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.
No, I don’t have a specific routine to shut off work on weekends. I’ve struggled with this too, and I think the idea of strict work‑mode vs. relax‑mode is a false dichotomy. In reality, effort exists on a gradient—some days I’m at 20% effort, other days at 80%. On low‑effort days I still do a little work that moves the business forward, like client fulfillment, community management, or content creation, then I rest the rest of the day. I often unwind early in the morning (around 5–6 a.m.) so the rest of the day is free for whatever I want. Other days I work most of the time and still carve out some unwind or play time, like playing League of Legends. I don’t follow a strict on/off schedule; I accept shades of gray. Financially, metrics are useful for business but shouldn’t be the only measure of life success. I’ve gotten ahead financially by sacrificing other areas—relationships, fun, experiences—but I’ve recently started prioritizing family and personal time. Others may be ahead of me in emotional intelligence or life experiences, reminding me that business performance isn’t life performance.