How do you start your day? Do you slowly get up, spend 30 minutes having a cup of coffee and reading or watching the news? Do you have days where you feel like you didn’t get much accomplished and where you wonder where the day went?

You can increase your effectiveness and create momentum for your day by starting with a Power Hour. A Power Hour is when you set aside the first hour in the morning to work – uninterrupted on important projects. Ideally the Power Hour takes place immediately when you wake up, but it could also take place immediately when you arrive at the office, or perhaps both!

There are many benefits of having a Power Hour:

• You start the day by accomplishing or making progress on an important project
• You feel good about your day right off the start
• You create momentum for the day that continues over into other activities
• You get done things you otherwise would not do.

As you try this you will quickly see how you can a lot done in an hour of uninterrupted time. This sort of progress towards your goals will accelerate your accomplishment, helping you achieve your goals in less time.

But what do you do with your time? There are many options, and what you do will depend greatly on your personal life goals.

Here are some tasks that I do in my Power Hour:

• Go through my business follow up list and plan which prospects to call
• Write a guest post for a blog
• Follow through on commitments you have made
• Send postcards or letters to business partners to celebrate their success
• Clear up my “to file” pile
• Do monthly planning
• Start a project you’ve been procrastinating on
• Make improvements to my websites
• Do something for my wife as a surprise.

It is naturally best to come into your Power Hour prepared and knowing what project you intend to work on. I plan my Power Hour as part of my weekly planning (during step #4). This way, as I enter my week I am sure of getting several important projects done that will help me achieve my goals.

In reality the list of possible tasks you can do during your power hour is nearly endless. Whatever you choose to do in your Power Hour there are some rules you should follow:

• Only do tasks that are important – not just urgent
• Only work on projects that move you towards your goals
• Allow no interruptions – this may mean training your family members or coworkers to leave you alone for the hour
• Do not check email, answer the phone or read blogs.
• Be consistent – do this every day.

Start this right away. You may be able to move around your morning schedule, or you may have to wake up a little earlier. Even if you need to get up an hour earlier – DO IT! The amount you will accomplish in your day will be impressive.

- The Success Professor

PS. To increase your income visit: http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com

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Tags: Goal Setting, Goals, Personal Development, Planning, Power Hour, Time, Time Management, Weekly Plan

This entry was posted on Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 7:13 am and is filed under Goal Setting, Personal Development, Productivity, Time Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.