What would life be like if you lived every day like a movie? Not just any movie, About A Boy, the 2002 classic from everyone’s favourite business coach, Hugh Grant.

Hugh’s character, Will, faced exactly the same problem we face today in 2020. Filling his days as a result of having endless time. Without realising it, Hugh had actually stumbled upon the most effective way of skyrocketing your productivity.

Life in Units

Hugh knew that 30 minutes was the perfect amount of time to complete any task. I’m going to switch things up and go for 50 minutes. Based on books I’ve read such as Atomic Habits & Deep Work, I know this is the ideal time duration for me. It takes 20 minutes for me to get deep into a task so 50 minutes allows me to dig in and really get tangible results.

This Sounds Familiar?

For all you efficiency nerds out there, this idea is based on the famous Pomodoro technique. Invented by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s, it is a simple system to break down your work in specific time segments, usually 25 mins or more, followed by a short break.

It works for many reasons but mainly it gives your brain something tangible to focus on followed by a reward. Humans are simple creatures and the work followed by a reward system is still one of the most powerful tricks you can use to increase your productivity.

My System

Time to get our calculators out and break this down into a simple, easy to follow system.

We all get the same 24 hours. How you use that over a long period of time will define your eventual success.

First, we need to set some basic rules.

Getting 8 hours of sleep is mandatory for me. You can research the reasons behind this yourself but start with this YouTube talk by Matthew Walker. I also recommend his book, Why We Sleep.

This leaves us with 16 hours to build our empires.

Myth-busting time, anyone that tells you they work for 16+ hours is a bullshitter or has no life/social skills. Don’t be that person.

Of that 16 hours, you also need to eat, drink and generally be merry. You can go super detailed here and break those down into units but that’s overkill for me.

I am going to allocate 6-10 hours to “Work” time. This DOES NOT have to be from 9 am-5 pm. If you work better in the evenings, do it then. If you work better by working for 3 hours and then taking a 2-hour break, do that. You no longer have to follow the 9-5 model which is inefficient and not suited to modern life. We aren’t working in a textile mill in 1700’s Manchester so don’t adopt their work practices.

Busting the 9 - 5 myth

Start to think of your day as units/tasks rather than 8-hour shifts. I no longer work regular hours as I don’t have to. Let me breakdown how I approach each day.

Take 5-10 minutes before you start your day, or even the night before, and design your dream day.

Spending a few minutes of planning will prevent you from jumping into the email inbox and low-value tasks. This gives you a valued perspective on your day.

As outlined above, I break this down into 6 x 50-minute segments. I list the 6 things that if I get done today, will make it a fantastic day.

An Example

Unit 1: Home workout

Unit 2: Editing this blog post

Unit 3: Paperwork & Email Admin

Unit 4: Podcast production & editing

Unit 5: Accounting & finances

Unit 6: Client call

Summary/ TL;DR

About A Boy is a highly underrated business movie.
Pomodoro Technique works. Pick specific times & test how productive you are.
Preplan each day to avoid falling into busywork.
9-5 is a flawed system, design your “dream day” system.
Get more disciplined to allow you more freedom.

Living My Quarantine Life Like A Movie