Aim to work 6 hours per day
Years ago I read that we can only work productively for 6 hours a day. After that, we’re kidding ourselves, and we can’t really achieve anything.
Graham Allcott, author of The Productivity Ninja, says that we can probably only do tasks requiring real brain effort for a couple of hours a day. The rest of the time, we’re kidding ourselves, looking at rubbish on the Internet, making more cups of tea, or checking our email dozens of times a day.
So I aim to be at my desk doing stuff and seeing clients for no more than 6 hours a day. I can then put my feet up and read a business book, or even leave early and cook up a lovely meal. Or any number of life enhancing things which do not include checking email.