👷‍♂️ My One, Simple Productivity Hack

In this week's P.O. Box:

I’ve been asked a few times recently how I get so much stuff done during the week.

I don’t think what I do is particularly ground-breaking, but I figured I would share my “productivity hack” because people seem interested and it hilariously is just one simple trick:

No to-do lists. I “schedule time” or “time block” my day.

Here’s a screenshot of my day yesterday, starting at 7am and going all the way until midnight since we had a 10pm draft on Ship Chasing:

Almost everyone uses a calendar for important, unmissable events: meetings, shows, parties, travel, etc., but I use my calendar for everything.

There is essentially no “task” or “chore” too small or simple for me to put on my calendar:

• take out the trash

• schedule day

• post clip

• send reminder

The reason this process works for me is because I have a Pavlovian response to things on my calendar being non-negotiable. I’ve never liked being late to things or been prone to flaking on commitments. So when I started putting small tasks on my calendar, I approached them with the same importance as a meeting or an event I RSVP’d for.

If I see “HIIT workout” or “script/record video” on a to-do list it feels optional.

When I see those same tasks assigned to a specific time on my calendar, a beneficial psychological effect occurs where it feels like an “event” I’m showing up to do because my previous self committed to it.

If we are doing this, we might as well get deep in the weeds. Here is the exact step-by-step of how I process tasks and schedule my day:

• Send myself a quick email when I think of something I need to do

• Next time I’m at my desk I’ll “process” that e-mail by adding it as an event on my calendar (recurring if needed, or as a one-off)

• Add an e-mail notification for the new “event” (this part is key) that I’ll receive a few minutes before it is scheduled. The reminder message helps re-enforce that it’s something that needs to get done:

This technique is particularly effective for me because I have an “Inbox Zero” OCD mindset and hate having unread emails. When I see this in my inbox, I reflexively want to complete it and “clear the decks”:

• If I miss an event or something comes up, I simply slide it to a future time on my calendar (and the notification will still be in tact)

  • Bonus GCal hack that I embarrassingly didn’t know about until a year ago: you don’t have to edit an event to change the date/time, you can literally drag it with your mouse to a new time

• At the end of each work day, I make sure to schedule/review all of the important stuff I need to get done the following day. It’s crazy how much my productivity levels shift on the days I make sure to schedule ahead vs. the days I don’t

I made this switch to time-blocking a few years ago (I think it was right around the pandemic when I was still juggling my old day job while ramping up all the fantasy content on the side), but I’m even more maniacal about it now since April was born.

The only way I was going to be able to keep doing all the things I love to do while also being a good Dad was to ruthlessly schedule out my weekdays via time blocking.

I think my output this summer is similar to what it was last year pre-kid, but I’ve trimmed off so much fat (like spending too much time on X) out of pure necessity. When you don’t know whether a nap is going to last 30 minutes or 90 minutes, you quickly learn not to lollygag with your time.

I’m sure this method isn’t for everyone. Your mileage will vary depending on your organization levels, preferences, and your relationship with a calendar, but scheduling all of my “to do” items as calendar events I “show up for” has been a legitimate game-changer.

And by extension, the only reason I’m able to do this weekly newsletter.

Btw, if you like these kind of musings, I definitively recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

📺 BBM4 Drafts: #119 & #120 (w/ JonBoyBeats) Best Ball Breakfast, #121 Splash Play, #122 w/ Kerrane, #123 w/ Siegele, #124 Swolecast

🎡 The RotoPat Randomizer. Patrick Daugherty aka RotoPat from RotoWorld/NBC Sports makes his debut on the Randomizer, where he fires his podcast co-host, rehires a millionaire, shows off his peacock strut, does his signature Jay Leno and Tony Romo impressions, can't name a fullback and madlibs a news blurb:

💡 Best Ball Tips. #35: How to react to the preseason

🥊 Underdog vs. FanDuel/DraftKings with Jeremy Levine. We welcomed Underdog CEO Jeremy Levine on LOLz to discuss their upcoming legal battles in the fantasy sports and sports betting spaces as companies like DK and FD attempt to suppress competition through political muscle and lobbying.

🚨 Should you panic on these 3 players? Preseason notes on Travis Etienne, Quentin Johnston and Greg Dulcich over at Fantasy Life. Also looked at a mid-round WR who is poised to bounce back.

🚢 Chasing $1,000,000 in the FFPC Main Even with Shawn Siegele. We continue our high stakes action with another Main Event draft. From the 1.06 spot, the crew get some surprising early values and build out a juggernaut team.

🚄 Single entry draft for $50k. We also drafted a Zero RB team in the NFC Silver Bullet contest—a single entry tournament with a $5K individual league prize and a $50k top prize. We grabbed elite onesies and regretted an unfortunate decision in the 5th round.

🔥 Weekly Winner strategy & draft with Hayden Winks. Underdog's Hayden Winks joins to discuss Weekly Winners strategy. Topics discussed: avoiding too much correlation, unique combos, and getting unique at the end of drafts.

We announced some big news at Fantasy Life this week:

I started writing the newsletter for Matthew a little over three years ago. At the time, I still had my day job at a software company. I would write it in a Google doc and send it over to his marketing team to distribute via his email list. The newsletter operated in that jerry-rigged fashion for almost two full years.

Flash forward to today and we now have 13 full-time employees, 350k subscribers, and investors that include Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Austin Ekeler, Ja’Marr Chase, John Legend, and LeBron’s family office (LRMR).

Pretty damn cool.

We announced the Best Ball Data Bowl winner on Tuesday. Huge congrats to Dan Falkenheim on winning with his WR Avalanche submission:

ICYMI: I wrote about the Data Bowl last week and we did a show with all five finalists.

My dear friend, Swolecast co-host, and tree trunk, David Kitchen, has launched his own newsletter. Live a little and subscribe:

Had some requests recently for pint glasses so spun a few up. Good for the Best Ball Breakfast cold brews or the late-night draft juice. Also whipped up a LOLz one.

Today at 3pm ET the Best Ball After Dark streams roll on with Erik Beimfohr. Join us for a special afternoon edition of talkin’ ball and trying to recapture the magic of our BBM2 team that finished Top 10. Become a YouTube member here for access:

Need more newslettering? Fantasy Life newsletter drops every weekday: