Tao de Café
This post is about hitting your on switch — instantly putting yourself into a state of optimal performance. It’s about extreme efficiency.
I call it the Tao de Café, or simply “how to rapidly switch on.” Consistently, I will leave a meeting, knock out work at a cafe, quickly compile notes for a proposal, then jump on the next call. Some of you may require ten, twenty, thirty minutes–even hours — to hit your groove. Paul Graham famously talks about this in his Maker Schedule, Manager Schedule essay. Though his observation was accurate, we need not be held hostage by the gradual onset of “flow.” This time hurtle is simply ill-suited for modern workers. It’s impractical and unacceptable, thus we train our teams to be ones that switch, adapt, and even thrive in a shifting environment. Rapid focus realignment is critical.
What is focus and what are the factors involved? Focus can be divided into two components: controlling the number of distractions (internal and external) and the ability to narrowly and forcefully shine the spotlight of attention. We have a number of levers we can pull to affect these factors, and here we’ll divide them by their timing in relation to the work. That is, are they done daily, right before working, during work, or after working?
ROUTINES
Efficiency begins from the moment you wake up. Even if you don’t begin tackling your to do list for several hours after waking, your morning routine can still have a profound influence (on what?). I believe your day should begin by first switching on, then switching almost 100% off again.
On a recent episode of Tim Ferriss’ podcast, he chose the top 15 submitted questions for Pavel Tsatsouline. He chose a question I submitted (pats self on back), asking the famed strength coach how he advises you “turn on.” For those of you who haven’t heard of Pavel, he is a subject matter expert to the US Marine Corps, the US Secret Service, and the US Navy SEALs. He is widely credited with introducing kettlebell training to the US. His advice is simple: a short morning workout. Listen to his full explanation here at [12:50].
This should immediately be followed by a 5–20 minute relaxation exercise. My preference is awareness mediation. Sam Harris has an excellent guided meditation for beginners. For more learning on this topic, check out Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind or The Sun My Heart.
Awareness practice will help with this next efficiency tip I use in my daily routine: aligning work with my biological clock. Mother nature is pretty damn strong. You can go up-wind, but tacking is your only option. I advise turning your sails to the wind whenever possible. Your scheduled tasks, if under your control, is an excellent opportunity to just this. I write best at night, develop proposals best in the morning, and am generally useless 12–2pm. Know thy self. I read midday and don’t check emails until after I’ve used some of that raw morning power to crush some client documents or a post on here. Use your rhythms to your advantage.
On a related note, use your unproductive hours to let your subconscious or “passive thinking” do some work. When I want to write a blog post, I will intensely brainstorm the topic, laying all my ideas down on a page. Then I’ll step back, maybe by reading or hitting the gym–maybe even by taking a nap–but when I sit back down to write, I’m always surprised by how the ideas have solidified and grown. Sometimes it will result in finishing the whole post a single sitting from a few scraps of notes. Now that’s efficiency.
Another tip: avoid unneeded decisions. Decision fatigue is a well documented factor in creativity and will power. It’s the reason President Obama only has two suits.
APPROACHING AND DOING WORK
First, sketch out your day in the morning. Try batching alike tasks, such as only checking and responding to emails at given times. I’m a huge fan of pulse working, such as the Pompdoro Technique. Adjust the time intervals as your conditioning improves.
Now it’s time to sit down to work. Remember, your mind will reflect your workspace and cleanliness is next to godliness. Chefs commonly refer to the arrangement of their work tools as mise en place, meaning “everything is in it’s right place.” When working I typically have NOTHING besides a piece of paper, a pen, and my computer. This includes shutting down distractions including noise, texts, visitors, or even your own tangential thoughts (hence why awareness practice is key to efficiency).
Once things are in their place, it’s time to shock the system into work mode. Musical cues work wonders. Ever hear an old favorite and instantly snap to 5 summers back? The same works for kickstarting your flow. I use the same Spotify soundtrack of movie soundtracks for at least a few months at a time. Make sure you have a good set of headphones. I have a basic pair of Bose, and they do the trick.
Life coach and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, uses a slightly more aggressive method: shocking his nervous system with extreme cold or a more-than-cosy hot tub. Assuming you don’t have a cryotherapy chamber like Tony, try finishing off a shower right before working with ~3 minutes of cold water. It’s not pleasant, but you might just find yourself skipping your morning coffee (ok, maybe just delaying it by 30 minutes).
Emotional state can also have a large effect. For example, I personally do my best when in an optimistic mindset. My personal favorite is to watch 1–3 minutes of Mel Brooks clips. Facial muscles not only reflect your mood, but can cause them. Try holding a pencil horizontally between your teeth while working to notice when you’re frowning.
AFTERWARDS AND AFTERWORDS
Successfully crushing work should be met with reward. That doesn’t mean you have to run and get a cookie. It just means seek your own, small positive reinforcement to ensure that it will be easier to settle in and hit your flow next time.
Mastering these methods will give you a huge boost, but it’s critical to realize that the most important factor in efficiency is task selection. 80% of your outcomes are determined by less than 20% of your actions, so choose wisely.
