The Most Important 10 Minutes of Your Day

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana

In our professional lives, mistakes happen. So does progress. So does success. But without recognizing these things and understanding the difference, you are in fact doomed to repeat the wrong things and ignore the good.

Today I want to talk about what I consider the most important part of anyone’s day. It is so simple, takes only ten minutes and can make all the difference to creating more success or evading future mistakes.

Reflection is the word used for this time but I do not mean it like Cosmopolitan would mean it. (Just because Cosmo says 60% of men do it does not mean your boyfriend does.) What I mean is looking deep into your past day for a short time to have an understanding of how far you have come.

Many entrepreneurs feel doubt about themselves. Recently I have had strong worries about my future success. It will get you down and slow down your productivity to almost nothing if you let it.

One way to avoid this is through your time of deep reflection. Take only ten minutes after you wrap up your tasks for the day to look back how far you have come in the past 24 hours.

What did I accomplish today?

Reflect on your tasks that you made into a list at the beginning of the day. How many of your tasks did you accomplish? Were the things you did as important as other things you could have done? Do you feel satisfied with the days work?

How has this brought me closer to my goals?

Goals are the most important thing to have as a professional. They give you direction and lead to success. Without them it is easy to get lost. When examining your day, be sure to ask yourself how each task you accomplished got you closer to your goals. Could you have done more today?

What mistakes did I make today?

Mistakes are not always easy to identify. They is not always as simple as sending out the wrong email. Sometimes mistakes can be very subtle but still just as lethal to your productivity. Things like turning on the TV during your lunch break and forgetting to turn it off. Or working so much you forgot to go jogging. Or eating at your desk—slowing down your thought process and getting Cheeto crumbs all over the keyboard. It happens to the best of us.

By understanding mistakes, even small ones, you can avoid them in the future. It will be good for your business—and for your health if you, like me, have the bad habit of eating at your desk.

Am I working the right amount?

For a long time I thought I was not accomplishing my goals because I wasn’t working hard enough. As I discovered, I was actually working too hard. Working too much slows your productivity and actually is counter-active to accomplishing your goals.

In some cases though, you may be working too little. Depending on what you do, there is a need for solid hours of work every day to make a real difference. The goal here should be balance. Are you spending enough time with family and friends? Do you feel ok about the amount of hours you worked? Would you still be productive if you worked more? Less?

What will I do tomorrow?

This is a question I personally focus on a lot. It is really easy to have a good productive day and then the next day have completely no game plan. To avoid this, make sure you lay out your tasks (preferably on paper) that you want to accomplish tomorrow.

Use what you have done today (and in days, weeks, and months prior) to determine how you can be even more productive tomorrow and see if you can do it in a smaller time frame.

These are just suggestions of questions you can ask yourself. Your reflection should be a very personal experience. The key though, is to reflect on the three fundamental grounds of improvement—Past, Present, and Future.

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Photo by Al- Fassam