Over the years I have realized there are 4 important pieces to my day. If I skimp on one of these areas, my overall productivity will be drastically reduced. Here is a brief glimpse into how these 4 areas slot into my life.

Leaning

5 am to 6:30
I am naturally wired to “Go”. So, one of the most intentional pieces of my day is what I call Leaning. During this time, I am practicing 3 important disciplines:
* Solitude
* Silence
* Meditation
I have a 2 year old and a 9 year old so accomplishing this means I have to get up early. This is a time for me to purposefully unplug myself from the world and its distractions and to plug into something much deeper. As a Christian, I spend time meditating on a piece of Scripture and thinking through various ways I need to implement it into my life that day. It is arguably the most important part of my day.

Learning

7:30 am to 8:30 am, and throughout the day
If I am not continually trying to learn and grow I will have very little to offer to the others I lead. I don’t feel guilty about blocking time out in my schedule to be intentionally seeking to improve my skills and abilities. Right now I am doing this in 3 main ways:
* Audiobooks– I recently bit the bullet and subscribed to Audibles Gold Membership. I listen to this on my commute in the morning, while performing mindless tasks throughout the day and during my evening run.
* Kindle Books– Hard to beat for quick, convenient reading. Check Twitter for great deals.
* Regular Ole Books– Despite the convenience of an e-book I still love the old fashioned paper and glue version.
My goal is to read between 40–50 books a year. If you feel like your reading speed slows you down check out this post I wrote about a resource that helped me improve my reading speed. Michael Hyatt also has some great tips in this podcast.

Here are a few tips on developing a great system to capture and remember everything you read.

Locking In

8:30 am–6 pm
This is where the magic happens. Well, at least it is where it is supposed to. Obviously, there is a lot that could be said in this space. To keep things tidy, let me simply say that my goal in this time is to “Plan the work, then Work the Plan.” I previously wrote about one of the most important concepts I practice here.

Lounging

9 pm to 11:30 pm
Admittedly, I don’t have as much time as I would like for this section. Currently, I am balancing being a husband and father, as well as having a demanding full time job, leading a start up company and working my way through grad school. But, most nights I try shut it all done around 9 so I can spend a little downtime with my wife.

Your day doesn’t have to look like mine. But you can develop a great daily rhythm if you put these 4 things into practice in your life.

Which one of these areas could make the biggest impact in your week? Share your thoughts in the comments below.