💪 Maximizing Productivity for Entreprenuers

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Welcome to The Movement Memo, a bi-weekly newsletter where I share actionable tips to help you live your best day ever, every day.

Today's Programming 

• Movement: 20 minute AMRAP

• Quote: Thoreau on busy work 

• Lesson: How to Design a Lifestyle that Fosters Deep Work

• Event: Founders Only X Sauna Camps? (which dates work for you)

• Optimization: My ultimate sleep hack

Today's Movement 

20-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)

• 10 Power Cleans (135/95 lbs)
• 15 Toes-to-Bar
• 20 Box Jumps (24/20 in)
• 200m Run

♀ 20-inch box and 35-lb dumbbells
♂ 24-inch box and 50-lb dumbbells

Today's Quote

Busyness doesn’t equal progress. 

Just because you’re moving doesn’t mean you’re going in the right direction. 

For entreprenuers, it’s essential to differentiate between being active and being intentional. 

The key isn’t to do more, but to focus on the work that actually moves the needle.

Don’t get trapped in the chaos of doing everything—be deliberate and do what matters most.

Today's Lesson Learned

Maximizing Productivity for Entreprenuers: How to Design a Lifestyle that Fosters Deep Work

Crafting a Balanced Lifestyle for Entreprenuers

As an entrepreneur, your success hinges on more than just the hours you put in—it’s about how well you manage those hours to support your deep work output. Whether you’re bringing people together, creating content, or building a business, productivity for creators is all about finding the balance between creative work and administrative tasks.

This piece is for anyone who feels their creative potential is buried under meetings, emails, or busy work. The key to maximizing your creative energy lies in how you design your lifestyle, how you block out time for deep work, and how you set boundaries with the non-creative tasks that consume your day.

1. The Two Modes of Productivity: Creative vs. Administrative

There are two main modes of work that every entrepreneur needs to balance: creative mode and administrative mode. To live a balanced, productive life, you need to understand when to use each.

Creative Mode: This is where the magic happens. Whether you’re writing, designing, or brainstorming new ideas, this time is dedicated to uninterrupted deep work.

• Key Insight: Deep work requires extended periods of focus. This is when you create something new and valuable, and it’s the work that moves your career forward in the long term.

• Common Pitfall: Creators often let their deep work get interrupted by emails, phone calls, or meetings, which destroys their flow and leaves them feeling unproductive.

Administrative Mode: While essential, admin tasks like emails, scheduling, and meetings can easily overwhelm your creative time.

• Key Insight: Administrative work is necessary, but it should be contained. The key is to structure your day so that these tasks don’t intrude on your creative flow.

• Common Pitfall: Creators often spend too much time on admin work, convincing themselves it’s productive when, in reality, it’s busy work that doesn’t move their big projects forward.

2. Protect Your Creative Flow

The biggest challenge for any entrepreneur is protecting their flow—the uninterrupted state where creative work thrives. Without it, your output suffers, and projects stall.

For Creative Tasks: Set aside large, uninterrupted blocks of time for your deep work. This could be 3-4 hours each morning where nothing else gets in the way. (I do mine after my first training session). 

• Tactical Tip: Use time-blocking to designate certain parts of your day for creative work. Block off these hours on your calendar and treat them as sacred—no meetings, no emails, no distractions.

• Common Mistake: Many creators underestimate the importance of long, uninterrupted time blocks. Even a quick interruption can derail hours of creative work.

For Administrative Tasks: Consolidate these tasks into specific windows of time, ideally in the times when your creative energy is lower. (I do mine first thing in the morning over my espresso, and in the evening after dinner). 

• Tactical Tip: Batch your admin tasks—respond to emails, schedule meetings, and handle paperwork during specific time slots rather than spreading them throughout the day

• Common Mistake: Letting administrative tasks spill into your creative time. Set clear boundaries to protect your flow.

3. Design Your Ideal Workday

Lifestyle design is all about creating a routine that supports your creative ambitions. To do this, you need to be intentional with how you structure your days.

Work Routine for Creatives: Your day should be designed around your peak creative hours. Use this time for deep work and to tackle the most important projects on your plate.

• Tactical Tip: Each morning a clear plan for your creative session. Set one or two high-priority tasks to focus on during your peak creative window.

• Common Mistake: Starting your day with admin work (checking emails, attending meetings). This drains your creative energy before you even get started.

Afternoon Routine for Admin Tasks: Save your administrative tasks for times when your creative energy naturally dips.

• Tactical Tip: Use tools like time-blocking or scheduling apps to allocate specific hours for responding to emails, taking calls, and handling other non-creative tasks.

• Common Mistake: Not scheduling enough time for admin tasks. If you let them build up, they can spill into your deep work time.

4. The Power of Saying No

One of the most powerful skills to develop is the ability to say no. Not every meeting, email, or request for your time is worth saying yes to. In fact, the more you say no to distractions, the more time you free up for meaningful creative work.

For Creators: Set boundaries with your time. Protect your creative work hours fiercely and don’t feel obligated to say yes to every request.

• Tactical Tip: Use a polite but firm response when someone asks for your time during your deep work hours: “I’m currently focused on a project, but I’m happy to schedule time later this week.”

• Common Mistake: Feeling guilty about saying no. Remember, saying no to distractions means saying yes to your creative work.

For Administrative Requests: Schedule open times for meetings or spontaneous requests, but keep them within designated windows.

• Tactical Tip: When people ask for your time, suggest a specific time slot when you’re available—preferably during your admin hours. This way, you can control when you get interrupted. (I take the majority of my meetings during contrast therapy sessions).

• Common Mistake: Agreeing to impromptu meetings during your creative time. These interruptions can break your flow and set your entire day back.

5. Communicate Your Schedule to Others

To truly protect your time and design a lifestyle that supports your creativity, you need to communicate your schedule and boundaries clearly to others.

For Creators: Let people know when you’re in deep work mode and when you’ll be available for meetings or collaborations.

• Tactical Tip: Share your working schedule with colleagues or clients. Make it clear when you’re available for meetings and when you’re off-limits for deep work. This helps set expectations and reduces interruptions.

• Common Mistake: Failing to communicate your schedule, leads to unexpected interruptions. Transparency is key.

For Teams or Collaborators: Encourage a culture of respecting creative time. If you’re working with others, make sure they understand how important it is for everyone to have protected time for deep work.

• Tactical Tip: Schedule regular check-ins or meetings at specific times of the week, but avoid interrupting the flow of creative work. Encourage others to do the same.

• Common Mistake: Overloading the week with meetings or catch-up sessions. Less is more when it comes to meetings, especially for creative teams.

6. Batch Your Meetings to Free Up Creative Time

Meetings are one of the biggest productivity killers for creators. To stay productive, batch your meetings into specific blocks of time, preferably on days that aren’t reserved for deep work.

For Creators: Designate one or two days per week for meetings and admin work, leaving the rest of the week for uninterrupted creative time.

• Tactical Tip: For example, reserve Mondays and Wednesdays for meetings, and use the other days for creative work. This batching technique ensures that your creative flow isn’t constantly interrupted.

• Common Mistake: Spreading meetings throughout the week. This disrupts your creative process and leaves you feeling scattered.

For Administrative Work: Use the end of your day for quick check-ins, emails, and to wrap up loose ends.

• Tactical Tip: Save the last hour of your day for admin tasks, ensuring that your creative energy is spent on the most important work.

• Common Mistake: Scheduling meetings during your peak creative hours. Avoid this at all costs.

Designing a Life that Supports Creativity

Being a creator and entrepreneur means balancing the need for deep, uninterrupted work with the necessity of handling day-to-day admin tasks. The secret to a productive lifestyle is to design a system that supports both—without letting one overwhelm the other.

The 6 Steps To Buy Back Your Creativity:

1. Identify Your Work Modes: Know when you’re in creative mode and when you’re in administrative mode, and schedule your tasks accordingly.

2.  Protect Your Creative Flow: Block off time for deep work, and don’t let interruptions break your focus.

3. Design Your Ideal Workday: Structure your mornings for creative work and your afternoons for admin tasks.

4. Say No to Distractions: Set boundaries with your time and learn to say no when it matters.

5. Communicate Your Schedule: Make sure others know when you’re available for meetings and when you need uninterrupted work time.

6. Batch Your Meetings: Group your meetings and admin tasks together so they don’t intrude on your creative flow.

By following these steps, you’ll design a lifestyle that not only supports your creative work but allows you to thrive as an entrepreneur. Protect your time, respect your flow, and watch your output exponentially increase. 

Today’s Event:

We’re excited to announce that we’re planning a Founder Only event with Sauna Camps, & we want to hear from you! This would be 48 hours filled with guided contrast therapy sessions, cold plunges, sauna experiences, and time to connect with like-minded individuals!

Today's Optimization

I take Dream Powder every single night, with no exceptions, about 30 minutes before bed. I froth it in a cup of goat milk or homemade nut milk, which makes it even creamier and more delicious. I start feeling it after about 10 minutes, this pleasant relaxing sensation. After that, it’s easy for me to slip into sleep. The next morning, I wake up feeling energized and ready to train.

I use a wearable called COROS to track my health. Here’s a screenshot of my sleep data after a night of Beam.

As an athlete, I am super up-to-date on the optimal sleep stats, and I notice that mine are MUCH better when I take Dream. This definitely translates to my training the next day. When I’ve gotten enough sleep, and REM and Deep Sleep at the proper amounts, my body functions optimally and I hit my targets more frequently. It’s just science.

REM sleep, which is responsible for emotional learning and memory, should account for approximately 20-25% of your overall sleep hours, and Deep Sleep, which is responsible for physical repair, should account for about 13-23%. And it’s common knowledge that adults require about 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

As you can see above, on a night when I take Dream, I pretty much hit all those targets. I slept 8 hours and 20 minutes total. My REM sleep sits at 22.6% of my total sleep hours, and my Deep Sleep accounts for 18.4%.

Dream has 5 natural sleep ingredients that work together to enhance sleep and lead your body through all 4 stages: Nano Hemp (for optimal absorption), Reishi mushroom, Magnesium, L-Theanine, and 3 mg of Melatonin (which is actually on the lower end for a sleep supplement, allowing me to wake up with no grogginess).

Today Beam is offering Movement Memo subscribers a deal: 35% off your first order when you subscribe and then 20% off all following orders! Plus, when you subscribe, you will receive a FREE frother with your first order! Use code “EHINMAN” at checkout. 

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Publisher: Eric Hinman

Editor-in-chief: Bobby Ryan