So what is a good day?

• People talked about getting a buzz from being productive, and from knowing that their efforts counted toward something worthwhile.
• The best days also tended to involve people feeling confident that they were doing a fine job, and that they had the support they needed from others.
• Finally, people talked about good days leaving them feeling more energised than depleted, overall. It doesn't mean that the work wasn't physically or mentally tiring - just that it gave back enough enjoyment and motivation to make up for whatever it was taking out of them.

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Our automatic system uses selective attention rules/filters to decide what's important enough to bring to our conscious attention. These include our priorities, concerns, moods, and assumptions.

Set your intentions, set your filters

• Aim: Think about each of the most important of today's activities. What really matters most in making them a success? That's your real aim.
• Attitude: Take a moment to notice and acknowledge the concerns that are dominating your thoughts or your mood. Do these concerns help you achieve your real aim - and if not, can you set them aside for now?
• Attention: Given your real aim, where do you want to focus your attention? What do you want to make sure you notice?
• Throughout the day, recall your intentions to help you stay on track.

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Set behavioural goals to support your intentions

• Personally: What can I shift in my own behaviour to make my intentions a reality?
• Specifically: What does that shift look like in practice - and what actions will I take today?

Frame your goals in terms of doing more of something good ("approach" goals in contrast to "avoidance" goals).

A sense of autonomy is a crucial component of human motivation. Intrinsic motivation - where we do things because they feel personally meaningful or satisfying - tends to lead to higher performance than extrinsic motivation. Science tells us we are more likely to get something done if we take a moment to think about why it matters to us personally.

• What bigger aspiration or value of mine does this task speak to?
• How does this request support something that matters to me?

Finally, to make sure we accomplish our goals, it helps to get very specific about what we will do and when we will do it. (Making "When-Then" plans)

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Techniques to stay true to our intentions

• Mental contrasting

People are far more likely to achieve their goals if they think hard about both the outcome they want and the obstacles they are facing.

• Priming

Small cues (visual, physical, audio) can push our thoughts, feelings, and actions in one direction or another.

• Mind's-eye rehearsal

Visualise the most important part of your day going exactly as you hope. Relive past glories and rehearse today's challenge.

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Productivity aka making the hours in the day go further

• Avoid multitasking - batch your tasks into different types of work
• Identify your uninterrupted blocks of time
• Decide which batch of tasks fits into each block of time
• Could you set aside dedicated time to tackle your inbox (e.g. twice a day), so you can focus on other tasks in between?
• Remove distractions - turn off alerts, capture stray thoughts on a notepad

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The hard work of resting and reflecting

• The highest performers typically work in focused blocks of 90 minutes, with breaks in between.
• Try to schedule breathing room, such as schedule meetings in blocks of 25 or 45 minutes.
• Allow reflection time at the end of each task or meeting.

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Overcoming overload

• Try triangular breathing (breathe in 1,2,3 - breathe out 1,2,3 - pause 1,2,3)
• Write down ideas that come to you, or self-reminders, so they do not take up your brain's memory space.
• Identify the most important thing to do in a day. Next, identify the smallest first step you can take for this task.
• Try giving the 'positive no' - acknowledge and appreciate the person's request, highlight your positive priority, explain your no, end with warmth