How you can get more done in 8 hours than most do in a week

The human brain is very predictable.

Give it what it needs, and it will deliver peak performance to a certain extent. Over time, it runs out of steam and requires rest and a good break to reset itself. This happens to everyone.

If you are like most people, you multitask and feel exhausted almost all the time. Doing too many complex tasks continuously takes a toll on your brain.

At the end of the week, you feel tired and burned out. Too much brain stimulation for an extended period can hamper your capacity for thought and cause a lot of stress.

The good news is, you can do something different starting this week. You don’t even have to overhaul your calendar.

You just have to be mindful of what gets your attention in the morning and how much brain energy you commit to your fail tasks.

You can leverage “brain budget” to do more work faster.

A “brain budget” is a simple exercise that can help you use your brain energy for the right tasks at the right time to double your output using the same time.

A “brain budget” done right answers two key questions:

1. How am I using my brain energy?

2. How do I tackle the many day-to-day activities knowing what I know about when I’m most active?

You can create a brain budget to determine the correct allocation of your time and energy for tasks, activities and events.

Here’s a simple way to know how you are using brain energy every day and what you can do to design a better “brain budget” to get more things done and think efficiently.

1. Write a list of everything you do in a typical workday (both high-value tasks and low-value activities) — for example, writing tasks, programming assignments, marketing work, meetings etc.
2. Separate the list into two — those that demand a lot of brain energy to power through them and those you can accomplish without much effort.
3. Now, plan to work on those that require massive cognitive attention in the AM every day. The tasks that move the needle or get you closer to your long term goals. The brain is most active in the morning, so it makes sense to work on complex tasks first thing in the morning to get them done quicker.
4. By the second half of the day, the brain is already exhausted, so move everything that doesn’t require serious thinking to any time in the PM. For example, you can respond to your emails and business social updates later in the afternoon.
5. Once you find a suitable time for peak productivity, allocate a section of your “brain budget” for boosting your brain. These include quality sleep, drinking caffeine at the right time and only when it’s necessary, remembering to hydrate, exercising, eating a healthy breakfast to start your day right and making time for breaks in between deep work sessions.

And remember to keep optimising until you find a better allocation of tasks that work with your brain, not against it. As Frank Sonnenberg said, “Measure progress — not the time that you’re working.”

A single week may not enough to gather enough feedback to know what’s working and what’s not. So, keep moving your tasks around and watch how your brain responds to them.

Everyone’s brain works differently, so find your peak time and budget accordingly. If you are not a morning person, work with your brain to find an afternoon peak. With time, you will be able to do more in a day than most people do in a week.

“Not all people are more effective in the morning,” says Cristina Escribano Barreno, a psychologist from the Complutense University of Madrid.

I’ve been using a “brain budget” for my writing process for at least a year. It has changed my approach to work and getting things done faster. I do my best work in the morning when I’m most active and all other tasks later in the afternoon. It works perfectly for me, especially when I’m writing.

The pattern for peak performance is predictable. But you have to measure your results for a while to find out your peak times. That’s how you hack your brain for deep work, better results and maximum output week in week out.

The whole point of a brain energy exercise is to find out the tasks or work that demand a lot of mental energy and planning to do them when the brain is most active in the day.

A “brain budget” can help you complete complex and challenging tasks quicker because you have enough brain energy to power through them without procrastinating.

And you will have enough time for other things when the brain is exhausted. This approach to work prevents mental fatigue and ensures efficient use of your brain for your best work.

Kevin J. Donaldson said, “Don’t waste money, time or mental energy.”

With the right conditions, the brain can deliver the best results in less time. Leverage brain energy to improve your efficiency. Learning to work with it instead of against it can guarantee peak performance almost every day.

This article first appeared on Medium.