The Hour of Possibility

The first step to choosing your work is to set aside one hour each day, and as you gain traction, gradually expand from there.

Make sure that this hour occurs when you’re most productive, in an enjoyable location, to emphasize the significance of this time. Here are five things you can do to ensure that this hour works for you, and that you’ll take action when it arrives.

1. Decide on a specific location. You are significantly more likely to engage in this work if you decide in advance exactly where you will do it. The actual location does not matter; it could be a simple desk or a café. By consistently working from the same location, you signal to your brain that it’s time to enter a focused creative state, much like the stage indicates to an actor that it’s showtime.
2. Schedule a time when you know you won’t be interrupted. Personally, I am at my best in the mornings. If I only had an hour, it would be the first hour of the morning. I have found that if I begin with “busy work,” my mind gets cluttered and it’s hard to get in the creative zone. Some coders get in the zone at midnight. Choose your time and protect it.
3. Begin with a ritual. Something as simple as making a cup of tea or loading a specific playlist reinforces the beginning of your ritual and reduces the chance of getting distracted. For me, it’s putting my phone on Do Not Disturb in the corner of my room and covering it with a book.
4. Adopt a non-negotiable mindset. If you are a teacher, you have to show up to teach your classes. If you are a doctor, you must show up for your scheduled appointments. The significance of your journey justifies treating this hour with the same dedication.
5. Journal your wins. As you make progress, journal your wins. Include positive feedback, meaningful insights, small victories, unexpected wins, and self-reflections. During moments of uncertainty and frustration, refer to your journal to remind yourself why you are committed to your work and how far you have already come on this journey.

Your commitment to spend one hour per day is the one choice that changes everything.

To kickstart this process, I have created a tracker that you can use to help you develop a lasting habit. You can download it here.

This article is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Choose Your Work

Footnote

By consistently working from the same location, you signal to your brain that it’s time to enter a focused creative state, much like the stage indicates to an actor that it’s showtime: In psychology, this is known as context-dependent memory. Studies have shown that returning to the same environment serves as a psychological trigger for entering the previous mindset. Steven M. Smith and Edward Vela, “Environmental Context-Dependent Memory: A Review and Meta-Analysis,” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 8, no. 2 (2001): 203–20, https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196157.