A challenge that most entrepreneurs face daily is how to plan their day efficiently, effectively and productively. To overcome this, an entrepreneur can take inspiration from renowned business educator and coach, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 6 daily alarms, which will help you prioritize your tasks in order to use your time most judiciously, achieve maximum productivity and also improve the quality of your life. Assuming that our day starts from 9.30 am and ends at 9.30 pm, let’s understand what these alarms are all about.

1. Alarm 1 – 9.30 am

This alarm goes off before you begin your work day. This is the time for you to check whether you been able to set your top three priorities of the day, without which your day is incomplete. It may be a tender that needs to be filled up that day itself, a delivery that has been promised on that day or even a factory visit to a prospective vendor whom you are considering for an important project.

2. Alarm II – 11.30 am

This alarm is to confirm whether you have been able to complete the first priority (out of the top three) that you have set for yourself that day. Having completed the first priority shall give you a sense of accomplishment, which shall keep you motivated to keep going. On the other hand, if you haven’t completed it, this is a reminder for you to get you back on track.

3. Alarm III - 3.30 pm

This is an important alarm that goes off just when your metabolism is down after lunch. The tendency to relax just a bit sets in and you are not at your most productive at this time. However, this time can best be utilized to engage with your people, find out how they are doing, whether they need clarity or resources to complete tasks on time and also to check how you can be of help to them. This benefits you in two ways – firstly, by letting your employees know that they can interact with you to get your inputs, and secondly, by utilizing your time productively.

4. Alarm IV – 5.30 pm

Set this alarm for 5.30 pm or one hour before the time you leave office. By this time, you should have completed all the three tasks that you had decided for today. So, in case you haven’t yet completed the tasks by 5.30, it is your cue that you still have an hour to complete them.

5. Alarm V - Around 7:00 - 7:30 pm

This is the time when you are on the way home or have already reached home. This alarm works to remind you that now, its family time. Ask yourself if you have been able to spend time with your family or ensure that you do set this time aside to spend it with your family. Your family members also deserve your time and attention and it is important that they too be given priority.

6. Alarm VI – 9.30 pm

Last but not the least, this alarm is to ask you an important question – Have you learnt something important today? When this alarm rings, close your eyes for a minute and review the events of the day and identify the one thing that you learnt that day. The moment you focus on that one thing, it gets anchored in your brain and the next time you take up that task, your ability to accomplish it would have improved.

If you set these six daily alarms daily, within just 21 days, you will see a great improvement in your performance. Of course, one needs to be disciplined enough to heed the alarms and not snooze them or shut them and go back to one’s old routine. Discipline is indispensable for progressive entrepreneurs.

Aimed at assisting entrepreneurs in their journey, the School of Inspirational Leadership (SIL) is a training and development organization that works at training, consulting, mentoring and handholding entrepreneurs and giving them the right triggers to improve their businesses and make their lives more meaningful.

If you aim to scale-up your business and are looking for guidance to achieve holistic business growth, check out our Burning Desire Journey.

Blog Contributor

Dr. Yogesh Pawar
Founder & Managing Partner, SIL
Specialist - Culture & Strategic Leadership