Zero to Dangerous - Workbooks
⏱️

The Art of the One Day Month

Human beings, it seems, are at their best when immersed deeply in something challenging. ~ Cal Newport
 

Table of Contents

 

Key Takeaways

  1. What Is the One Day Month?
  1. Executing the One Day Month
 

Exercise - Executing Your One Day Month

notion image

The Mathematics of the One Day Month:

  • Average Knowledge Worker = 1 Hour Accurate Flow Daily
  • Average Knowledge Worker = 22 Hours Accurate Flow Monthly
  • How Do We Fit 22 Hours Into One Day?
  • Intensifying the Flow State and 2xing the per Hour Output by… Where do you live?
    • Avoiding Task Switching (ONE THING!)
    • Eliminating Distraction
    • Prepping and Setting Clear Goals
    • Entering Fully Recovered and Slept
    • Leveraging Our Biorhythms
    • Turbo-boosting with the PP Basics
    • Reducing Cognitive Load
  • 22 Hours per Month Avg Knowledge Worker Flow —> 11 Hours Of Executive Athlete Flow = Same Output
 

How Do We Get 11 Hours Of Intense Flow Into One Day?

  1. Preparation — Identified task, locked in clear goals, recovered
  1. Wake up at 5AM (If lark/third-bird)
  1. Flow Block One: 5AM —> 8AM = 3 Hours
  1. Recovery One: 8AM —> 9AM = Reboot via the PP basics
  1. Flow Block Two: 9AM —> 12PM = 3 Hours
  1. Recovery Two: 12PM —> 1PM = Nap, walk, food, fuel, stretch
  1. Flow Block Three: 1PM —> 3PM = 2 Hours
  1. Recovery Three: 3PM —> 5PM = Nap, walk, exercise, fuel, stretch
  1. Flow Block Four: 5PM —> 8PM = 3 hours

Non-Negotiables for the 1 Day Month:

  1. One task (Ideally leverage gaining/unlocking move)
  1. Task fully lined up with clear goals, small chunked and scheduled onto calendar
  1. Sleep and recovery the night before
  1. Phone off or left at home all day
  1. Everything except what you’re working on blocked on computer
  1. In 100% disruption free environment
  1. Zero communication until completion at 8PM (let people know in advance)
  1. Recovery!!!
  1. Mindset of “going in!” —> extreme binary approach to work
  1. Micro breaks within flow blocks
  1. Zero self-distraction
  1. Automatized decision making —> prep clothes, commute, food the night before Average Knowledge Worker = 1 Hour Accurate Flow Daily
 

Identifying Your Highest Leverage Task:

  1. What is the meat of what I get paid to do? If I could only perform exceptionally at one thing, what would it be?
      • Where do you live?
  1. What task, if I complete it, would make everything else I’m doing redundant or unnecessary?
  1. What task, if I complete it, will increase my output per unit of input (allow me to do more with less)?
      • Where do you live?
 

Frequency Of The One Day Month:

  • Acceleration = once per month
  • Turbo = once per Week
  • Lightspeed = 5 days per week (max 8 weeks)
    • e.g., book deadline, launching new product, starting company…
    • You CAN accomplish years of work in weeks. This is how people achieve the “impossible”.
  1. Schedule It onto Your Calendar at Least 1x per Month as a Repeating Event
  1. Identify Your Highest Leverage Task
  1. The Day Before Your One Day Month: a. Define Clear Goals b. Prep Entire Task and Map to Calendar c. Deploy AC & Guard Sleep d. Automatize EVERYTHING e. Ensure Tech Is Blocked f. Alert Everyone That You’re Going Dark
 
 
badge