We know one of the biggest things you can do to improve your working habits is switch creative work first and reactive work, like replying to emails, later in the day.
That’s easy to say, but hard to do. How do can we go about this?
Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Mind offers several helpful suggestions.
Do Great Work Before Everything Else
Do your most meaningful creative work at the beginning of your day, and leave “reactive work”— like responding to e-mail or other messages— for later.
Jump-Start Your Creativity
Establish “associative triggers”— such as listening to the same music or arranging your desk in a certain way— that tell your mind it’s time to get down to work.
Frequency
Commit to working on your project at consistent intervals— ideally every day— to build creative muscle and momentum over time.
Pulse and Pause
Move rhythmically between spending and renewing your energy by working in ninety-minute bursts and then taking a break.
Solitude
Make a point of spending some time alone each day. It’s a way to observe unproductive habits and thought processes, and to calm your mind.
Don’t Wait Till You Feel Like It
Show up, whether you feel inspired or not.