How can I be more productive and get more done in a day?
The reality is I’ve sacrificed a lot for work; I’m honest about it. I don’t do much in the first few hours of my day except work. Most people have a more holistic morning and socialize more than I do. I focus on the levers that make money: content creation, lead generation, community management, client fulfillment. Anything outside those categories I cut out. So while I might seem super productive, I’m actually just reasonably productive—I only do what you see publicly, like my content and community posts.
I do have a daily routine, but it’s not holistic for health—most of it is just work. Typically I wake up, roll over, wipe the crust from my eyes, and start with my highest‑revenue‑generating activity, which right now is creating School posts. I’ll make money with Make, then work on Maker or School. If I have anything else, like responding to a post I’m pinned in within the Schoolers community, I’ll do that. Then I do the daily updates channel, which also brings in money, and if I have content for the main channel I create that as well. After that, whatever else is on my day gets handled, but by then most of the high‑ROI tasks are already finished. So I focus on those high‑ROI activities first.
I wake up extremely early—usually around 3:00 a.m. I spend a few minutes in bed deciding how to use those valuable hours, then I roll over, grab my laptop, and start with community management. My community generates a disproportionate amount of revenue (around $110 k per day), so I prioritize responding to relevant posts and doing “roasts” for Maker School and my own site, where I record short videos critiquing Upwork profiles or offering quick fixes. This not only provides value but also reduces churn and makes me more sticky with the audience. After community work, I do a daily balance check: I review my bank accounts to see how much money I’ve made in the last 24 hours and keep my focus on money as the core metric. Finally, I run an inbox‑zero session, going through every email and replying to anything that isn’t obviously junk. This routine keeps me aligned with revenue‑generating activities and ensures I stay grounded in the financial health of my businesses.
My routine shifts a lot, but the number‑one priority is daily actionables focused on lead generation and marketing. I front‑load growth‑related tasks first. I usually wake up between 4:30 am and 5:30 am, then spend time on community management because it’s high ROI and feeds lead gen. After that I handle client management and fulfillment in dedicated windows. I record content for my channels, work on automation builds, and then hit the gym, trying to front‑load that as well. The rest of the day is a mix of more content creation, client calls, and assorted tasks. I do try to get sleep, because I’ve had virtually no churn and I prioritize rest to avoid hustle‑culture burnout.
My typical day starts with waking up—sometimes around 5 or 6 a.m., though today I woke up at 7:45 and felt rushed. On days with seminars, workshops, or community group calls (like last week’s cold‑email workshop at 8 a.m.), I wake up, deliver the session, and finish early. Otherwise, I immediately do my daily actionables: I wipe sleep from my eyes, open my communities, and engage with 50–70 % of posts because I believe the community owner’s presence adds value—most owners just hire a manager and ghost, hurting engagement. Since communities drive most of my income, I invest heavily in them. After community management, I create content (like recording this daily update), then handle client management from 12 to 2 p.m. PT, which is my retainer time for working on client stuff. That block lasts about 2 hours 37 minutes before I’m obligated to do anything else; I then tackle client demands and push any calls to the afternoon so I can do knowledge work in the morning when I’m freshest. I could improve on health—I’ve planned to jog daily for the last four days but keep skipping it because work feels more important. In the evenings, I handle personal obligations: sometimes I spend time with my girlfriend, go on dates, or watch movies (recently we saw Mickey 17 and threw popcorn at each other).
time managementdaily routinecontent creationcommunity management