The Mindset Mentor - 6 Habits to Be More Productive

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to today's episode of the Mindset Mentor podcast. I'm your host Rob Dial. If you haven't hit that subscribe button, hit it right now so that you never miss another podcast episode. And if you love this, please give us a rating and review and let us know what you think of this podcast so that we can, number one, see what you guys like so we can do more of it. And at the same time, when we do that and you give us rating and reviews, it allows us to be able to grow on this platform. So if you would do that, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. Today, I'm going to be diving into six different steps, different habits to make you more productive

Starting point is 00:00:41 in your life. This is the way that I like to think of productivity. There's two different things that you could be. Have you ever had a day? Let me just bring this up, see if you can relate. Have you ever had a day before where you're just freaking working, working, working, working, working, working, working, working, working, and you get all kinds of things checked off your to-do list. But then at the end of the day, you're like, man, I feel like I got nothing done. Or have you had a day where you're just like working, working, working, working, working, working, working, and then you get done, you're like, man, I feel so

Starting point is 00:01:13 accomplished. What's the difference between those two days? The difference between those two days is the act of being busy versus being productive. A lot of people are just trying to do things and cross things off their to-do list and they're being busy versus being productive when productive means crossing the most important things off the to-do list. Like maybe if you work from home and you're a sales rep, right? You've got to make like 50 cold calls today. But instead of doing those 50 cold calls, you ended up deciding to do the laundry because you're at home and you need to do the laundry anyways. And you did something, you crossed off something off to do this, but it doesn't feel like you moved the needle in your life.

Starting point is 00:01:53 That's the difference between being busy versus being productive. And so we're going to talk about today is how to be more productive. Okay, let's dive into it. Number one, first thing is to get moving. You guys have all heard me say this many times in the podcast. Action creates action. Inaction creates more inaction. You have to have like a get shit done attitude. And this is an interesting thing.

Starting point is 00:02:17 I was reading some articles about this the other day is that most people think, okay, before I take action, it'd be really nice to have some motivation. Like I wanna be motivated and that would make it so much easier to take action. Sure, it would be. But a lot of psychologists have actually found through studies that motivation almost never comes before action. Motivation usually follows action. Let me give you an example of what I mean. action. Let me give you an example of what I mean. You ever wanted to go to the gym? No, no, we never do. I don't. You ever wanted to go to the gym and you're like, oh God, I don't want to go to the gym today. And you start going to the gym and you're like,

Starting point is 00:02:56 I'm just going to show up. And you show up and you're kind of dragging some ass and you're not motivated. And then you start moving and you get a bit more into it. You start moving. And then an hour later, you're about to finish and you're on your last set. And you're like, you know what? I could probably do one more. I'm here. I might as well do it. And you have more motivation at the end of the workout than you did at the beginning of the workout. Why is that? Because oftentimes motivation follows action, not the other way around. And so you've got to figure out a way to just get your physical body moving, get your physical body moving in some sort of way. All too often,

Starting point is 00:03:31 myself included, I literally just bought a treadmill the other day so that I could work. I got a treadmill, put it inside of my garage, and I got this desk, this movable desk that holds my computer. So I can literally be working and moving at the same time so that I can get myself a little bit more motivation because that motivation comes from the action. Because I noticed that all too often, four hours will pass and I stood up like two times to go to the bathroom and that was it. And I was just sitting there working on my computer, getting stuff done. I was on Zoom calls, all of those things. Well, I decided if I'm going to be on Zoom calls, I might as well be walking. And so I'm going to try to be on as many Zoom calls walking as I can.

Starting point is 00:04:10 And if people judge me, that's fine, but I own the company so they can judge me if they want to. I could walk on a treadmill. But what I have found from doing that just over the past little time that I've had it is that I'm actually feeling more motivated to continue taking more action because I'm already moving. The good thing about it too is I'm not sedentary and I'm sitting down all of the time, which they found that's not good for you at all. So get your physical body moving, do pushups, do a run, go for a walk. One of our team members today said that she went for a really long walk in the middle of the day for lunch and came back and felt on fire after. It's like, yeah, because your physical body was moving. So how can you get your body moving more often so that you can be more productive? That's the first

Starting point is 00:04:52 thing. Number one, get moving. Number two, this is something I love is to learn any time that you can to make it a habit that anytime that you have an open second or you're doing something that your ears are not being used, can you learn? And so what I mean by this is if you're, this morning, I'll give you a great example. I was making some eggs this morning. What do I do?

Starting point is 00:05:19 Well, if you're, I have an island in the middle of my, I have a big open area. If you've never seen me on Instagram and my Instagram stories, you've probably seen my house. I have a TV and then the living room and then there's the dining room and then there's a kitchen, but it's all completely open. And so from where I'm cooking my eggs, I'm literally looking at a TV and we have a TV. And so what I do, I'm already cooking eggs. Why don't I just put on something in the background that I want to listen to? So I'll think of people like all the people that have inspired me over years and years

Starting point is 00:05:48 and all of the great motivational speakers. Sometimes I put on motivational speakers. Sometimes I'll put on neurologists. Sometimes I put on psychologists. Sometimes I put on other coaches. Sometimes I put on podcasts of people that I like and I'll watch them and listen to them as I'm doing something like cooking. Sometimes if I'm cleaning and doing the dishes, I'll put something on in the background and I start trying to figure out how I can learn as much as possible. So cooking, cleaning, these are easy ways to learn. When I'm at the gym, you know, in my garage, I literally have a TV inside of my garage and I'll put on YouTube and I'll listen as I'm working out. As I'm inside of the shower, I'll put on a podcast. While I'm

Starting point is 00:06:24 driving, I'll put on something that's a podcast that I want to listen to. And I'm working out. As I'm inside of the shower, I'll put on a podcast. While I'm driving, I'll put on something that's a podcast that I want to listen to. And I'm trying to actually do two things at once, where I can drive, I can cook, I can do something that's not, it doesn't need my full brain power. Like cooking eggs does not need my full brain power. You know, if I'm on a Zoom call with my team, I'm obviously not going to be listening to somebody else's podcast. But it's like, hey, when I'm not using my full brainpower, how can I also be trying to learn as much as possible? You know, they say that the average CEO reads about a book a week, 52 to 60 books a year

Starting point is 00:06:57 is what the average CEO reads. So I'm thinking in my mind, how can I constantly be learning and filling this up? Now, there are times also just, I'm just going to let you know that I get in my car and I put nothing on and it's just silence because I feel like I need silence. Sometimes I feel like we all need silence. And so for me, sometimes there's silence, but a lot of times it's just like, I want to learn. I want to get better. I want to constantly be improving. I want to be better tonight when I go to bed than I woke up this morning. And if you, number two, can learn as much as you possibly can, learn at all of your free moments, this will help you out. One of the things that I love doing is I have Kindle on my phone and I'll read Kindle books. And instead of if I go to the

Starting point is 00:07:34 doctor's office and I am sitting there and I'm waiting for 20 minutes, because that's what we tend to do when we go to doctor's offices is wait, right? Instead of just scrolling through Instagram, I'll try to go to my Kindle app and I'll actually read the highlights of old books that I read like five years ago. It just seems to be an easy way for me to go, how can I constantly be trying to grow and learn and get better? And so that's number two, to learn anytime you can. Hey, the new year is approaching and right now is the best time to start working on yourself. And one of the best ways to do that is through books. And if you don't always have a whole lot of time, what I recommend is that you use Blinkist. I've been using Blinkist for years and Blinkist allows you to be able to discover

Starting point is 00:08:12 new perspectives, have exciting conversations, and learn all of the key takeaways and main insights from books in 15-minute reads or listens. With Blinkist, you have all of the most important ideas and takeaways from the world's top nonfiction bestsellers. You can use Blinkist to get inspiration, learn more about the books you like to read, broaden your knowledge, and get new perspectives. And one of the best things that they have right now is Blinkist Connect. For the 10-year anniversary of Blinkist, they launched a totally new function that will be your favorite feature ever. Blinkist Connect allows all premium users to share your account with another person of your choice. So you basically get two premium accounts for the price of one. Zero extra cost of using this.

Starting point is 00:08:49 Also, you can easily share Blinkist in short casts with one click. And you can add additional comments and thoughts to the recommendations to learn to discuss the titles. They have great books like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck, Atomic Habits, and so many more. And right now, Blinkist has a special offer for just our audience. Go to Blinkist.com slash mindset to start your seven-day free trial and get 25% off a Blinkist premium membership. That's Blinkist, spelled B-L-I-N-K-I-S-T, Blinkist.com slash mindset for 25% off and the seven-day free trial, Blinkist.com slash mindset. And now for a limited time, you can even use Blinkist Connect to share your premium account and you'll get two premium subscriptions for the price of one. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. I don't know about you guys,

Starting point is 00:09:32 but there's been so many times in my life where I wish that life came with a user manual. In those cases, sometimes therapy is the next best bet because unfortunately, life doesn't come with a user manual. So when it's not working for you, it's normal to feel a little bit stuck. And navigating through life's challenges can make you feel a little unsure, whether it's a career change, a new relationship, or becoming a parent. The good thing is that therapists are trained to help you figure out the cause of challenging emotions and learn productive coping skills, which makes therapy the closest thing to a guided tour of a complex engine called you. And for me personally, I think that every person should

Starting point is 00:10:04 go through some form of therapy at some point in time in their lives to try to help them improve. As the world's largest therapy service, BetterHelp has matched 3 million people with professionally licensed and vetted therapists available 100% online. Plus, it's affordable. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to match with a therapist. And if things aren't clicking, you can easily switch to a new therapist anytime. It couldn't be simpler. There's no waiting rooms, no traffic, no endless searching for the right therapist. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com slash dial. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash dial. Number three, old school podcast listeners, you've heard me say this many times. I use this religiously. It is the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique means you work for 25 minutes on one thing and one thing only,

Starting point is 00:10:51 and then you take five minutes off. And you do three rounds of it, which ends up being 90 minutes, an hour and a half. 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off. I literally have, I got it on Amazon. It's just a timer. And I put the timer to 25 minutes and I will work on one thing and one thing only for 25 minutes. I'll take my phone. I work from home. So I'll literally take my phone. I'll put it in side of a drawer in the kitchen and I will work for 25 minutes on one thing and one thing only. What would that look like for you? And it's the act of just going, I'm going to focus on this one thing, this one thing only. What would that look like for you? And it's the act of just going, I'm going to focus on this one thing, this one thing only. I'm going to bring 100% of my brain

Starting point is 00:11:29 power to this one thing at this moment. And the way you do it is through the Pomodoro technique. I've had episodes on this before, so I don't want to go super deep into it. But science shows that one of the most productive ways to use your brain is 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off. ways to use your brain is 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off, 25 minutes on, five minutes off. Now, inside of my book, I talk a lot about the Pomodoro technique. Book's going to be coming out very soon. But inside of that, I talk about how this works and how to use it correctly. But one tip that I'll give you is in your five minutes off, do not look at your phone. Do not, absolutely do not look at your phone. It has 100% to do with the way that

Starting point is 00:12:04 your eyes look at your phone, when in reality% to do with the way that your eyes look at your phone. When in reality, you want to be doing nothing in your five minutes off. Do some breaths, do some breathing, go outside and just look at some trees and just dilate your gaze. Do not look at your phone. Just tip. Trust me. You can read inside of my book why that is. But just trust me. Don't look at your phone in those five minutes off. Okay. Trust me. So that's number three is to do Pomodoro technique. Number four is to plan out your energy throughout the course of the day. Plan out your energy throughout the course of the day. We all are different. Myself, I am the most creative and the most fired up and have the most energy usually from 10 a.m. to 2. Like right now, I'm recording this podcast

Starting point is 00:12:45 episode. It is 12.13 p.m. Why? Because this is when I have the most energy. This is when my brain power feels like it's firing the most. So I plan out my day. Literally, my entire day is planned out based off of how I normally ebb and flow in energy throughout the day. My best friend, he gets his best work done from like 10 o'clock to 1 o'clock in the morning That's not me. I'm asleep by 10 o'clock. But for him, that's when he gets the best work done. That's just the way he is so for you It's about knowing your energy The way that you feel at certain hours of the day, I would not record podcast episodes at 7 a.m

Starting point is 00:13:21 But when I am up at 7 a.m. But when I am up at 7 a.m., usually what I'm doing is meditating or journaling or reading because that just tends to be the right thing for me. So can you plan out your energy based off of what you feel for the entire day? You know, like if I do my most energy consuming and most brain power where I need the most brain power between 10 o'clock and two o'clock. After two o'clock, usually I start doing my Zoom calls and team meetings and that type of stuff. And so can you plan out your energy every single day? Number five, this is super important.

Starting point is 00:13:55 You have to do this, is to have a cutoff time. If you wanna be very, very, very productive is be on when you're on and be off when you're off. Now, this is something I had to program into myself over years and years and years. I'm still working at it, but I'm way better than I used to be, is I have to have a cutoff time. I used to just work all day long. I mean, I'm talking about for like a decade. I could wake up, start working at like eight, nine o'clock after my morning routine and work until like 10 o'clock at night. And I would do it every single day. And then, you know, I'd have the weekends,

Starting point is 00:14:29 but then something would come in on the weekends and I would go and do it. And there was never really a feeling of being off. And I noticed that I started to kind of get burnt out. I was burning myself out because there was never really on and off time. It's like a muscle. Like we all know that if you go to the gym and you work your biceps really, really hard, right? Your biceps will be broken down. But in order for those to grow, what has to happen? You have to have rest. Your biceps grow not during the workout, not after the workout. They grow during the rest time. And so your brain works the same way, where if you're going to be on and you want to be very productive, one of the biggest keys to be very productive is to be on when you're on

Starting point is 00:15:11 and be off when you're off. I learned this from Gary Keller, who wrote the book, The One Thing, great book, recommend people read it. And he said that you have to plan your days off and you have to plan your time off. And I was like, what? No, like when I read it, I literally remember exactly where I was reading it. I was inside of a hammock in Zilker Park in Austin. I remember thinking to myself, I don't deserve free time yet, Gary. I'm not a billionaire like you, Gary. And I thought to myself, oh, well, shit, this guy's a billionaire and I'm not. Maybe he knows something that I don't. And lo and behold, he did. I started planning out my days off. I started planning off, planning what time I stopped working completely. And I could work all day long. Like I own the

Starting point is 00:15:50 business. So there's always things that could be done. But what I have found is when I turn off, when I come back the next day and turn on, I am highly productive compared to if I don't feel like I took much time off in between those two times. And so I have to, have to, have to recommend to you just when you're on, you're on. When you're off, you're off. Have a cutoff time is number five. And number six is either prepare the night before or the morning of. If you really want to be hyperproductive every single day, you have to have a plan every single day. There's so many people out there that I know there's a couple of you out there listening, most of you out there listening, right? You want to be hyperproductive today. And then I say, well, did you make a plan for today? And everyone's like, um, no. And I'm like, well, if you just made a plan, you'd be even more

Starting point is 00:16:37 productive. And so prepare the night before or the morning of. Why? Because I want to do an assessment. You know, today, if today's Tuesday, Monday just ended, I want to do an assessment. You know, today, if today's Tuesday, Monday just ended, I want to do an assessment, just a quick five, 10 minute assessment of how Monday went before I go into Tuesday. And so at the end of Monday or at the beginning of Tuesday, before I do anything, I will look back, see how yesterday went, how productive it was, what I crossed off the list, what I still need to do, what needs to still be done, and what my priorities are for today. And then what I do is I just figure out the priorities, I prepare, and then I make my to-do list. These are all the things that need

Starting point is 00:17:16 to be done. Now, instead of worrying about the entire to-do list, what I do is I take a three by five card and I put number one, number two, number three. My most important thing, my second most important thing, and my third most important thing of what needs to be done today. All I focus on is not the rest of the to-do list. It's just those three things that are on the list. I don't do anything until number one is done. After number one is done, I work number two.

Starting point is 00:17:40 I don't do anything until number two is done. And after number two is done, then I go number three. It's not hard. I say it over and over and over again. It's funny because I get messages from people sometimes like, Rob, I've heard you say some of these things over and over again. And I'm like, I know because it's not that hard to create the life that you want. But the real question is, are you fucking doing it? And they're like, oh, well, yeah, I'm not really doing it. I'm like, well, sometimes you got to hear something 4,000 times before you're like,

Starting point is 00:18:02 you know what? I should actually try that cue card thing out. And so that's really what it comes down to is like, are you doing what needs to be done? And part of that is to debrief the day of, the day that happened before. So today's Tuesday, Monday, we debrief Monday, and we either do it Monday night or we do it on Tuesday morning. And then we make a plan for what we're going to do every single day. So that is what we have. The six different tips. Number one, just get your physical body moving. Number two, learn as often as much as you can. Squeeze it in everywhere. Number three, use the Pomodoro technique, 25 minutes on, five minutes off. Number four, plan out your energy every single day. Number five, have a cutoff time. And number six, prepare the night before and plan

Starting point is 00:18:41 what you're going to be doing for the next day or the day of if you decide to play in the morning. So that's all I got for you for today's episode. If you love this episode, please share it on your Instagram stories and tag me in it, Rob Dial Jr, R-O-B-D-I-A-L-J-R. I love to see what you guys are doing when you're listening to this podcast episode. And if you love this podcast, you want some extra tips and tricks to help you with your mind, go to mondayemail.com right now. Once again, mondayemail.com. I'll send you an email every single Monday with some tips and tricks to improve your mindset and help you get better. And it's absolutely free. So you might as well go do it. And that way we can stay in communication with each other at all points in time. But with that, I'm gonna leave the

Starting point is 00:19:19 same way I leave you every single episode. Make it your mission to make someone else's day better. I appreciate you and I hope that you have an amazing day.

The Mindset Mentor - 6 Habits to Be More Productive

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