Laying the path for an incredible year

Early Jan is the best time to be intentional about how we will structure our year to get the best results. I've been thinking a lot about rebalancing for this year and how to best set myself and my company up for success. I've been reworking my organizational systems and routines with an eye on creating more productivity while maintaining personal balance. Here is some of what I've set up -?

??? Blocking time

A lot has been written about the value of "deep work," but I find that I often don't allow myself the "luxury" of distraction-less focus. For this year, I'm trying to change that. I blocked out two hours every day (9-11) on my calendar for focused work and changed my iPhone settings to use their "Focus" feature. I then changed my Calendly to have meetings during the afternoon to cluster outside-the-company meetings and have them happen during the most productive time for appointments (mid-afternoons).?

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship.

?? Theming the days of my week

Say what you will about Jack Dorsey's bizarre rituals, such as eating 7 meals a WEEK, the guy knows how to get work done. I used his daily theme for work and gave each day of the week a particular focus. So far, I haven't done great sticking to these focuses, but it does help to at least some time to one area of the business each day.

Monday is management. Tuesday is product, engineering, and design. Wednesday is marketing, growth, and communications. Thursday is partnership and developers. Friday is company and culture. - Jack Dorsey's daily routine

?? Start and end with connection

My first step was to clear most of my recurring meetings. Then I thought about how to restructure them best. For management one-on-ones, I came up with 15-minute sessions based on the quick reviews that we do in 15Five, which is a tool for team engagement. I consciously started the week with these on Monday. To "bookend" the week connected to people, I named Friday my HR and culture-themed day, where I should bring my focus.

?? Updating my contacts

In about 2010 or so, I made a terrible mistake. I synced my LinkedIn contacts with my address book. Since then, I have had 20,000 contacts in my phone and email. For years, I've been seeing random old clients' and acquaintances' birthdays on my calendar. It was a mess! I took the time to wipe out every contact and then re-uploaded and updated the people that I contact daily. What a difference - your phone is not meant to be a database! Now, my contacts are clean and I can pay more attention to the people who matter most.

?? Refreshing my office

Virtual work seems here to stay for my company and many others. Companies are realizing the benefits of remote, including hiring from anywhere and retaining highly talented employees. I spent some time in the week between Christmas and New Year's redoing an office - painting the walls, setting up file cabinets, and laying down Ethernet cable. It's been a fantastic feeling having a refreshing new environment to do work.

???? Going back to print

Everything I do is digital, from note-taking and to-do systems in Notion to communication and scheduling with email and Slack. But there are two areas of work where I find print wins hands-down: goals and long-form reading. Writing down things you want to be constantly reminded of, such as goals and habits, is beneficial. There is nothing quite like seeing them in print and tacking them right in your field of vision. Also, nothing beats printing strategically important documents and "reading with a pen," taking notes along the way. I made a point this year to be very intentional about physically printing these critical docs and reminders.

?? Tackling the email beast

This past year, getting through email was impossible for me. With hundreds of emails coming in every day, I just couldn't physically keep up. I hired a virtual assistant for a few months to have them help me wade through it. But I can't say it worked - even with the two of us, I still couldn't get through incoming requests. I needed to cut the root of the weed! I had much luck with a service called Clean Email, which indexes and helps you unsubscribe to massive amounts of email at once. I hit the companies that email me most and developed organizational systems to handle them. It took a lot of doing, but it's made a big difference. I now, more often than not, hit "task zero" if not "inbox zero."

?? Reading 500 books

I usually try to give myself some reading-related goals for the new year. But this year, I'm going for the sheer ridiculous - 500 books. Of course, I can't read 500 books in a year in a normal way. But with Blinkist, I just might be able to. Blinkist gives you short written and audio summaries of books, and they have over 5,000 of them. You can design a stream of books, almost like a podcast, by creating a library and then just keep reading and/or listening to the next one up. For people who love reading, Blinkist seems almost sacramental - you lose deep thought and connection. But business books, most of which are probably ghost-written, often have a couple of crucial ideas, and their core function seems to give you a bit of inspiration or spark a new thought. So far, the Blinkist way appears to serve the same purpose well and I'm excited to download 500 books in a Matrix-like fashion.

The perfect way to begin the year is with a clean slate and a new perspective. I'm trying out these new ways of arranging my days to have a great year of clarity and traction. If nothing else, a changed routine is productive because of its newness - it's a great feeling to start fresh. Here's to a great and successful year for us all!??

Miles Jennings?is the Founder and President of Recruiter.com, an on-demand recruiting platform solving hiring challenges for employers from startups to the Fortune 100.?Learn more about our hiring solutions today.