Anchor Points

I recently completed the Focus Course Academy, run by the team at Blanc Media. I went on to join a Spring Mastermind with some of my classmates. I shared with them how on hard days, I relied on my anchor points. This resonated with them, so I thought I might share it with you.

Now - I’m warning you, none of this is rocket science.

  1. Get up on time
  2. Journal and Meditate
  3. Exercise
  4. Plan the Day
  5. Execute the Day
  6. Stop on Time
  7. Sleep on Time

That’s it. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

First of all, a smidgen of self-awareness. “Hard Days”. By any objective measure, I don’t have hard days. I’m a very privileged and lucky fellow. However, some days, I find it a real struggle to get motivated and productive. Covid certainly hasn’t helped, but I had crap days before it came along too.

1. Get up on time

I’m an early-riser. I usually wake before my alarm, which is set as a fall back. I usually get up between 0500 and 0600. I find an early start makes me feel ahead of the day.

2. Journal and Meditate

I keep a journal, in a Hobonichi Techo, with a fountain pen. Nothing earth-shattering, simple notes about the day past and my plans for the day to come. It’s a ritual, I suppose. Meditate, I use Calm on my phone, with my AirPods. Some days practice is focused, others not. No stress. I believe this is far more fundamental than I give it credit for.

3. Exercise

I walk the dogs, and in the summer, I swim too. The positive impact of exercise is well-documented, and walking two adorable mutts is the best therapy anyone could ever ask for. If we could all take dog-like enthusiasm into life, what fun we would all have.

4. Plan the Day

Plans are useless, planning is indispensable - that’s from Dwight D Eisenhower. I check my calendar and my task manager - then time-block the day. Will I exactly follow the plan? I doubt it - but that doesn’t detract from the need to plan.

5. Execute the Day

Here’s the “hard day” bit. If I’m struggling, I probably don’t fancy the things that I have planned to do. So - I might start to look for places to move those blocks, which is fine, but mostly, I sigh and open the right app. The time-block is just enough of a prompt to get me started.

6. Stop on Time

I don’t work late any more. I had got into a habit of seeing the evening as legitimate overflow time. I could even move blocks into the evening hours. Having more time didn’t make me more productive, it encouraged longer procrastination and made me feel conflicted for longer. Now, I stop at stop time.

7. Sleep on Time

I’m old and crusty, and I’ve been up since 5. I try to get to be bed for 10, 11 at latest and I read for a few minutes before falling into the arms of Morpheus.

When I’m not “feeling it”, I adjust my sights. Just hit the anchor points, I tell myself. Smart reader that you are, you will have noticed that number 5 is a big ask - however, my sulky demotivated self is not as smart as you. By the time I have dragged myself down to the office after walking the dogs, I’m halfway through the list. So, huffing and puffing like a hormonal teenager, I keep going. Does the day produce my best stuff? Maybe not, but in reality, I actually enjoy what I do. It’s the thought of it that overwhelms me sometimes.

Oh. And I’m moody.

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