.

• 31:35Jay Shetty?

  Are they set at times that you feel you're going to be energetic, enthusiastic and engaged? Or are they set at times when you usually switch off, get a little bit tired? I also want you to think about what are some of the healthy habits that help with your energy? Do you need to be eating at a particular time? Are there certain foods that actually don't help you focus? Because you had them at lunchtime, you may love them and enjoy them. But have you noticed that you feel that afternoon slump? I know for me that, you know, getting a little pick me up in the middle of the day with my juniors is a great way of getting that little boost. For me, a fruit bowl with some almond butter can be a really, really great boost.

• 32:18Jay Shetty?

  But what is that thing that's holding you back with your energy? And also, when you're mapping out your schedule, are you taking into account energy? If you've got a big pitch meeting, a big sales meeting, you want to have your best energy. Now, it doesn't always work that way and you have to also be adaptive. But if you can plan it out, it makes a huge difference. I guess what I'm saying overall is that so many of us are trying to get a lot done. But having a smart plan and a smart focused, organized timer and everything else can actually set you up for greater success in the long term. Yes, it takes away from the amount of time you have, but you make more of the time you have.

• 33:00Jay Shetty?

  Right? That's what's so powerful about operating with all the things I mentioned today. Is that you may think, oh, well, that's going to take up two, three hours of my Monday, Jay. That may take up four hours of my Monday. But I promise you, you're going to get so much more time than that back when you follow through on that process. Now, for those of you who are saying, Jay, I just get distracted all the time. I've found that having My phone away when I'm at work, when I'm in meetings is actually really useful. I found my phone to be a distraction unless there's an emergency, of course. Having a special tone for an emergency is the best way to go about it and allowing yourself to disconnect. Definitely separating your work email and your personal email, if you haven't done that already, makes a huge difference.

• 33:45Jay Shetty?

  Or devices that you see both those things on. And the biggest thing I want to remind you all is that we all are going to get distracted. There's no one in the world who doesn't get distracted. I get distracted too. And I've found that what's worse is when I start making myself feel bad for getting distracted as opposed to use that energy to just get refocused. And I think that's what helps me more than anything is saying, look, I'm going to give myself grace, I'm going to get back to it, and I don't need to overcomplicate it. Another thing that's been huge for me is keeping my desk clean. Right, you may have to spend a couple of hours just cleaning up your desk, cleaning up your space, but that's going to give you mental clarity.

• 34:28Jay Shetty?

  Your external space has a huge impact on your internal mindset. And that's why I tell people, don't eat at your desk, eat somewhere else. Like, don't bring that energy to your desk. Right, a lot of us eat where we're meant to sleep, we sleep where we're meant to work, and we work where we're meant to eat. Leave your bedroom just for sleeping, leave your desk just for working, and leave your kitchen counter just for cooking and eating. Right, break it up and create that energy in that space. Thank you so much. I hope this makes you more productive in 2024. I hope you get more done this year. I hope you win this year. Thank you so much for listening to On Purpose. Leave a review, make sure you've subscribed and followed, and share this with a friend. There's going to be someone out there who needs this as well, and maybe you can help

• 35:13Jay Shetty?

  each other. Thanks so much, everyone. See you soon. If you loved this episode, you will also love my interview with Charles Duhigg on how to hack your brain, change any habit effortlessly, and the secret to making better decisions.

• 35:27Speaker 01

  Look, am I hesitating on this because I'm scared of making the choice because I'm scared of doing the work? Or am I sitting with this because it just doesn't feel right yet?

• 35:36Speaker 02

  Mr. President, my company for me of the explosion on our rig. On October 2nd. Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me. Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess, and Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and The Revenant.

• 35:53Speaker 03

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze to death, that's what.

• 35:57Speaker 02

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 36:00Speaker 03

  I'm not the first man.

• 36:01Speaker 02

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only in theaters October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a minute without parent.