How I rebuilt my work days from the inside out
6 simple habits that gave me my time back
How many times have you found yourself sitting down on a Monday, getting ready to tackle your endless to-do list and then in a blink of an eye, it’s Friday and you have no idea where the week has gone?
Time is the one thing I feel like I never have enough of which is why when I used to juggle a 9-5 in tech, my YouTube channel, and a small business on the side, I had to make sure I was using my time as efficiently as possible.
Was I thriving? Barely. I would say I was mostly just trying to keep everything up and running.
What helped me work through it? Finding habits and tools that help me save hours every single week so that I can actually focus on the most important tasks and not get bogged down by everything else.
80% of your success comes from 20% of your work
Restructuring my work day
Before I started integrating new habits and tools, I first had to evaluate what was holding me back. As someone who puts (too much) weight into being “productive” and getting things done, I was getting frustrated with my results and how I was spending my time.
I realized I was spending much of my days reacting—bouncing between tasks, checking messages, and putting out fires—instead of being intentional with my time. My calendar looked organized, but my brain felt scattered. The more I tried to do, the less I actually accomplished. So before adding new systems, I took a hard look at what needed to change: the way I structured my work days, how I approached focus, and where my energy was leaking. That’s what set the foundation for every habit that came after.
Tunnel-vision mode
The way I imagine tunnel-vision mode is like “theare-mode” on YouTube—everything else around you darkens while the thing you’re meant to be focusing on comes into clarity. I actually derived the concept from the “flow state” which was first introduced by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in the 70s. The flow state is essentially a mental state where a person is fully immersed and focused on an activity, bringing them deeper enjoyment and creativity. The best way I’ve heard it described is “effortless concentration”.
There are a few tools that really help with this. First is DND (do not disturb) mode on your phone. I love that Apple made updates a few seasons ago so that you can have different DND modes that bring up different app homepages and wallpapers.
I also love flow timer which syncs across all your devices. We’ve probably all heard of the pomodoro technique before and this timer helps with that. You can set the length to “work blocks” as well as your breaks.
Lastly, physically moving to a different workspace where I have no distractions forces me to get into the zone. Sometimes when I sit at my desk I think of other things I need to do as well. But when I move to the kitchen table and move everything else out of the way, I have no choice but to focus.
By scheduling in these “tunnel-vision” blocks, it actually saves my brain from context switching as well, saving me time and headspace to get to work. Just like with any other muscle in your body, training your brain to focus takes time. But once you build it into your system, switching on this mindset starts feeling like second nature.
Automate what you can
Maybe it’s because I worked in tech for so long but I love finding tools that help me automate mundane tasks and speed up my workflow. I love using tools like Zapier to help me automate certain processes. For example, when someone purchases one of my digital products, they automatically get sent a thank you email from my newsletter tool, Kit.
Akiflow is another tool that I feel really makes a difference in my productivity. It’s a calendar app that was built for people who time block. When you create an event, you actually have the choice to have it as a Task, Event, or Time Block. This allows me to create more organization within my calendar.
The best part of Akiflow has to be their integrations though. I personally use Notion for *everything—*from ideating to project planning to tracking my habits and reading. You can connect Akiflow to your Notion and have it pull in tasks that you create within a certain dashboard. It’ll then be gathered in an “inbox” within Akiflow for you to quickly schedule throughout your week.
Time block the day before
Something else I love about Akiflow is their “Rituals” feature (I swear I’m not sponsored by them, I genuinely just love their tool and pay for the annual subscription). Each evening, I open the Rituals feature and settle up my lists for the day. I go through and check off anything I’ve completed and also start time blocking for the next day. I’ll go through the things in my planner, life things from my journal, and my to-do list in the Inbox and make sure I know exactly what I need to work on the next day.
In the morning when I start work, I’ll always review my work for the day. Sometimes things come up via emails, slack messages, or from my management team so tasks have to get re-prioritized. However, having that foundation built from the night before just ensures that I at least have an idea of what my day should look like.
The two minute rule
I think the first time I was introduced to the Two Minute Rule was from David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done. The rule is simple—if a task can be done in 2 minute, just do it now. For me personally, I take this a step further and schedule a 10-15 minute block before I start my work day and give myself time to completely a bunch of two-minute tasks. I’ll start by mapping out 5 things I want to do during that time, whether it’s answering certain emails, doing a quick clean or vacuum, or engaging on social media.
I’ll use this time to focus on things that I drag my feet on and that become distractions later on in the day. Getting it done first thing in the morning ensures that I don’t have them looming in the back of my mind, creeping up when I’m trying to focus.
Smart multitasking
While I do agree that multitasking can sometimes be a detriment to focus and creativity, I do like to batch multitask. What this really means is that I group my days by task category rather than be project. Typically throughout the week I have to film, edit, write, post, engage, and design, I’ll split my days up by these categories.
So instead of completely a video project in one day, the writing, filming, and editing, I’ll have filming days, writing days, editing days (and so on and so forth) and work on multiple projects at once.
It’s another way I’m avoiding context switching even though switching from project to project may seem like that. For my brain, I find it makes more sense to group by type of task cause it avoids separate set up and take down, especially when it comes to videos.
Stop overthinking, just start
I’ve had so many moments where I’ve just hummed and hawed, trying to think things through before I actually start a project. While planning is crucial for success, what’s even more mission critical is that you just start. If you think about our work days, we actually spend a lot of (dare I say unnecessary?) time just overthinking. Working at a scrapping start up for years, I’ve learned that sometimes the best thing you can do is just launch messy and iterate over time. That way you’re getting your work out there and getting the feedback you need to grow.
I love a good “rule” or hack when it comes to work so the one I like to apply here is the 5 second rule. When you find yourself overthinking and procrastinating, take a deep break and start counting back from 5. Once you hit 0, it’s time to get off your hypothetical butt and get started. Get pen on paper, start typing, or open up the file you need. Sometimes we just need a little push forward.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…GO
So there you have it—6 simple habits that have helped me reclaim over 20+ hours weekly. Implementing tunnel-vision mode, automating repetitive tasks, time blocking the day before, following the two-minute rule, practicing smart multitasking, and just starting instead of overthinking are all powerful ways that have really transformed my work days and focus.
I encourage you to pick just one of these habits to implement this week. See how it feels, adjust as needed, and then consider adding another. Remember that productivity isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters most with focused intention. These habits aren't just about saving time; they're about creating space for the work that truly lights you up.
I’d love to know what's one habit from this list you're excited to try?
Oooo might need to try out Akiflow
This is soooo accurate or maybe we just function soo similarly! Thank you for sharing!