For years now, we’ve been told that automation will solve all of the problems of being too busy, but has it? Clearly not. We’re busier than ever now, and more importantly, we’re expected to be online what feels like 24/7.

Between messaging apps, social media, and email, it’s like we can never shut it off. We can never have an actual, real, productive day of getting work done.

I’ve felt this way in several jobs, and until running a business, it has always been like that.

You may be thinking to yourself but doesn’t running your own business force you to work 24/7? No, the reason is that in reality, no one has to work long hours and answer emails until 9:00 PM. This mindset is just something implemented by poor management and awful leadership.

I didn’t get to realize this until I started running a business, because I’m my own boss and make my own rules. I learned the true way to work efficiently, get a ton done, provide an excellent amount of value, and not burn myself out.

Those rules, or rather, mind functionality are what I’m going to explain to you in this blog post. I created these rules based on proven results that I’ve been studying for years. Now, I’m living the happiest life I’ve ever had.

I call it The Directed Five

Each section will have bullet points that are proven to work for the specific section that the bullet points are in.

Good Habits

The first mind functionality change in The Directed Five is good habits. Think of your daily habits, like turning on the light in a dark room. You don’t actually think about it, you just do it. The same mindset can be applied to any habit that you’re interested in doing, including good habits that help shape your work life and out of work life.

• Less social media
• Not over-eating
• Focus on one task at a time
• Don’t have multiple tabs open
• Go to bed early
• Don’t have messaging apps open all-day
• Don’t have email open all-day
• Remove bad habits (overeating, always being on your phone, doubting yourself, etc.)
• Work in silence
• Have a schedule
• Sleep 7-8 hours daily
• Read daily
• Have the ability to go into deep work

Focus

Without good habits, you can’t focus. Without focus, you can’t get anything done in a timely manner and have it be 100%. Think about it, have you ever done anything while distracted that you gave 100%? If you were distracted by your phone, were you giving your family 100% of your attention? If you were browsing social media, were you giving the code you were writing 100% of your focus? The answer is always no, which means you weren’t giving what you were focusing on 100% effort.

• Work in silence
• Dive deep into what you’re doing
• Schedule out deep work
• Don’t eat too much before working so you don’t feel sluggish
• Remove everything else from your mind
• Meditate
• Have one screen so you aren’t multitasking
• Good ambient light
• Clean desk
• Have a dedicated place for work
• The door closed to your office or working space so you don’t get distracted by outside noise and actions
• Have a good, working computer

Enjoyment

Without liking what you’re doing, you can’t enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy what you do for work, waking up feels like a chore. You’ll have to drag yourself out of bed and rush just to make it to work on time. That’s an awful feeling and should be avoided. Humans were an average of 90,000 hours in our lifetime. Why waste it on something you don’t like?

• Enjoy what you do
• Love the technology
• Enjoy who you work with
• Be passionate about what you’re working on
• Ensure that every day, or at least portions of each day, are exciting
• Stay up to date with the technology you’re interested or passionate about
• Learn constantly
• Refresh your skills
• If it gets boring, you no longer enjoy it
• If you feel happy going deep into a topic, you enjoy the topic
• If a task just feels like you’re grinding, that means you don’t enjoy it

Persistence

No one will do the hard work for you. Nor will they get you the job, the promotion, the ability to go start your own company, to starting building your brand, or anything else in your life. If you want something, you have to go for it. No one is going to do it for you. Because of that, you must be persistent in your goals and your life.

• Continue learning
• Be creative
• Schedule out what you want to accomplish
• Follow up on goals for the day
• Keep pushing, but don’t burn out
• Know when to keep going and when to take a break
• Don’t expect quick wins or immediate results
• Enjoy the process
• Take breaks – yes, mental breaks for persistence
• Know what your dharma/duty is to make being persistent easier
• Under that success doesn’t happen overnight

Dedication

If you give something that you’re doing 50%, then you need to change to something that you want to give 100% to. That way, whatever you’re doing, you’ll be dedicated to. Dedication doesn’t mean it will take over your life. It means that you will be persistent and enjoy the progress. Being dedicated to anything in life (work, marriage, relationships, friendships) requires thinking through what you need to do.

• Show up prepared every day
• Don’t give up on goals
• Be persistent
• Always in an innovate mindset
• Don’t settle
• Keep pushing, against all odds
• If someone tells you that it can’t be done, you do it anyways
• Dedication also means taking care of yourself to make sure you can show up at 100% every day
• Be enthusiastic and spread positive energy

Closing Thoughts

If you can implement The Directed Five into your day, every day, I guarantee you with every ounce of my being that you will not only feel better, but you will perform better in every area of your life.

Please feel free to contact me with anything questions!