I thought I would deviate a little bit from the usual types of posts you might see at my blog and share a "Golden Nugget" for creating a more efficient and effective work schedule for busy web business owners and staff! Wanna hear it?

Well, I just recently purchased Tim Ferriss new book,  4 Hour Work Week as I am always looking for ways to increase my productivity and efficiency while reducing the number of hours I work. I have a young family and would much rather be spending time with them then working endless hours on my business. I haven’t received the book yet, but will be sure to share my thoughts once I have a chance to digg into it!

So, here is my "secret" strategy that has had a profound impact on my time-efficiency and productivity in my regular work day…. Well, I should say that it is not my idea - I stole it (or learned it rather) from the authors of "The Power of Full Engagement"! Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr are Sport Pychologists who have spent  years studying and working with High Performance Athletes. I would HIGHLY recommend that you buy the book. Their basic premise is that as a "Corporate Athlete", you need to work on managing your energy rather then your time in order to achieve your maximum potential in your daily work regime. They believe that "Life is NOT a marathon" as some have said, but rather "Life is a series of short sprints" with intentional recovery times in between each sprint. You might be thinking, Craig, what the heck does this have to with my work schedule and my Internet biz - well, a lot actually.

I have worked in the web marketing space for four years and for most of that time, I did a rather poor job of managing my energy. While I had good time management and prioritization abilitities, I would find that I would wane in productive and efficiency into the afternoon and towards the end of the work day, I would be a totally write off (fried brain). I would feel fatigued, have less creativity and energy to perform at a high level in the later part of my work day. Now, when I read this book, it revolutionized the way I work and has enabled me to do more work in less time and has had a great impact on my Internet Business as a whole!

So, let me give you the Cole Notes on how it has worked for me…. Right now (as I type this post), I have a stop clock beside my laptop (says 13 minutes, so I had better hurry:)). In the book, Swartz and Loehr conclude that the average corporate athlete can only perform at a high level for a maximum of about 90 minutes before they need a short recovery period (time to re-energize). So, I  typically break my day into 90 minutes chunks with 10-15 minutes recovery periods in between that time. My recovery time might include a short snack, going for a walk, chatting with family - something totally non work-related. I have learned to train myself to totally leave work (mentally) for that period, so that I can restore my energy and be prepared to work at a high level for the next 90 minutes. Now, you might be thinking…. this guy is seriously regimented and needs to loosen up:) Well, I probably would have said that before, but now that I have seen a noted improvement in performance, productivity and efficiency in my work day, I am a believer!

So, I would recommend trying to build "recovery times" into your day and focus on doing "Sprints" through out your day and see if it increases your overall productivity. Now, naturally, you will have certain days that you are not able to keep your recovery schedule, but I try my best to keep consistent as I know the benefits it will have for my business.

Gotta go recover - until next time!

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