48 Hour Principle – Focused Personal Productivity

Mental preparation is a broad topic within the arena of sports psychology – people use the term “pre-game” to adjust their mindset. The purpose of daily mental preparation is to create a mindset that lets you consistently perform up to your capabilities and talents in competition. Preparation requires discipline and a small amount of time at the end of each day.

 

Learn to start thinking more about how you shape your personal effectiveness through small adjustments in your daily or weekly planning.

 

Mindset and attitude are critical elements for defining and acting upon the future vision of your personal brand. The challenge more often than not is the consistency of your actions in realizing this vision in the near-term. I have discussed how we embrace speed as a driver to perceived productivity, versus getting quiet and focusing on what is needed to accomplish your activities and goals.

 

Many of us dive right into the weekend shedding the activities of the prior week only to come to the paralysis of Sunday night paralysis staring at a anxiety ridden schedule for the week – I once knew someone who characterized this as Sunday Night Syndrome. Instead of being frozen with the myriad of tasks, simply question; what do I need to do this week and how can I get my head around it?

 

Write it down

 

At the beginning or the end of each workday, schedule time for you to think…yes to think. Reflect on the day and plan your actions for the next day and the day after that. After a few days, you will be able to identify issues by examining patterns based on your own reflections.

• First focus on the activities you set forth to accomplish today or this week – what was accomplished?
• Then focus on progress and challenges and think about specific events and activities that cultivate, maintain or erode your personal brand or effectiveness. Write them down

• Which 1 or 2 events today indicated either a small win or a possible breakthrough? (Describe briefly.)
• Which 1 or 2 events today indicated either a small setback, erosion or a possible crisis? (Describe briefly.)
• Finally, prioritize for action. The action plan for the next day is the most important part of your daily review: What is the one thing you can do to best facilitate progress tomorrow?

• Outline activities you need to accomplish tomorrow – consider using the 48-hour rule working on tasks that are due in 48-hours.

 

Building consistency is critical not only for your personal effectiveness, but for shaping your personal brand. Take time every day to think – so much of what we do is in accordance to how feel, start thinking and you will see a big difference in how things you work on personally and professionally relate to each other.

How do you prepare yourself mentally and what rituals create a steady focus in your activities?