Getting the most out of your day Posted on October 30, 2018

Troy Hazard is an Australian residing in the United States (on the beach in Florida) He returns to Australia 4 to 5 times a year for business and family commitments. He is one of our most in demand international travelling speakers on business, leadership, and disruption. In the article below Troy gives us a great insight into how to manage our time so we can live more!
Written by Troy Hazard

I am often asked about how I get so much done in such a short period of time, so I only have to work 3 days a week. It’s not rocket science, it’s just a series of habits that I follow every day.

The 'can do' list

First up I spend 20-30 minutes organizing my head. I make three lists;
things I can change
things I have changed 
things I can’t change 
So, I am focused on only working on the things I can change that day. This is not a ‘to do’ list, this is a ‘can do’ list.

Then I typically spend about 30 minutes on personal development, watching video or reading articles, anything to improve myself.

For the rest of the day, I block things into 15-minute work intervals.  I choose 15 minutes because I have a firm belief if you can get it done in 30 minutes you could probably get it done in 15 minutes, if you focus.

That doesn’t mean that I only work on a project for 15 minutes, it just means that I challenge myself, so it becomes a kind of a ‘race’ to get things done, on time.

Now you might think that blocking your day into 15 minutes sounds like a lot of work. Surprisingly I can chunk down my day in about 5 minutes, and that sets the pace for the rest of the day.

Faster than your last lap... the race is on

My ‘15-minute’ idea came about from my passion for motorsport. As an amateur race car driver, the one thing that pushes you, is your lap times. There’s a euphoric feeling the sweeps over you when you are faster than your last lap. That’s what I wanted my day to feel like. So, the obvious thing was to turn it into a race.

When I first started this process I quickly realized that I was wasting 32% of my week. In short, my lap times were terrible. So, I thought ‘what’s typically happening when I cut a good time at the track’? The answer was simple, I was best when I was not distracted by anything and I was totally focused on what was going on in the car.

Remove distractions

To help focus and remove the distractions from the day, try making these simple changes:

Turn off alerts on your email.

Turn your cell phone to silent. 

Only have one file at a time open on your desk so you’re focused on what you should be working on, not what you could be working on.

Before you start work on a project take a look at the time you’ve allocated and consider if there is a more efficient way to execute the project.

With this simple process, over time, I was able to turn a 60-hour week into a 24-hour week. And still to this day the ‘race’ is to get 5 days of work done in 3 and be on the beach by 3pm with my wife and the kids making sandcastles. 

ABOUT TROY HAZARD | web profile

Troy Hazard is an Australian residing in the United States (on the beach in Florida) He returns to Australia 4 to 5 times a year for business and family commitments. He is one of our most in demand international travelling speakers on business, leadership, and disruption.

If you would like to know more about Troy’s conference presentations or workplace training options contact us for more information, click here.

Are you looking to create an amazing impact at your next conference? Contact the team at Great Expectation, call 1300 55 64 69.