Front flip to roll to double axel to triple toe spin move… Gymnasts, at their best, are in a zen-like flow.

Never do they appear to think: “hmm..what should I do now?” Even if they stumble or fall, they jump back up, without a moments thought, and continue the routine—with grace.

Olympic gymnasts perform miraculous displays of acrobatic flips, twists and constantly challenge the idea of what we think is humanly possible. They do all this with the entire world watching. They have spent countless hours practicing and perfecting movements and techniques. However, once they have a strong foundation of movements and stunts they can preform, they queue them up in a sequence of events. Come competition time, there is no wondering “what should I do?” Their mind is clear of those worrisome questions. They are just locked in on the sequence and routine at hand.

What can we learn from this?

For years, I spent my days with very few things queued up. I got up, showered, got dressed, made breakfast, drove to work and then, it was time to react. It was time to REACT to work requests, REACT to unforeseen interruptions, eat lunch, REACT to more work needs, leave the office, commute home, react to home needs, prepare for next days routine, sleep. My days where being designed by the world around me and not from my own goals and aspirations. Desperate to break this cycle, I began to proactively queue the activities and tasks of my day. I was determined to design a life that I envisioned or at the very least, gain a bit more control over it.

For instance, I have my grand list of items I need and WANT to do, some driven by outside sources such as “complete client website” while others are driven by my personal aspirations such as “get fit” or more specifically, get artist representation. Using the three steps rule, I chose three major tasks to complete the night before. I then preschedule my day in advance to ensure I meet my time commitments but also to carve out space for the non-urgent, aspirational items.

The next morning, I wake up knowing that I will make significant progress on my business newsletter (task 1) by 11 a.m., a huge dent in the website redesign(task 2) by 2 p.m. and will have visited the gym before doing any of these. I move with purpose from morning until night versus jumping from task to task like a caffeine-loaded Mario Brother.

I have also queued up the steps I take within a specific major task. For example, while at the gym, I have a series of workout routines that I follow depending on the day and focus. Monday is pushing exercises, Wednesday is pulling, and Friday is legs. Each days workout has the specific sequence of exercises, rep ranges and sets all queue’d up in advanced. So whether I’m at the MacBook or the weight bench—it’s business time.

My Ideal Work Day Que’d Up

—————<start/>—————

5:00: wake up

5:05: Make french press coffee!

5:10: Write or Sketch

5:45: Make breakfast (queued up option): veggie egg white omelet with avocado

—————<personal development/ thinking/>———–

6:20: Personal (read books on subject of current interest, write in note book or sketch)

—————<school day rush/>—————

7:00: wake up child

7:10: Make breakfast for son (queued up options: oatmeal or peanut butter banana toast with hard boil egg)

7:20: serve up the chow

7:30: get dressed while Lucas eats

7:45: brush our teeth, comb our hair

8:00: walk to school

8:25: return from school walk

8:30 prepare for day and email

—————<task 1: business development/>—————

9:00: work (marketing: newsletter writing, blogging)

9:45: work on new products (secret project one: research, secret project two: prototypes, etc)

10:30: break, email & más café.

—————<task 2: client work, flexible/>—————

1045: Work Client (always in flux but always scheduled ahead: design homepage and content page, draft user stories, etc.)

—————<break/>—————————

12:45 Gym (monday-wednesday-friday: strength training, tues-thursday: free time)

1:30 eat lunch

1:45 email, phone calls, etc

—————<task 3: client work, flexible)/>—————

2:00-3:30: Continue client focused work

(options, continue first client task or switch to another depending on need)

—————<break/>—————————

3:30: break (free, errands, walk,)

—————<busy work/>—————————

3:45 Work MISC (phone calls, emails, errands, filing)

—————<back to home life/>—————————

5:00: work done

5:05 pick up son

5:45 return home

5:55 prepare meal

6:30 dinner

—————<home play/>—————————

7:00 free family (homework, play Mario Chess, or family exercise, etc.)

—————<end of day/>—————————

8:00 prepare bed

8:30 books (Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Captain Underpants)

8:45 lights out for son

9:00 prepare next day (tidy kitchen, dishes, laundry, lunches)

9:45 shower

—————<bonus personal task/>—————————

9:45 free personal (Sunday Tuesday Thursday: read book, Monday watch Netflix documentaries)

10:45 my lights out

Like the gymnasts at the mat, I try to take out as much of the guess work as possible, in as many things as I can by setting up the sequence of the days events before it begins. Despite the rigid appearance, I try to allow a degree of flexibility to it. If an opportunity or unforeseen mishap presents itself, I can address it and pick up where I left off. Yes, many days are choke full of interruptions, but I am always able to find a way back to my routine if I have all of my tasks queued up.  It’s not perfect, but it feels purposeful and has left me feeling more fulfilled and accomplished at days end compared to the confused, “where’d the day go,”  feeling I had when I simply let the day just unfold.

So, give it a try.

Take one or two things you HAVE to get done and then, throw in one thing you WANT to do and schedule them in your day. Try it for 5 days and notice the difference. Now, back to your email, I’m sure there is a fire brewing in that inbox of yours.