The Daily Start-up
Here’s my daily recipe for reducing stress and being prepared.
Every morning, I start my workday with my “Daily Start-up.”
Why do I do this, other than to appeal to my innermost neuroticism, pining for order and structure?
I’ve found that spending 20-60 minutes on these activities makes my day go so much smoother.
And if we peel the onion back one more layer, it relieves anxiety. Anxiety that things will fall through the cracks. Anxiety that I will let someone down. Anxiety that there is a lurking to-do ready to jump out and assault me!
And lastly, my daily start-up lets me know precisely what to do when I start my workday. It’s easy to come into the office and get distracted, leading to either working on the unnecessary or procrastinating in even beginning to work. The Daily Start-up removes a massive decision each morning: “Where do I start?”
So, if you’re like me and need consistency and a clear head to do your best work, you may consider adapting the following Daily Start-up to meet your needs.
Let’s jump in!
Update My Bullet Journal (2-3 minutes)
I’ve been bullet journaling for years, so I first update my journal since my last entry.
I start here because this is my mental version of clearing off my desk before I jump into the rest of my day.
Two Business Day Look Ahead (3-5 minutes)
I then open my calendar and review each meeting in the next two business days.
Primarily, I’m looking to extract to-do items that need to be done before meetings.
If I encounter a task that can be done in 2 minutes or less, I do it right then and there.
If the task will take longer than 2 minutes, it goes onto my to-do list as the “highest” priority, because who wants to arrive at a meeting unprepared?
On Fridays, this look ahead includes the weekend meetings and obligations. I do not separate business or personal in my Daily Start-up. It’s too hard to compartmentalize. I mush it all together, knowing that preparing for Saturday’s personal obligation is, long-term, just as important as preparing for Monday’s business meeting.
Open Letter (5 minutes)
Next, I make an entry in an open letter I’ve been writing for my kids since November 2007. You can read all about that here.
Review the Previous Day’s Meetings (3-5 minutes)
Similar to the look ahead, this task is about extracting to-dos from previous meetings and ensuring those get properly prioritized on my to-do list. (I follow the same “2-minute rule” as I do with my look ahead.)
It also prompts me to thank people for their efforts and show appreciation.
On Mondays, this review includes the previous Friday and the weekend, ensuring personal obligations get the same attention as business obligations. (Do you know people who are wizards at work but terrible at organizing their personal lives? My guess is they don’t use the same systems personally that work so well professionally…)
Process Email (10-30 minutes)
I’m an “In-box Zero” guy. This means I get my in-box to zero daily. Each email gets one or more of the following treatments:
Converted to a to-do, then archived.
Responded to, then archived.
Delegated, then archived.
Deleted or moved to SPAM
If an email leads to a to-do, once again, I follow the 2-minute rule.
I do not, under any circumstance, use my email as a to-do list. That’s a recipe for making other people’s priorities my priorities.
Check Social Media Messages (3-5 minutes)
I then quickly check the various platforms for both work and personal: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
I use the 2-minute rule that I use with email.
Hack: I have all of these in-boxes bookmarked in a single bookmark folder in Chrome. Then, when it’s time to do this task, I right-click the folder, select “Open all…” and then process.
Process Voicemail (1-2 minutes)
Voicemails are rare these days, but I still occasionally get them.
Often, I don’t even realize they are there because the call automatically went to voicemail because my phone was in Do Not Disturb.
Once again, if the voicemail leads to an action item that takes less than 2 minutes, I’ll do it right then. Otherwise, to the to-do!
Process Texts (3-5 minutes)
This is the most “boomer” thing I do, and I get a ton of flack for this from friends: I try to process my texts only once a day, and I do it using a web browser connected to my text messaging service.
Text is an awful form of communication, especially for business. We try to steer all of our customers to email, but alas, some prefer not to do so.
So, while I do scan texts for urgency throughout the day, I do a deeper daily review of each message, once again, to extract to-dos.
So Then What?
The above process takes 20-60 minutes a day.
But once it’s complete, I sense all is right in the world.
This leaves the rest of the day (sans meetings) to focus on my to-do list, starting with the highest priority and working my way down.
I find the clarity this process provides well worth the time investment. And if you try a version of this yourself, I hope you get the same results!
I’d love it if a few more folks read this newsletter. Might you consider forwarding it to someone you think might benefit from it?
Books of Note: I just completed Fire in Paradise by Alastar Gee and Dani Anguiano. It was abysmal. What I was hoping to be a deep dive into the who, what, and why of the tragic fire in Paradise, CA, in November of 2018 was a poorly written, far-left-leaning, shallow tale of a few victims. I was looking for more “Mitchell Report” and less of a Dickensian tale. Oh well. I should have dove deeper into the book before adding it to my wishlist!
I’d love a follow over on X (Twitter) and Linkedin, as I post things there that are either too brief for the newsletter or are just entertaining things I come up with over a responsibly-sized serving of Blanton’s.