Yo Work Fun Nation!

Another subscriber wrote in kahapon! 

“Wowza, Coach! You are sending a lot of emails! Not complaining, but just wondering how you do it.”

It's so awesome that you guys are giving me fuel to write our emails. Kayo talaga reason why I can keep going like this hehe. So please keep your emails coming lol. (Parang awa nyo na)

Anyway, thank you if you feel I’m able to produce emails consistently. It means a lot, and I’m also buoyed by all the engagement. I don’t take this lightly, so I’ll do my best to provide value to you, and not make this my daily diary lang. 

Anyway, the answer is: 

Constraints. 

That’s the secret. 

I learned that one of the best ways to come up with any creative solution is to add a constraint. So for writing the daily email, eto yun: How would I accomplish this in only 30 minutes? 

Now wala pa ako don sa 30 minutes tapos na, but I'm getting there.

The reason I like to put pressure on myself is that because that's how I’m wired.

I guess not everyone here will relate, and there will be some panicked readers hehe. Don’t worry, this is just my method. If you’re like me, read on. If you’re not like me, read on pa din baka may mapulot ka sa pov ko hehe. 

My wife is the opposite of me, she likes to work in sustained periods. I guess we complement each other. 

It’s practically how I lived my life all along. 

For example, as a freelancer, I’m most comfortable doing short and focused projects. I shine with pressure projects like Same Day Edits, Corporate Films, Video Edits, Pitches, Hackathons, Startup Sprints, Video Sales Letters, Emails… all of the things I was successful with, were inside of creative bursts. 

I totally sucked at being an employee doing sustained long-term, repetitive tasks. That’s why I didn’t do too well in the call center setting or back office sales setting. 

So now that we have that out of the way, 

It still wasn’t always like this. Palagi pa din ako nag-procrastinate when it came to writing emails. 

However, there was finally a tipping point. 

And it was the day I realized I was sleepwalking through life. 

I was sitting in my home office, mindlessly scrolling through Youtube and TikTok for “content inspiration” for the third hour na yata in a row, when I heard my son calling for me from the other room. I was supposed to be finishing some editing work but I totally fell into the newsfeed vortex and wala pa pala ako nagagawa at all. 

At that moment, I snapped at my son and angrily shouted at him to go away.

Instant regret. :(

It hit me - Not only was I missing out on time with my family, time I could never get back, I was also being a total idiot to my son… all because I was numbing my mind with social media. 

And for what?!

As I tucked Julian into bed that night, I thought about how quickly the last few years have gone by. 

Up until recently, he was always with us, going to school online lang. We could practically travel anywhere and still be in school. Tapos face to face na these days, and just like that we no longer saw him for large swaths of the day. 

Left for school early morning, tapos hapon na balik. 

He was growing up so fast, and I felt like life was passing me by as I filled my days with meaningless distractions. 

One of the people I follow online, Noah Kagan, recommended this book. Someday is Today by Matthew Dicks. (Great read ito guys, effective sya and a different perspective from so many other self-help books)

I used the lesson from Chapter 1 where I imagined myself as a 100-year-old man on my deathbed, looking back and realizing I wasted so much precious time. 

I knew I needed to make a change.

The next few months (yeah I’m that slow mag make ng changes), I started small - I deleted social media apps from my phone, set a timer for 30 minutes while working to take a break and be present with my family, and went to bed 30 minutes earlier. (finally nagamit na din mga timers na yan)

Just those tiny shifts made a huge difference in my productivity, focus and mood. I realized the power of valuing my time, and making conscious choices about how I use each minute.

Guys, the truth is, we've all lost meaningful minutes, hours and days to mindless distractions. Super guilty ako don. 

Time we can never get back. But we can take our lives back, starting now, by getting those minutes back. 

Kaya ngayon, I bring my laptop practically anywhere I go. I know it feels like I’m crazy and I bring work everywhere, but it’s really not. I just find pockets of time where totally dead yung oras (like waiting for something interminably.) Anytime I have a 6 to 15-minute break I can find, I grab it. 

For example, this email took 3 sittings, and 57 minutes total to do. 

Here are 3 simple ways I've learned to proactively use my time in meaningful ways:

1. Delete distracting apps from your phone and set limits on social media and TV. Regain all those lost hours! Pwede mo sila ibalik if grabe na yung withdrawal symptoms mo hehe. Naka-ilang reinstall na din ako hehe, but I make sure no notifs. 

2. Grab time for deep work, kahit short bursts lang. This is counter-intuitive sa common notion about deep work these days. Fantasy yung meron tayong 2 hour chunk of free time. Six minutes is enough to get started. 

Spark your productivity na agad. Mejo magkalaban si Cal Newport at Matt Dicks hehe. Si Cal he advocates for really sitting down for long stretches of time to focus, pero si Matt Dicks kahit saan he will try to be productive. Kahit sa pila. I tried both methodologies, di ako makagalaw sa Cal Newport method. I tend to overthink when doing that. Lalo na yung sinabi nya about context switching. gawd that paralyzed me sometimes.

3. Set reminders to take breaks and be fully present. Don't let life pass you by - be ruthless with your time lalo with loved ones. This one is something I’m actively working on, pero it’s getting better. 

When we string enough minutes together, it adds up to a life well lived. Imagine how much more YOU could accomplish and experience if you reclaimed just 1 hour a day.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on my deathbed wishing I spent less time scrolling, and more time living. Let's get back our lives, minute by meaningful minute! 

Reply "I'M IN!" if you're ready to join me in valuing your precious time. I’m finishing my not-another-productivity-ebook(!) lang hehehe. 

Happy Saberday,

Shoden “Time Grabber” San

💡Need guidance and clarity on your own reinvention? I’m opening a few paid slots after several of you messaged me about getting some extra coaching outside of TFMT. Limited lang ito, and first come first served basis. I'm starting with clarity calls muna with a 90-day action plan. Reply ka lang, let's talk.

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