How to Set Your Day Up for Success and Productivity

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, the land geek with the favorite niche real estate website, thelandgeek.com and on this week's roundtable podcast, we have Landon AI Harris. Landon, how are you doing?

Well, Mark, good to see you.

I love it when you call me Big Papa. Tate Litchfield Tate, how are you? I'm good.

I'm really good.

Happy?

Yeah. So if you are the type of person that wakes up and immediately checks your phone and your email and you're off to the races and you're reacting to your. This is the podcast to listen to because it's all going to be about setting up your day for success, being the most productive and just incredibly stress free day you can have. So, Landon, how do you and Trea Tree is not here, but you guys live together, set yourselves up for success so that you have the most productive day possible.

Yeah, I was thinking about that. So, to be honest, it actually starts the night before for us both, actually. So with what we have going on, her schedule rotates so much more than mine. But a lot of times we have so many things coming up and they start first thing in the morning. So we like to kind of be prepared. So we take about 30 minutes at the end of the night even before we go to bed. It's just more of like a process of routine of like, okay, got this at 8 o', clock, we got to do this at 7, and we've got to do this whatever. So we kind of just have a flow for the day. You're almost prepped for it, you're almost mentally ready for it because you know it's coming up, it's not a surprise to you. And then we do try to leave a block of like, okay, we're shutting down at this time. And if there is a certain time, we give about an hour or two for incidentals. Things that just may come up, things that are just going to come, as far as things are just surprises. But you know, we do leave a little block in there where you got to go get a workout in or something. So I don't like to take away from that time. But you know, if it has to happen, it has to happen. So that's pretty much it. I mean, we keep it pretty straightforward. Our calendars are synced, so that is one thing that we like to do is keep our calendar sync. So if I'm missing something, I can help her, or she's missing something, I can help her out and overlap on that end and vice versa. So we kind of are able to keep each other in check with certain. Certain aspects.

All right, so. So it starts the night before, and then in the morning, you're. You're going to work out and go over the day.

Yeah, yeah. And I got a clear head in the morning. Clear head. The workout gives me a clear head so I can kind of just get those endorphins going and I just kind of just really start tackling the day. So it's really. I like it said, it's. It's pretty simple, but it works. And it works to kind of keep us sane, especially with all the things that are going on now.

What about coffee, breakfast? What are you doing there?

So, coffee, breakfast, coffee. I'll be honest, for me, I only do coffee once a week. That's my cheat. That's my cheat on the weekend. But as far as breakfast goes, I keep a simple breakfast. It is the exact same every single morning. I have about a half cup of oats and, you know, the. About five egg whites. Just get it. Get to it.

Okay. I love it. I love it. Big papa, how about you?

I really liked what Landon said about starting the night before. I hadn't really thought of that before, but I guess I kind of do something similar. I like to spend a few minutes just anticipating the most important things that need to be done the next day. But I do think you have to draw a line somewhere because I think a lot of people's tendency is to see, oh, I've got to do X, Y and Z. And then that might keep them up at night, right? Thinking like, oh, I've got to do this and that, and maybe I'll just get a head start on it now and knock it out tonight. And that way I don't. And that turns you into a workaholic, which is obviously really dangerous in the land business because we make our own schedules. We are our own bosses. It's not like anybody's upset at me if I show up late. I don't have a typical start time. But I do like what Landon said about starting the night before and just kind of preparing yourself mentally for what's to come. I have a few things that I do every morning in the business that are kind of non negotiables. I sit down and I do them. But before that, I like to get a little bike ride in, typically wake up early, go get some exercise.

Come home.

I normally am home in time to help get kids ready and off to school and those kind of things. And so I help with the family stuff and Then I like to set my schedule up to where I have some, you know, deep work time before I start doing any meetings. So for me, that's really important is to just have some deep work and, and maybe for that day I'll focus on, you know, a bunch of emails that have been stacking up or a problem, but it's just like 30 to 45 minutes where I'm not going to be checking my phone, I'm not looking at voxer messages, I'm not looking at slack. It's like, this has to get done. And I found that I can be pretty dang lethal with 30 to 45 minutes of deep work. Like, that's a lot of time and I can really set my day up for success. And then after that there's a little bit of chaos that ensues and, you know, this person needs me, this person needs this. I have to figure that out and whatever. But the other thing that I do is I set pretty strict, like, time limitations with the business. Gone are the days where I want to be up in the middle of the night working on the business. And that doesn't necessarily mean that everybody gets to do that either. Right. Like you, you build that, you earn that. That takes time. And that's okay. It's just for me, at first it was like, I need to, I need to hustle. And now that I've got a good team of people that I know like and trust, it's not that I'm not hustling as hard, it's just I'm kind of counting on their hustle a lot of things.

Right. Right. I, yeah, I, I love that. I love the, the boundaries that you're setting and the way you're setting up your day for success. So I kind of do the same thing that you guys do. I. First of all, I'm a, a huge sleep nerd. So what I'll do is I'll sort of bifurcate those nights where around five or six, if there's something still lingering, if there's a business problem, there's something stressful with the business, I'll write it down and, and I'll leave it and I'll just forget about it. And so that's one thing I do so that, like, I can write it down, I can leave it, I can forget about it so that I'm really able to go to bed and not have to think about this problem because I know at some point that next day I'll get to it.

Right.

Like, I wrote it down. Here's this thing. It's gonna be waiting for me when I wake up and hopefully while I'm sleeping it'll work itself out unconsciously. That's, that's sort of the hope. And then around 10 o' clock I try to go to bed at 10:30, so lights out at 10, so no screens. If I'm watching a show, show off. And then I take my momentous sleep bundle pack. So these are vitamins that are going to help me sleep the night. There's like magnesium, L theanine, all these things to help me sleep. Then I put the eye mask on and I put on my uler and I cool that room down and I'm like really setting myself up for success the next day because I'm going to get a great night sleep. And so then when I wake up, there's no alarm. I just wake up naturally. And then I try not to do anything except exercise. So the first thing I want to do is just exercise. I want to knock that, that piece of exercise out and then either meditate, breath, work, combination thereof. Then when I get outside I want to take a walk, depending on the weather and then start my day. And I really feel like that routine has helped me compound making sure that my days are successful. I've got energy and try not to check like Tate, like no email, no slack, no meetings by 11am so I've got that deep work time, I've got that, that self care time that I need. And I'm not going to be as diligent as Landon with you know, the food piece of it. But I try to, I'll drink Kamana which is a, which is mesquite. K a M N K A M A N A co It's a coffee alternative so it has no caffeine which is also gonna help me dial in my sleep. So I have that around maybe 10am so I'll do that and then try to get some protein. Like this morning I had Greek yogurt with berries and Three Wishes cereal which is like a little bit of protein cereal. And I feel great. And that's, that's how I sort of set up. I try to set up my days like that and, and set em up for success. But Landon, while I'm talking, what does it make you think of?

You know, sexy. It's a really good cycle that you've got going and, and with Tate as well, like I love the boundaries because, and it's funny, I forgot it's really something that we truly do. I Think it's important to have those boundaries. You start at a certain point, you end at a certain point. So work doesn't bleed into kind of your life, you know, because it can do that. You can do that easily. But I think, you know, definitely hearing from both of you guys, like, I think it's easy. You guys, we have this way of getting our mind set for the day and whether that's a workout or just, you know, going into a mental zone out place and just kind of get it real set for that. I think that's, that's a, it's a really good place to be. And I know people have, you know, we don't have any kids in the house. Okay, got it. It's a little different. It's a little different when you have kids in the house, but I think if you carve out those kind of times for yourself, even if you have to get up an extra 20, 30 minutes, probably make the biggest help for you throughout your day. Yeah, it's really good. Really good.

I like it. Ta. What's it make you think of?

You know, at the end of the, at the end of it all, the one thing that we're all doing and doing well is being very consistent.

Right.

Like we are trying to find a routine that we're going to stick by and we repeat that routine all the time. Right. For me, there's no difference between a Monday and a Thursday.

Right.

Like it's just another day of the week. And it's not that I have to work harder or less hard. It's just I go to bed at the same time every night. Like I wake up at the same time every single day. And I think that I've created this routine for myself and, you know, some days I'm busier than others. Today's, you know, honestly not a very stressful day in my life with the business. I'm going to be. I'm going to go get some lunch after this, right?

Like, Right.

And run a few errands the holiday season. So got to do some last minute stuff there. But that's, that's it. Like, okay. But I still woke up at the same time. I still sat down at my computer and I did my non negotiables and then carried on with the rest of the day's activities.

I love it. I love it. Well, we're at that point now where we're going to ask Landon. Landon, if you don't have tip, I've got a tip.

You know what?

Okay, great website. Something actual for our passive income listeners to go improve their business, improve their lives. But before Tate for Tate, before Landon gives his tip, I just want to give out a shout out to our sponsor, which is flight school. Learn how the next 16 weeks can transform your life by creating enough passive income where it exceeds your fixed expenses. And you're working because you want to, not because you have to go up that mountain of land investing safely, quickly and efficiently with our team. And I know you're thinking, what about the investment? Ain't gonna cost you nothing, guaranteed you're gonna make back that money 100 days, 180 days or less. Just show us you did the work. Learn more. Go to thelandgeek.com forward/training schedule a call with one of our land investing experts. Thelandgeek.com forward/training Landon. AI Harris, what is your tip of the week?

Okay, so actually it's kind of worked in with the whole, with the whole thing we were talking about. So we're talking about scheduling, right. And how do you keep your schedule? So there is a AI driven calendar. Helps you set your calendar and it adjusts according to what things come up if meetings drop or if something needs to slide in. It's, it's, it's like I said, it's AI driven. So it's smart enough to kind of help you plan a schedule. So it's called motion.com, not too expensive, about $12 per month for it. And it kind of helps you, like I said, with project management, helping you out with your team, tracking time SOP creations. It's just pretty straightforward. I was playing around with it the other day. I was actually going through and trying to decide if I actually want to use this. It was kind of, kind of slick. So I'm experimenting with it. So we'll see.

Wow, I'm looking at this. This is really cool. It replaces to do lists, project management apps, and automated meeting schedulers. Holy cow.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I've been playing around with it and like, not bad. So I gotta give a little time. But I liked it. It kind of worked in with what we're talking about.

So I'll, I'll, I'll have to play with this for sure. Well, fantastic. Well, I want to thank the listeners, remind you that the only way that I'm gonna be able to harangue these guys to come back each week is if do three little favors. Follow rate, review the podcast, send a screenshot of that review to support TheLangic.com and now you can get a free copy signed of dirt review rich2 how to scale your land business. The plot thickens without skipping a beat. So check that out. We'll have an official launch of Dirt Rich 2 coming out next quarter, but if you want to get a quick advanced copy signed, do that. Just write a review, send it in supportthelangic.com and I'll send you a signed copy. All right. We get to do this in the most awkward way possible.

Yep. Let's do it.

1, 2, 3.

Let's let freedom freedom ring ring?

Yeah. Tate's like, I'm not even doing this now. So bad.

We're not getting better. That's the truth.

I don't know how that's even possible.

I know, I know. Well, it's all good. All right, thanks, guys.

Thanks, guys.

Bye. Bye. Bye.

Thanks for listening to the Art of Passive Income podcast. Are you ready to learn how you can start building a passive income without renters, rehabs, renovations, or rodents? Schedule a free consultation@thelandgeek.com forward slash training. Let freedom ring it.