TL;DR

How was your morning today? Par for the course or slightly off kilter? Chances are, how energized and prepared you felt today were directly impacted by a handful of snap decisions:

• To exercise, reflect, and plan (or not)
• To ready yourself and your business with restful sleep
• To manage the previous days where your highest priorities were solved when you were most able

Routines mean everything for One-Person Businesses. Your business goes as you go. But routines are hard to stick to (particularly when it's just you). We've been there and know the feeling…

Sometimes, accountability needs its own accountability. A set of tools and knowledge to keep you on the right path. Our courses and coaching dive into it deeper, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy getting started with this short guide.

When your routines are producing the results you want, "par for the course" is a great response.

Full Text

[Establishing Routines]

by Hubert Kang

A lot has been written these days about the power of routines. 

Many people have strong opinions about the most effective routines, particularly when it comes to morning routines. The bottom line is, our preference for wake-up times, exercise, and planning vary across the board. Your best self and your best work will wear your personal imprint.

The most important question to ask is: “Are you putting yourself before your business (in that order), or is it the other way around?”

Our online course, “The One-Person Business Operating System” was developed with the following pillars in mind:

• One-Person Businesses are like Super Computers with infinite possibilities.
• YOU are the Operating System that powers performance.
• Your OPB performs as you perform.
• The Programs you download and how you run them determine focus and success.

In other guides we’ll discuss the Programs in more detail, but in this article we’ll focus on You. 

Routines are relatively new to me, but not so new that I don't fully appreciate and believe in the power of what they represent. I read a study on heart health recently where one of the Doctors wrote, “Genetics loads the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger.” 

Before starting my entrepreneurial journey, I was a bit of a mess when it came to establishing routines and setting myself up for my best work. The environment of my corporate career did me no favors:

•  A 4-year stint working at Advertising Agencies (where it became hard at times to distinguish day from night)
• 6 years of living and working in New York City (where the only routine is simply not having a routine)
• Over 7 years working at Microsoft (where industry pressure and competition can put a squeeze on personal care)

In retrospect, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, but to the question of “Did I put myself first?” The answer is: No.

Yes, I benefited greatly from all of those experiences and running a One-Person Business vs working for a giant company is a completely different game. But just because the games are different doesn’t necessarily mean the rules should change.

“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret to your success is found in your daily routine.”
- John C. Maxwell

 
Peachtree Labs - Daily Habit Tracker

Before the Fitbit became a household name, my wife (then fiancée) gifted me with one of the earlier models. I was skeptical at first, but it wasn’t long before I found myself completely hooked. Reaching 10,000 steps for the day and feeling the buzz on my wrist soon became a race to see how early in the day I could reach that goal, and more importantly:

What else could I stack next to it?

Planning Time. Reflection. Expressing Gratitude. Working on projects that required deep focus earlier in the day vs when I could “find the time for them.” All of these seemed like great candidates and as more time passed, I found myself able to establish more and more positive habits.

A collection of good habits becomes a routine.

A good routine becomes the launching pad for your best work.

When we developed the One-Person Business Operating System course, we spent over 500 hours curating the best lessons and practices that we’ve experienced over 2 careers in varied fields and disciplines.

As you can imagine, a lot of brainstorming and lesson planning goes into such an exercise. In creating a comprehensive guide for OPBs, there’s Marketing, Finance, Strategy and Customers to include in any business curriculum.

But anchoring effective routines came first.

Our daily habit tracker is an online tool designed to install personal accountability and capture progress over time. The ability to visually see improvements, (checked boxes and increasing percentages) has a way of reinforcing positive behavior which is one of the benefits the tracker offers. Excerpt below:

Like anything else, real change takes time. Implementing changes in your day to day isn’t hard for a few days, or a week even. Doing the right things consistently is where the real change happens. 

Another way of thinking about it, is a concept that Charles Hummel referred to as the “Tyranny of the Urgent.” Without a plan and organizational structure that prioritizes what is really important, the urgent will almost always win.

And what is urgent may (or may not be) serving you and your OPB in the best way.

Watching scores rise and boxes get filled can be a nice, short dopamine boost. What you really want are the increases in energy, productivity, health, and financial standing. 

Exercise, Reflect, and Plan

There are countless studies that show that if you rise early enough (and consistently enough) to Exercise, Reflect, and Plan before starting a busy workday - the results will come.

1. Exercise - It’s a broad term for a reason. We aren’t medical experts and won’t prescribe anything specific. That said, starting your day with 20 minutes of physical activity pays huge dividends. The best exercise is one you enjoy doing, can perform consistently, and gets your heart rate up enough to break a sweat.
   
   
2. Reflect - Like exercise, reflection also takes many forms. It can be anything from meditation (or prayer), journaling thoughts, or expressing gratitude and affirmations. All are great ways to produce endorphins which generate good feelings, positive emotions, and defend against depression and anxiety.
   
   
3. Plan - Planning creates both clarity and focus. As part of the OPB-OS course, our workbook includes a Daily Planner to help guide your efforts. A huge part of daily planning is covered with 3 Key Questions: 1) What did you accomplish yesterday, 2) What are you doing today?, 3) Are there any blockers to progress? 

Wrap Up, Hand Off, and Shut Down

On the opposite end of the day, we prescribe a few steps to close your business day (wrap up, hand off, and shut down)

1. Wrap Up - Consistently, this is one of the hardest steps to adhere to, particularly for newer OPBs. Your time is one of the most important assets you own - and giving others a chance to infringe on that invaluable resource cannot happen. Set a fixed time to stop work and leave the rest for tomorrow.
   
   
2. Hand Off - It’s important to form the habit of capturing what you need from the current day to help properly plan for the next. The Habit Tracker and the Daily Planner are great tools to help you here. When you do this consistently over time, you’ll find yourself much better prepared to tackle the next day.
   
   
3. Shut Down - Everything goes full circle. If you’ve solidified the habit of daily exercise, shutting down becomes much easier. Reserve the last 30 minutes of your day to decompress, clear your mind, and enjoy the deep night of sleep you’ve earned.

The most successful OPBs and entrepreneurs practice and develop good routines. If you aren’t doing so already, we’d like to help you on this journey.  

We look forward to serving you and your business through our Online Courses or in our 1:1 Coaching Program. Thanks for reading!

Hubert Kang