Work when you’re productive, dream when you’re not

One of the biggest benefits I’ve found to running a company is you are the master of your day and you can inspire others to be too.

It almost sounds cliche at this stage but defining my own hours is probably the single biggest contributor to my productivity.

I encourage everyone, not just people at MiniCorp to think about it and to really assess their day.

Here’s why:

We’re adults

Come on. We’re adults. We know when we are most productive and when we’re not.

I met a guy for coffee today who told me, he’s most productive in the evenings. Between 10pm and 1am.

I’m personally more productive between 8am and 11am. They’re my “let’s get shit done’ hours. Earphones on. Kicking ass.

To say to someone “You must be at maximum productivity between 9am and 5pm” is complete bullshit. You’re loosing with that mentality.

Treat people as adults, not as if they are children coming to work in their ‘big boy pants’. If they can’t handle the responsibility and abuse it. Part ways.

Concentration

Imagine productivity is the car. Then concentration is the fuel.

First step to concentration is your environment. Some like it noisy, some like it quiet. A lot of this goes back to step 1 but define what environment you are most productive in and create it.

If you’re at a company and that space doesn’t exist in it, get up and find it. But also tell people why — they’ll more than likely try to create a similar environment within the office space for you.

Concentration only lasts in spurts. It’s tiring, draining and requires recharging. Don’t take advantage of it. Use it, relax and repeat.

If you try to continue to “get shit done” when your body is tired, the job that will take you 30 mins in the zone will take you 3 hours and you’ll be wrecked tired.

Dream
If you’re in a concentration period, relax and dream. Get inspired. Sit in a coffee shop with a pen and paper and jot down ideas.

Go to the park and feed the ducks. Do anything that gets you out of screen and into a creative, let everything flow mood.

This serves many purposes. It reminds me I’m creative, it give’s me great ideas and it inspires me to continue doing more great work.

With that in mind, after a great dream spurt, concentration and getting shit down really goes hand in hand.