Twenty years ago, my alarm would go off at 4:30 AM.
Every single morning.
I had exactly 3 hours before I needed to leave for my day job. I was still stuck in the 9-to-5 “grind.”
Those precious morning hours were all I had to build my dream of running my own online business.
Here’s the thing about having limited time – it forces you to get LASER focused on what matters. When you only have 3 hours, you can’t waste time scrolling social media or “organizing” your desktop for the fifth time that week.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve built multiple 7-figure businesses, sold over $100M in products online, and helped thousands of entrepreneurs achieve their own success.
But something interesting happened when I finally quit my 9-to-5…
Suddenly, I had ALL the time in the world.
No boss. No schedule. No commute.
And you know what?
That actually made it HARDER to be productive.
Without the structure of limited time, it became way too easy to procrastinate. To put things off. To get distracted by “busy work” that wasn’t actually moving the needle.
That’s when I developed a system.
A set of productivity principles that helped me stay focused and get more done – whether I was working three hours a day or 13.
After testing countless productivity systems over two decades, I’ve distilled everything down to 10 game-changing principles that dramatically increased my output (and income).
Today, I’m sharing them all with you.
Let’s dive in…
Step #1: The “Value-Based Task Hierarchy”
One of the biggest game-changers in my business has been understanding that not all tasks are created equal.
I break everything down into three distinct levels:
High Value Tasks – These are the real money-makers. They’re activities that create income-producing assets. In my case, this includes things like launching new physical products on Amazon, developing software tools, or creating digital products that generate passive income.
Second Highest Value Tasks – These directly contribute to revenue but aren’t necessarily creating assets. Think marketing videos or crafting sales emails.
Low Value Tasks – These need to be done but don’t directly generate income. Monthly accounting is a perfect example.
Here’s my secret…
I try to outsource everything except the high-value tasks. This lets me focus on what truly moves the needle in my business. It’s a formula that’s worked incredibly well for me for years now.
But there’s also a fourth category you need to watch out for:
Negative Value Tasks – These are activities that give you the illusion of being productive while actually keeping you stuck. I’m talking about:
- Excessive social media time
- Over-optimizing website design
- Constantly consuming educational content without taking action
These tasks feel productive in the moment, but they’re actually holding you back. They’re not just low value – they’re negative value. They steal time from activities that could actually grow your business.
Start tracking where your time goes for one week. I guarantee you’ll be shocked at how much time is going to low or negative value activities.
Step #2: The “No To-Do List” System
This is going to sound crazy, but I completely eliminated to-do lists from my life.
Why?
Because a to-do list is nothing more than a list of ideas. Until a task is physically scheduled for a specific time on your calendar, it’s just an idea – a backburner project list.
Instead, I treat tasks like doctor’s appointments, blocking out specific times on my calendar for each activity.
From 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, I might be working on content creation. From 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, it could be product development.
This takes your to-do list to the next level by giving each task a specific time slot. It’s not just something you hope to get done – it’s an appointment with yourself.
Remember, these are tasks, not projects. Don’t assign yourself the project of building a website. Set yourself a fifteen minute block of time to find a WordPress theme, and a separate block of time to install all necessary plugins.
If you don’t know what the next task in a project is, then assign yourself a fifteen minute block of time to figure it out.
The difference is dramatic. When I switched from to-do lists to calendar blocking, my productivity nearly doubled overnight.
Step #3: Setting “Unrealistic” Deadlines
As the cliche goes, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.“
If you set a slightly unrealistic time frame for a task, one that requires you to push yourself beyond your (current self-imposed) limit, you’ll complete it faster than if you ‘realistically’ give yourself time based on your current level of effectiveness.
I learned this from my university days.
When I had assignments, they would always fill up right until the last day, and I’d be hustling to finish at the deadline. I see the same pattern in online business all the time.
This is Parkinson’s Law in action – work expands to fill the time available.
By setting strict time limits, you force yourself to focus and get things done efficiently. Without them, tasks can drag on indefinitely.
Tell yourself “In 15 minutes or less I will figure out ____”. Then set a timer and hold yourself to it.
If you practice this regularly and hold yourself to it, you’ll become more efficient and resourceful overall. You’ll soon become the person everyone can count on to quickly come up with unique solutions to problems when things go wrong.
Think of it like this: no one could run a 4-minute mile until one person broke the record.
Soon after, it became common. Limits are in your mind. By pushing yourself harder and believing you can do it, you’ll automatically go farther than trying to stay within what you believe is realistic.
Step #4: The “Burn Your Bridges” Accountability Method
Want to get something done? Make procrastination impossible.
Here’s a real example from my business:
When launching new products, I announce the launch date publicly to our email list and customers. Once it’s out there, I HAVE to deliver. I’ve made this commitment public with my friends, family, and business partners.
It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you eliminate the option of backing out. This forces you to take massive action and do whatever it takes to get the task done.
Some ways I’ve implemented this method:
- Don’t have the sales letter finished for your new info product? Email your subscribers and tell them the product is going live in two days.
- Haven’t gotten the images done for your Amazon listing or completed the keyword research? Ship the inventory to Amazon’s warehouse immediately.
Of course, you’ll need to have an idea of how long the task will take to be done properly.
Don’t make it completely impossible to do in the timeframe you’ve given yourself. However, let’s say you know it will take 5-7 hours to do. Take an action that puts pressure on you to make it happen within the next 24 hours.
This strategy alone has probably been responsible for millions in revenue that otherwise might have been left on the table due to procrastination.
Step #5: The 55-55-25 Focus Method
By following this schedule, you’re likely to accomplish more in a four hour block of time than most people do in an entire eight hour day of scattered unfocused actions.
Here’s how it works:
- Work for 55 minutes of completely uninterrupted focus
- Take a 5-minute break to stretch and recharge
- Work for another 55 minutes of deep focus
- Take a 25-minute rejuvenating break (eat, walk, play a quick game – whatever recharges you)
- Repeat the cycle once more
Make sure to use a timer so you’re not going over the allotted time or losing focus constantly checking the time.
After your next twenty-five minute break, allow yourself to end the workday by attending to any miscellaneous tasks and ‘fires’ that inevitably come up in business. Only when all sets are finished can you check social media, newsletters, and any other distractions you used to let derail you during the day.
This method works because it aligns with how our brains naturally function. We can maintain intense focus for about an hour before needing a break, and the longer rejuvenating breaks help prevent burnout and keep creativity flowing.
When I implemented this system, the quality of my work improved dramatically while also reducing the total hours I spent working.
It’s a win-win.
Step #6: The Study-Action-Action Ratio
To prevent information overload and overwhelm, your study to work ratio should be that for every ten minutes you study, you immediately block in 20 minutes of work to execute what you just learned.
Let’s be honest – many of us are information addicts. We constantly consume courses, podcasts, and books on business and marketing, but we fail to implement what we learn.
The 1:2 ratio forces you to take action. For every hour of learning, you commit to two hours of doing.
This simple shift will instantly make you more productive because:
- You’ll be more selective about what you learn (since you know you have to implement it)
- You’ll retain information better by applying it immediately
- You’ll make real progress instead of just feeling like you’re making progress
Even if you have a goal of mastering a particular skill, and want to study everything you can to become the best at it, you still need to follow the study-action-action ratio to achieve that. Mastery is more about practice than it is about studying.
You don’t learn to play a musical instrument by reading anymore than you become a master copywriter or PPC expert by reading. The time you spend in the trenches is what builds true skill and knowledge.
Step #7: Elimination of Decision Fatigue
There’s an interesting finding now termed Decision Fatigue where it was discovered that willpower depletes with every decision a person makes.
An eye-opening study involving 1,100 judicial rulings found that judges were more likely to approve parole for cases held first thing in the morning, or after taking a break for food.
As the day dragged on and judges became mentally fatigued from decision making, they started denying requests because it was easier to say no than try to figure out who was trustworthy.
This explains why people tend to have the least amount of willpower at the end of the day. It’s why Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wears the same shirt everyday, to avoid wasting any willpower deciding what to wear.
As an entrepreneur, you are faced with many important decisions every day, so it’s important to have systems and routines in place that diminish the amount of trivial decisions you need to make.
Here’s what I do:
- I plan my meals for the week in advance
- I have a set morning routine that I follow without thinking
- I wear a “uniform” of sorts (not literally, but I have a go-to style that makes choosing clothes simple)
- I use templates for common emails and documents
- I have standard operating procedures for recurring business tasks
By eliminating these small decisions, I preserve my mental energy for the big, important choices that really move my business forward.
Step #8: Creating a Resourceful State
To perform at your best, you need to be in a focused, resourceful state of mind.
The more stress and pressure you’re able to handle, the more opportunities you’ll be able to take advantage of. Setting yourself “stressful” goals with high pressure and being able to achieve them will take you much farther than setting small, reasonable goals that don’t push you beyond your existing comfort zone.
I’ve created a list of 15+ triggers that induce a resourceful state of mind for me, and then developed a way to include as many of these as I can into my daily routine.
For me, these include:
- Listening to my favorite soundtracks
- Morning exercise
- A quick round of meditation
- Having a clean, organized workspace
- Writing in a gratitude journal for 5 minutes
Just as important is identifying what triggers cause you to feel unresourceful. What brings you down and causes you to feel weak, unmotivated and low on energy?
For me, these include:
- Complaining or listening to others complain
- Personal drama
- Not getting enough sleep
- Eating too much junk food
By maximizing positive triggers and minimizing negative ones, you put yourself in the optimal state for productivity.
Step #9: The Habit of Completion
One of the best exercises I do weekly: I choose 3 things I started but didn’t follow through on, and finish them all in a single afternoon.
It’s not about how good they are or whether I consider the result satisfactory enough to use as the final version. It’s about practicing and strengthening the habit of getting things done. Imperfectly finished is much better than perfectly not finished.
This habit builds what I call your “completion muscle.” The more you practice finishing things, the better you get at it.
Most entrepreneurs have a graveyard of half-finished projects.
This exercise helps ensure you don’t continue adding to that graveyard.
Plus, there’s an incredible psychological boost that comes from completion. Each finished project gives you momentum and confidence to tackle the next one.
Step #10: Systems for Everything
The final step to $100M productivity is having systems for everything. I mean EVERYTHING.
- Email templates
- Webinar slides
- Blog posts
- YouTube content
- Sales copy
- Landing pages
- Evergreen email autoresponders
- Evergreen webinars
Take a mundane task you do on a regular basis and design a system to accomplish a better outcome from it in half the time.
Then take an important, high-level task and do the same thing.
Find a way to turn some part of it into a template. Devise a formula that requires less thinking the next time around.
This not only helps you be more productive in the short-term, it increases the value of your business when/if the time comes to sell. The ease with which a new owner can take over and successfully run the business with little to no knowledge or learning curve, the easier it is to sell and the more money you can demand for it.
My business partner and I were able to sell one of our companies for substantially more than the industry average multiple precisely because we had documented systems for everything we did.
The Real Secret: Consistent Practice
Here’s what makes these principles so powerful – they work together. Each one builds on the next.
You focus on high-value tasks (Principle #1), schedule them in your calendar (Principle #2), set tight deadlines (Principle #3), create accountability (Principle #4), use the 55-55-25 method to stay focused (Principle #5), implement what you learn immediately (Principle #6), preserve mental energy (Principle #7), maintain a resourceful state (Principle #8), build the completion habit (Principle #9), and systematize everything (Principle #10).
It doesn’t happen overnight.
Everything here requires practice to turn into a habit. Don’t get discouraged if you fall back into old habits for a few days. Just make sure to bounce back and keep practicing.
Remember, it’s not about working more hours, it’s about getting more out of the hours you are working. It’s ok to end the day feeling a bit exhausted. Use your personal time to recharge and come back strong again.