March 2020 happened – I don’t need to expand on that.

Everytime I took five steps in any direction, I bumped into a child that I owned.

I would think:

…who are you and what are you doing in my office (albeit also your kitchen) at 11am looking for socks/food/money/help with a project/WiFi/my soul…

It took me absolutely no time at all to realise that if I wanted to get any actual work done and keep my children alive at the same time, I would need to be a lot more intentional about productivity.

So I turned off Netflix and turned the pages of numerous productivity books instead. I bought planners, listened to podcasts, signed up to productivity guru websites, wrote vision statements, screwed my eyes up tight and visualised my dream future (all I wanted at the time was a personal chef and the Dyson Airwrap), crafted a power(less) statement, signed up to Headspace, and read up on the morning routines of the rich and famous.

You’ll likely be familiar with some of the books I read – The 12-Week Year, Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus System, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Getting Stuff Done…..yada yada yada.

All fantastic resources but with one caveat:

You actually have to do the stuff.

For me, it felt like a chicken and egg situation. In order to be productive, I needed to be productive.

I soon realised that if productivity was as simple as reading a book, there wouldn’t be an entire industry devoted to it.

So despite my best efforts (which are probably not as good as your best efforts), every day continued to feel like an emergency.

Until two things happened.

I read a book called The Game Changer Formula by Irish author and business coach, Rory Prendergast
StoryBrand founder Donald Miller released an online productivity course called Hero on a Mission

By combining these two systems with my own little tweaks and personalizations, I finally got to a place where s**t actually gets done (and children live).

The bad news is that I’m not about to tell you that I found the Holy Grail of productivity systems and that it will work for you.

My system probably won’t work for you. It works for me - most of the time.

The good news is that with these two resources, I’d be surprised if you couldn’t get to a point where you feel more effective and in control.

The Game Changer Formula

Here’s what I got from The Game Changer Formula:

Clear instructions on how to get started with all my objections (read: excuses) addressed. This is the beauty of this system - the author removes every opportunity you have to resist starting. Then, once you do it for 12 days, you feel unstoppable.
A killer morning routine that is literally my greatest weapon against sloth.
The only reason you’re reading this post is that I’m in an accountability group. Accountability is a key pillar of the Game Changer methodology, and it works.

Donald Miller’s Hero on a Mission

You’ll find this online personal productivity course inside Miller’s Business Made Simple University, alongside a host of other great courses that take the mystery out of growing yourself and your business.

What I love about these on-demand courses is that they are easy to follow, the videos are short and digestible, and you get templates and workbooks to help you to brainstorm ideas and come out the other end feeling like you’ve actually achieved something. There’s no time wasted – as you watch the course, you can do the work.

Hero on a Mission is a practical course in which Miller brings you through his personal productivity system. You end up with a life plan, clear goals, and a daily planner system to execute your goals.

(As an aside, one of the things I love about Business Made Simple University is that the courses inside are super-practical. In contrast to other professional development courses that are largely philosophical in nature, BMSU courses teach you how to be smart at business as opposed to how to sound like you’re smart at business).

You can check out BMSU and access the Hero on a Mission course here. I recommend this online portal to all of my clients – the courses inside are refreshingly useful!

Hero on a Mission consists of 4 modules, delivered in just over 100 minutes in total. So it’s quick, fun, practical, and you’ll end up with a life plan and daily plan if you do the work as you go.

Here’s what I got out of Hero on a Mission:

The reverse-engineering method that Miller proposes for crafting a life plan is an interesting angle. You basically write your own obituary. It forces you to imagine your life as a story, with you as the hero. This method of vision-crafting doesn’t suit everyone, but it is definitely an exercise that is worth doing.
The daily planner is printable - you can print out A4 pages and add them to a binder as you go. *since this post was written, a digital version of the HOM planner has been released. It. Is. Amazing.
The video course is fun, entertaining, and practical. It doesn’t feel like a chore.

ADDENDUM: Since I wrote this post, Hero on a Mission has also been released in book format. I’m the type of person who loves having hard copies of evergreen business books to hand. Just letting you know in case you are too!

The Hardest Part of ALL Productivity Systems

For me, the hardest part of creating a productivity system is crafting the overall vision for my life. Call me fickle, but it literally changes daily! This is where The GameChanger Formula and Hero on a Mission really help.

They have two different systems for identifying life goals.

Donald Miller reverse engineers the process by instructing you to write your own obituary.

Rory Prendergast takes a more traditional route where you define your Power Vision by working through a series of introspective questions.

The GREAT thing about the Game Changer Formula is that you can implement it straight away, even before you’ve done all the vision/goal stuff. This is why it’s so powerful; the author removes all the regular roadblocks that stop most of us from actually getting started.

Both systems take you through the steps and show you exactly how to do it.

My advice would be to do this exercise using both systems. Doing it twice in two different ways brings enormous clarity.

The Unnaturalness of Being Productive All of the Time

Whenever I read about morning routines that start before 6am and involve a dizzying array of meditation, exercise, journaling, and power juicing, I’m thinking, who’s doing the lunches and the school run? Who’s loading the dishwasher? Who’s bringing [child name] to the orthodontist appointment? Should I forgo makeup? What about washing my hair? Can I never let loose and have a lie-in?

When it comes to optimising productivity, there can be the sense that it’s all a little unnatural.

And, when it comes to downtime, there’s nothing more delightful (for me) than when it’s not scheduled!

I can’t put it any better than this author:

When you ask individuals to optimize productivity, this more-is-more reality pits the professional part of their life against the personal. More output is possible if you’re willing to steal hours from other parts of your day—from family dinners, or relaxing bike rides—so the imperative to optimize devolves into a game of internal brinkmanship. This is an impossibly daunting and fraught request, and yet we pretend that it’s natural and straightforward. It’s hard enough to optimize a factory, and a factory doesn’t have to worry about getting home in time for school pickups.

Cal Newport, The New York Times, Sept 2021

Of course, all the books and courses and gurus declare that you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your personal life. That being more productive ultimately leaves you with more time for family and friends. That once you start to live a life of meaning, you’ll bounce out of bed excited to slay the day and live your best life.

This is all mostly true, but when it comes to daily living, I sometimes like to leave room for the unexpected. If I knew exactly how every minute of every day was going to pan out, I’d get bored.

That’s why some days I throw my planner out the window and just see what happens 😉.

If you need help with personal productivity, please don’t call me! But, if you need help crafting clear messaging for your business, I’m here! Book a discovery call, grab a coffee, and let’s actually get stuff DONE!

PRODUCTIVITY SYSTEMS FAILED ME – UNTIL...

The Game Changer Formula

Donald Miller’s Hero on a Mission

The Hardest Part of ALL Productivity Systems

The Unnaturalness of Being Productive All of the Time