Hey Reader,

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Today I want to talk about how to ensure you don’t waste your weeks.

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The College Wake-Up Call

Sophomore year, I tried to fix my grades by doing nothing but studying.

No social life. No workouts. Just books and stress.

Result?

I received 3 Cs.

I had never received a C in high school. My strategy was not working.

I wondered if I was becoming dumb.

Turns out, if you give yourself all day to do something, you’ll take all day to not do it.

Parkinson's Law states,

Since I "had all day" to study, I procrastinated until bedtime.

When it was time to study, I scrolled Instagram until my eyelids got heavy.

So, junior year, I tried something new—setting limits.

• Go out every Friday and Saturday night.
• Have all my schoolwork done by Friday.

Now, there was pressure to get things done. ADHDers thrive under pressure.

My grades immediately improved, and "magically", I had more time for fun.

Without limits, there isn't any urgency. Without urgency, you will procrastinate.

When you procrastinate, you "never have time."

More Time, Same Problem

Years later, I quit my job to go full-time on my business.

I had total control over my time, but I had no idea how to use it.

• I’d start my day with a to-do list.
• Hyperfocus for 3 hours on replying to emails or redesigning a Notion page—a waste.
• All day, I felt like I was progressing. In reality, I was going the wrong way.

I'd finish my day feeling burnt out because now I have to work twice as hard to catch up.

So, I evolved my strategy.

The Fix: Planning My Day by Timeboxing

I needed

• Urgency
• Direction instead of shiny-object syndrome.
• Priorities that I could visualize

So I built a system:

1. Plan my day the night before
2. Schedule every task on my calendar (Timeboxing)
3. Reference my calendar as a guide.
4. Track how much time I spent on each task.

Result?

• I reclaimed 2 - 3 hours every morning instead of scrolling in bed
• No more feeling scattered and overwhelmed because I knew what to do and when
• Consistently worked out, completed my work, and enjoyed my nights
• Completed every goal

Suprise Suprise! Planning made me more efficient.

Timeboxing = Productive Pressure

I tried to resist structure for so long, but it was the answer... probably for you too, but you don't want to hear that, lol.

Before Timeboxing, I tried everything:

• To-do lists
• Notion
• Alarms
• Pomodoro

None of them provided the urgency and direction I needed.

Timeboxing the night before recreated the pressure from college. A packed schedule and the thought of falling behind force me to execute.

It's a game of how much I can get done. If I fall behind, I adjust.

Timeboxing might seem like overkill, but would you ever start driving without a destination and/or directions? Nope! Otherwise, a 30-minute trip becomes a couple of hours' journey. Same with your day.

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Do you remember how hard it was to get anywhere with this shit? This is equivalent to a to-do list

Timeboxing saves me time by providing direction, just like a GPS. It also

• Ensures that the highest-priority tasks receive allocated time.
• Stops me from overthinking
• Prevents you from overworking on one task
• Prevents you from over-scheduling

So, instead of having a couple of productive days per month, now every day is a productive day.

Imagine how much an extra 3-4 hours per day would compound over 4 years (2021 - 2025).

4 years x 3 hours/day x 6 days/week x 42 weeks/year x 1 day/24 hours = 126 days

How to Timebox

Here's how to get started:

• Create a Google Calendar account
• Build out your basic framework with your non-negotiables. Read this​
• Create a list of to-dos
• Schedule them on your calendar like a meeting
• When time's up, move on to the next task. Use a timer to stay accountable.
• REFERENCE YOUR CALENDAR & FOLLOW THE PLAN
• Track and review how much time you spend on each task. Read this​
• Optional: Sunsama (An affiliate link with an extended trial) streamlines many of these steps. Here's how it works​

Here's my daily setup: Sunsama is always open on my laptop

Limits = Urgency = Results

• More free time = more procrastination
• Plan your day the night before
• Timeboxing gave me urgency, focus, and peace
• Without direction, you'll get lost

Want to see how I timebox? Reply “TIME” and I’ll send you my detailed walkthrough.

​Song of the week​