Here’s something I’ve been playing with lately: blocking my days into three big chunks. I have a Focus chunk from 6am to 12pm, a Buffer chunk from 12pm to 6pm, and then a Free chunk from 6pm to 11pm.

When I wake up, often while I’m still in bed, I immediately start working on my most important project. Literally, immediately. Somewhere in that chunk, I go to the bathroom, drink some coffee, and walk the dogs. But, otherwise, working on that project is the only thing I’m allowed to do.

At 12pm, unshowered and with glazed-over eyes, I usually walk the dogs again, head to the gym, shower, eat lunch, and then spend the balance of my Buffer block on all the other tasks I’d like to accomplish. Getting to inbox zero (in email, on my phone, with my paper in-basket), blogging, and banging out all the other work and personal tasks that aren’t part of my One Big Focus Project.

And then, at 6pm, I close my laptop, and try to spend the evening enjoying Jessie, friends, family and NYC.

Obviously, this only works because I have the luxury of working from home. But I’ve found that, at 6am, I’m basically still too asleep to creatively procrastinate; by the time my brain gears up all the way, I’m neck-deep in my most important stuff, and carried forward by the momentum. Whereas, before, when I’d try to work out and shower and walk the dogs and prepare for the day a bit before opening my laptop, I’d be in prime procrastinatory mode by 8:30 or 9:00am and manage to instead just tackle small unimportant tasks, telling myself I was clearing the deck for a deeper focus session later on that, on too many days, never seemed to actually arrive.

I’m not sure this would work for anyone else, but it sure as hell is working for me.