⌛ 9 Ways High-Achievers Use Their Time

Time is your most precious asset, and how you use it can significantly impact the quality of your life. According to Sahil Bloom, being intentional with your time isn’t about finding more hours in the day; it’s about making the most of the time you already have. Whether you’re focusing on productive work, creating meaningful solitude, or deepening relationships, purposeful time management ensures you invest in activities that bring the highest returns.

And while time is fixed—everyone has the same 24 hours each day—your energy fluctuates, and understanding this can be a game-changer. Instead of just scheduling tasks, it’s about aligning them with your energy levels to maximize productivity. Similarly, being present with others isn’t just about being there physically; it’s about dedicating your full attention and energy, making even a few minutes of undistracted time more impactful than hours spent distracted.

Sahil and I dive deep into this topic on Ep 190, but today, I’m going to share 9 key strategies to be more intentional with your time so you can achieve better outcomes and live a more fulfilled life.

First, let’s explore how to be intentional with your time when you’re alone, ensuring it aligns with your goals and well-being.

1. Create an "Anti-To-Do" List

Sahil suggests creating an "Anti-To-Do" list as a proactive way to avoid bad habits and distractions that can derail your productivity and focus, like checking your phone during family time or getting sidetracked by low-priority tasks at work. This list serves as a daily reminder to steer clear of activities that don’t serve your long-term goals.

Here's a simple way to create your own Anti-To-Do list:

1. Write down the personal and professional challenges you’re struggling with.

2. Start small, with 3-5 high-priority items. 

3. Keep your Anti-To-Do list visible throughout the day, just like your To-Do list.

4. Check off items as you build a habit to successfully avoid them.

2. Believe in the Law of Reversed Effort

The law of reversed effort suggests that sometimes, the harder you try, the less successful you are. Intense effort can create tension and anxiety, ultimately hindering performance. For example, sprinters often run faster at 80% effort than at 100% because they are more relaxed. This principle applies not just in athletics but in any area where overexertion might be counterproductive—like struggling to fall asleep when you try too hard.

3. Schedule a Think Day

Inspired by Bill Gates' "Think Week," Sahil proposes a "Think Day"—a day set aside from daily tasks to focus on big-picture thinking. It’s a time to step back from the grind, reflect on your goals, and consider broader life strategies. Even if you can’t take a full week, dedicating one day a month or quarter to deep thinking can provide clarity and direction in both your personal and professional life.

Here are six prompts to help your thinking:

1. What are your strongest beliefs? What would it take for you to change your mind?

2. What do you know now that you wish you knew 5 years ago?

3. How can you do less, but better?

4. Are you hunting antelope (big important problems) or field mice (small urgent problems)?

5. What actions from 5 years ago make you cringe today? What are you doing now that might make you cringe in 5 years?

6. What would your 80-year-old self say about your decisions today?

4. Go on a Walk

Walking isn’t just good for your health; it’s also a powerful tool for boosting creativity. A Stanford study showed that walking increases creative output by 60%, making it a simple yet effective way to solve problems and generate new ideas. Incorporating a daily walk into your routine can help you break out of mental blocks and approach challenges with fresh perspectives.

5. Build Better Habits Using the 30 for 30 Approach

The "30 for 30" approach is about committing to 30 minutes of focused work every day for 30 days. This strategy is particularly effective for building new habits or improving a specific skill because it’s manageable and sustainable. By the end of 30 days, the cumulative 900 minutes of effort can lead to significant progress, all without the intimidation of a larger time commitment.

If you’re struggling to stick with a new habit, Sahil encourages you to focus on making just one good decision at a time. Don’t get overwhelmed by the big picture—just concentrate on the next step that will improve your situation tomorrow. This will help keep you on track and make progress easier.

Now, let’s focus on being intentional with your time spent with others, especially your loved ones, to strengthen relationships and create meaningful connections.

6. Disconnect from Your Phone

A study found that merely having your phone visible during a conversation significantly reduces the sense of connection between people, even if you’re not using it. The presence of the phone acts as a distraction, subtly signaling that your attention could be diverted at any moment. By keeping your phone out of sight—like placing it face down or in another room—you can enhance the quality of your interactions and be more present with those around you.

Phones are designed to be addictive, with features and apps that constantly demand your attention. To reclaim your focus, Sahil suggests simple yet powerful tactics like using grayscale mode to make your phone less visually appealing, setting up focus modes to hide distracting apps, or physically separating yourself from your phone during important tasks or family time. These small changes can drastically reduce screen time and improve your ability to concentrate.

• Grayscale mode: Enable grayscale mode on your phone to make it less visually appealing and reduce the urge to check it frequently.

• No distractions mode: Set up a custom focus mode on your phone that hides all app screens and only allows essential notifications, like texts and calls. I created a custom phone setting called "No Distractions" to help minimize interruptions and stay focused. In this mode, all app screens are hidden, leaving my home screen completely blank. I set it up so that from 5 AM to 9 PM, my phone only allows notifications for texts and phone calls—everything else is silenced.

• Physical separation: Leave your phone in another room during important activities, like family dinners, to prevent mindless checking and ensure you're fully present.

• Kale vs. cocaine phone: Use a “kale phone” (a phone without apps or internet access) for essential communication, and keep your regular phone (the “cocaine phone”) out of reach when you need to focus.

• App deletion: Delete distracting apps, like social media and browsers, from your phone to minimize temptation and reduce screen time.

7. Learn the Skill of Listening

Sahil believes that listening is a skill with different levels of depth:

• Level 1 (me listening): You listen to relate everything to yourself.

• Level 2 (you listening): You listen to truly understand the other person.

• Level 3 (us listening): You listen with a broader context in mind, considering the other person’s world and how their words fit into it.

Moving from Level 1 to Levels 2 and 3 can enhance your relationships, making you a better communicator and more charismatic, as people feel genuinely heard and understood.

In romantic relationships, really listening to understand instead of just waiting to talk can make a huge difference. A great way to figure out what they need is to ask, “Do you want to be helped, heard, or hugged?” This simple question can clear things up and help you give the right kind of support.

Sometimes your partner just wants to be heard, not have their problems fixed. This video pretty much sums up what I mean by that: 

8. Surround Yourself with the Right People

The people you spend time with have a profound impact on your life. The Pygmalion effect is the phenomenon where people tend to rise or fall to meet the expectations others have of them, meaning that higher expectations often lead to better performance. Positive, growth-oriented individuals can inspire and uplift you, while negative people can drain your energy and hold you back.

Here are some ways to find communities that align with your values and support your growth:

• Find microcommunities: Look for small, focused communities where people genuinely support each other, such as fitness and wellness groups, where members often have a growth mindset and positive energy.

• Engage in fitness and wellness activities: Joining groups centered around health, like running clubs or gyms, can help you connect with others who share a commitment to personal growth and optimism.

• Seek out environments with aligned values: Put yourself in spaces where people have similar values to yours, like delayed gratification or optimism, which naturally filters for high-energy, positive individuals.

• Join professional groups: Participate in groups like YPO (Young Presidents' Organization) or Sam Parr’s Hampton, where people invest time and money to be around others with similar professional ambitions and growth-oriented mindsets.

9. Don’t Complain (About Anything)

This is Sahil’s #1 rule in life. Complaining gives power to the things that frustrate you, wasting energy on issues you often can’t change. Instead, focus on what you can control. If something is within your power to change, take action. If not, let it go and move on to something more productive. Adopting a no-complaint mindset can reduce stress and help you focus your energy on positive, constructive activities.

Since hearing this, I’ve tried to adopt it and catch myself whenever I complain. I ask myself, "Can I fix this?" If I can't, there’s no point in complaining. I also follow a sub-rule that I learned from Hristo (from The Tim Ferriss Show): don’t ask for help until you’ve spent at least 15 minutes trying to solve the problem yourself. If we all followed these simple rules, I'm sure the world would be a much better place.