I have a folder in my hard drive called Daily Action. When I'm good about it, I pick out one thing out of it each day and use it as a focal point.

I can't really quantify its usefulness, but I like it. Usually helps me focus on the day. Sometimes it begets utter failure.

I take notes from emails, websites, conversations and plug them in. Things that I think may be useful down the line. On occasion, I'll transfer the notes I've made from books and magazines I'm reading into a document and put that in the folder.

There's no particular system to pick out the thing to focus on in a particular day. I just open up a file and voilà.

In my own life and particularly with my involvement in the Tom Woods School of Life, the concept of productivity often arises. Funny thing is, many of the same principles and tactics of how to become more productive show up over and over.

For instance, the Pomodoro Technique. I'm looking at some notes from June of this year and it's right there in front of me. In one of the small groups I'm involved with, my friend Dave is a fierce advocate of the Pomodoro. Simply put, it is work for 25 minutes and then rest for 5. Repeat throughout the day.

Time blocking is another concept that is related to the Pomodoro, but you allot specific times for particular tasks. Thanks to several books and it being reinforced by my friend Rafe, I use this idea.

Doug introduced me to a book where the author differentiated the concept of a task and a project. A task is something you can get done in a couple minutes. A "project" is longer.

I wrote down all these things before I'd even met these folks. But, they use the methods and are productive and I followed their lead. I now get much more done in a given day than I had before, and I thought I was a fairly productive guy to begin with.

One of my mentors, David, says that it's all about forward momentum. We learn and we keep moving toward our goals, in other words.

Want to be more productive? Know that productivity is born out of unproductivity. We can always become a little more productive in our lives. Sometimes it can be a phenomenal jump.

Currently, I am reading a book called 10x is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy. Another book of theirs, Who Not How, had been recommended several times by various other members. I wrote about it briefly a while back.

Since I have turned some of these epistles into "tweets" on occasion, I tagged Dr. Hardy. Just this morning I got a direct message from him. Thanks in part to that interaction, I spent part of the afternoon reading 10x as a result.

We have a great community in Tom's School of Life and would love to have you join us.

As president George W. Bush said in his 2021 address to a joint session of Congress, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

As always,

Brian