A few weeks ago, I got hit by a bombshell…

Well, it felt like it anyway.

To you, my bombshell might look like a small, furry puppy, and very cute indeed.

But to me, she has meant puddles of wee, (and worse) on the kitchen floor, gnawed chair legs and relentless whining at night.

The arrival of the puppy threw my work life into total mayhem – it was a bit like having a new baby in the house!

And it meant I really struggled to focus and find time these past few weeks.

But I had to as in that few weeks I needed to devise and record 2 in-depth trainings, run a new product launch (that hit 6 figures!), start daily social media posting in a new niche, run a beta test on another product and oversee my team, family and all the other stuff in between that comes with running a business.

Fortunately, I’ve been trialing a new productivity technique that has worked brilliantly for me.

Brooke Castillo’s Monday Hour One (I’m not an affiliate or sponsored in any way).

Now that I’ve had a few weeks to try it under EXTREMELY distracting ‘new puppy’ conditions, I can safely report that I love it.

I have kept my focus and achieved everything I needed to do in good time.

So let me give you a clearer picture of how it works.

Brooke Castillo’s Monday Hour One reviewed

First up, I’ll start with a negative….

There’s no ‘bigger picture’ goal setting.

By that, I mean the overall goals and aims that you need to achieve.

If you don’t have those long-term life goals firmly in mind before you start using this productivity system, then you don’t know what smaller steps you need to take are (so this is a bit of a flaw!).

But I’ve got you covered, if you want to know how to do that, I explore the techniques of bigger picture goal setting in my free planning workbook which you can download here:

The Ultimate Planning Workbook

OK, so once you have looked at your bigger picture using my planning system, it’s time to try Brooke’s system, which will help you get those action items done.

Now, I won’t give away all her processes, as that would be disrespectful to the course creator.

However, Brooke shares many of these ideas in her free podcast so I’ll stick to what she mentions there.

To get more detailed information I recommend that you check out her podcast, The Life Coach School podcast. I’m not a life coach and I don’t listen to her for that. I just find she gives great general advice for those of us running 7 or 8 figure businesses.

You could also check out the full course (remember I’m not an affiliate, so I gain nothing by this mention – I just wanted to share what has worked for me in the hope it helps you too).

So let’s get back to it and how you can implement it yourself.

The basic premise of Brooke’s system is that you need to avoid context switching and stay focused on the specific tasks that must be done with your total concentration.

That means, for instance, not suddenly checking your inbox while writing a blog post… or looking at blog posts when you are supposed to be reading a piece of research.

It sounds easy (and it is) but so few of us actually do it in practice!

The basic steps are this:

1. PLOT: Allow one full hour to plan your week each Sunday or Monday.

This is the cornerstone of the technique.

It is essential that you turn off all distractions including computers and phones! Have pen and paper ready…

2. PLAN: Write down EVERYTHING on your mind that you think you need to do.

Include personal stuff you need to do in your daily life (this is vital).

Look at your goals (from the planning workbook) and ensure you are working towards those too.

By downloading everything onto paper you start to clear your mind of the clutter that causes procrastination.

3. STRUCTURE: Pull up your calendar (I use Google Calendar) and schedule in personal commitments like lunch, family dinner, exercise.

Making sure you also schedule in the small-time stealers like ordering the weekly shop, doing the laundry or walking the dog.

And also the time it takes to prep and travel to meetings/events etc.

Be generous in your scheduling.

She also insists you schedule in time to relax.

It sounds counter-intuitive and also a little bit robotic but there is something quite wonderful about time you know is just to relax… there is no niggling voice that you ‘should’ be doing something else.

If something does come into my head I just write it on my list to schedule for the following week (or in emergencies the following day!)

4. IMPLEMENT: Think about when you work most effectively (for me it’s morning) and schedule in 2 hours focus time every workday.

Those are the 2 hours when you need to schedule the projects that require absolute focus.

These will tend to be things that often get pushed to one side in a normal week but are essential to achieving a big goal.

For instance, writing an eletter that will build a connection with your students or potential students, planning a week’s worth of social media posts or ads, or finalising a course topic.

5. FOCUS: Stay distraction-free.

In those 2 hours, you must turn off all notifications, put your phone away and avoid ANYTHING that could distract you.

If you will need to get information from emails in your inbox, go and get those BEFORE the focus time begins (schedule in time to do that in your weekly plan!).

Otherwise, if you go to your inbox during your session there is little doubt that something there will distract you.

6. TIME STEALERS: Schedule in all the other things on your ‘to-do’ list in the outside of the focus time.

For instance, I’ve put ‘answering emails’ after lunch as I know that if I start on that in the morning the whole day disappears.

7. CONSISTENCY: Stick to the plan. Don’t deviate from the schedule.

Nothing should interrupt that 2-hour focus window. You can leave some other times ‘free’ for the random stuff that will come up.

When I first started my 2-hour focus I still found other stuff popped into my head so I made sure I had a notepad next to me where I could jot it down and stop it from distracting me – if you feel like you have to remember to do something it can really pull your focus.

How much time should I allow for tasks/projects?

One thing you might find tricky is knowing how much time to estimate for a task… particularly if it’s for something new.

I’ve talked before about how time can be elastic and I really have found that with this technique it seems to be the case.

You take as long as you give yourself.

So for example with an eletter/blog post – if you allowed yourself a day to write it – it will take you that long.

If you allow yourself 2 hours it will take you that long.

Would an eletter that took you a day to write be 200 – 300% better than one that took 2 hours.

No. I bet it wouldn’t. It may be a little bit better but not enough to justify the extra time (I know I say it often but ‘done is better than perfect’!)

Obviously, I’m simplifying it here, but you will be astounded at how often it works out.

And if you have a larger project and you know it will take longer than the 2 focus hours, just spread it out a bit.

It’s so simple but it works.

When I’m in the office doing my ‘2-hour focus’ I put on my headphones to ensure no interruptions and I even enjoy getting absorbed in the task.

Give it a try and let me know how you get on.

I suspect you’ll be amazed by how differently your week goes and how much you get done.

If you’ve got productivity techniques that have really worked for you do share them. I’d love to know more.