Gary Vaynerchuk and “Do You Live for Friday?”
Alright, my boy Gary, originally a wine entrepreneur, turned motivational speaker and life coach, laid it out real simple for you: there’s plenty of time to focus, be productive, and get shit done.
But, you don’t focus on productivity. Instead, you focus on spending way too much time on your favourite websites and apps, especially on the weekend, because the weekend is great.
And Monday – that sucks.
Productivity is For Every Day
Though, I’m curious – why do you hate Monday? And what pumped you up about Friday? Hanging out with friends, getting drunk, or maybe doing absolutely nothing?
Whatever the answer, the next question is a “why?” to the “why do you hate Monday and love Friday?” answer.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
Actually, it shouldn’t be that way.
“But it’s not that simple…” Right, the weekend isn’t all fun and games, I’m sure. “I have these responsibilities,” you say.
Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.
I didn’t have too many responsibilities when I decided to chase my dream; that’s why it was easy for me to sell everything and travel the world. I can live anywhere I want and make a living doing what I love – writing fancy words on pages. A single college graduate in his mid-20’s with 40k in student loans; it was easy for me. “Not a big deal,” you say.
Fair enough. I even agree. It wasn’t a big deal (I’ve never felt too attachment to anything, really).
But you. Well, you have kids. You’re married. You’re really close with your parents. You love your friends.
That’s why you work for $20/hour…and get told what to do at work (you don’t even like the work.)
You finish projects, but rarely construct them. And for now, that’s fine. You do what you do (what is it that you do?), because to keep doing what you’ve always done, you need to do that. The best way to maintain the status quo is to keep doing what you’ve always done (right?). Right.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Are you really doing what you say you’re doing?
Maybe I’m being harsh. You’re working your way towards your dream job or business (or at least are under the impression that you are) – you’re just putting in the work. The grind.
That’s a bit better (as you can tell, the earlier excuses don’t really work with me, and especially not Gary; I’ve seen people succeed despite all of these and worse, and it’s clear that he has, also).
But are you really doing what you say you’re doing?
Because if you are, you aren’t begrudging Friday or Monday. You’re excited each and every day – you love that you’re not only working towards your dream, but living it (the journey and not the goal and all that positive vibe nonsense).
Listen. I ain’t saying you’re always going to be pumped up. Gary is pretty hard to compete with in the enthusiasm department. Sometimes I don’t feel like writing, for reasons from fear of failure, or because that pretty girl over there winked at me (or maybe I winked at her first and am hoping she winked back?).
But once I do start writing, I get lost in the zone, and stick with it, because I love it. It’s what I do. It’s my thang (and having a productivity app like FocusMe helps me focus on doing what I love).
How do you get there?
Well, no one’s forcing you to live the way you are.
How do you get out?
Do what you like to do. Be productive. Every day (not just the weekday and especially on the weekend).
The Productivity of the Present
Grab a piece of paper and schedule out your day as thoroughly as you can. Even if there is some time for “nothing” (and you most certainly should have time dedicated to doing nothing), put it in there. Then stick to it religiously.
How much time did you spend watching Netflix?
How much time did you spend scrolling through Instagram, double tapping when the post tells you to?
Did you spend time with your family? Some friends?
How long did you sleep for (and did you stick to the original plan? I usually get 10 to 12 hours a night, if that makes you feel more productive)? (And an even better question, did you stick to the planned activity during its allotted time? If not, we’ve got something to fix that).
Chances are, you didn’t spend as much time as you should have on your dream (especially if the test day was a weekend). That’s fine. Now you know. Okay, how much time SHOULD you spend doing what you love or building a business that will let you do what you love?
Depends how bad you want it. Remember how Elon Musk told us about the 100-hour work week? It’s not necessary, but it will help you get where you want faster. Simple math, folks.
Okay, cool. Next up – actually doing whatever it is you want to do (isn’t it cool that telling you to do what you want to do is actually what I like to do? Trippy).
Here’s my guess – you need help with that. Lots of distractions out there.
Our solution? Block them.
Block All of The Websites and Apps
Download FocusMe. Like right meow. Then, take all of the websites and apps from the schedule that you made earlier (or the new one that you have to write now because you really didn’t follow the schedule), and put the apps/websites that took the most time from your productivity time on the block list.
Essentially, we lock them up and throw away the key (kind of; you can always turn it back on, but we purposefully make it difficult, because, well, if you had self-discipline, you wouldn’t need this app, now would you?)
Then get to work. Just like Gary Vaynerchuk does. Every damn day.
And if you ever need to get pumped up to do the work, even when you’re totally focused? Go watch a quick Gary Vee video (that, is, unless Youtube was a site that you blocked…).
