How to Improve Your Focus and Live a Life You Enjoy. A proven method that over 100,000 people have used to defeat distraction and overcome overwhelm. Follow our step-by-step system to better prioritize what matters to you.

Neither is a good option. Life keeps piling on and we get pulled in every direction. We never seem to make progress on our goals.

Eventually, we wake up and realize life has passed us by and we didn't do the things we meant to do.

We didn't invest in the meaningful relationships. We didn't take that trip. Or we didn't make that professional move we knew was right for us.

I'm using the word "we" because I've been there too. All of our Define My Day customers have been there in some way.

We've tried the efficiency hacks, productivity planners, motivational tips, and organizational tactics.

I've personally tried them all. Most of them created a lot more work for me and left me even more exhausted.

Every planner I bought felt like it's own project. I needed less work, not more!

What I needed was a simple system to help me focus on what mattered most in my life and get it done.

What is it?

Define My Day is a simple process that I designed to help me bring order to my day.

Using it, I was able to adjust my daily habits so that I spent more time doing meaningful work and less time engaging in to-do listy tasks that, in the end, did nothing to make any real difference in my life.

You see, I was confusing what I felt was hard work with work that was important.

They ARE NOT the same thing.

In fact, a lot of times, important work is actually easy. And because it feels easy to us, we devalue it. And we feel like we need to do more. Like we need to fill our time with work, no matter how mundane, to be of value.

We don't.

We can do what's easy and important and simply stop there. Rest. Do things we enjoy. Set freaking boundaries. Live our lives!

Don't get me wrong. Many times, important work is hard.

And in that case, it's even more important to not only prioritize it but be well rested for it.

That means not doing time-wasting busy work, especially before the important stuff.

That's why our system is so important.

My Story

I'm Nick. I created Define My Day as a worksheet years ago. I was in my mid-thirties, had a wife and two kids, owned my own business, a nice little home, a country club memberships, a bunch of friends, and a fast car.

I was also miserable.

By all the vanity metrics, I should have been happy. The reality was that I was deep in debt, always chasing another sale, never had time for my wife and kids, and my health was declining. I was so stressed, I couldn't eat or sleep. I was working 12-14 hours a day and never making headway.

My "to-do" list was enormous. At that time, I was using an online app that synced my to-do's across my phone and computer. Every time I had something to do, I could simply type it in... complete with due dates. Other people could even add to this list. (Huge mistake!)

That list kept growing and growing. After awhile, I couldn't even look at it anymore.

One day, a coach told me to just write down one thing to do each day. The most important thing. And don't do anything else unless it's done.

I did. And it worked. I put my phone on "do not disturb", closed Outlook, shut my office door, and worked on the most important thing that day.

It worked so well, I did it again, and again. Day after day I wrote down one thing that I would do in the morning that took priority over everything else.

I began scheduling around this time - usually just an hour or two - and I really started making progress.

As I gained momentum, I refined my process, adding in mindful reflections and a daily theme to keep me focused on today's goals.

I also started noticing what would pull me away from this "priority time" and harm my results. I started writing them down:

"Checking email"

"Customer phone calls"

"Phone scrolling"

"TV"

"Radio in the background"

"Brandon walking into my office and talking about nonsense."

I developed strategies to avoid these things and my results skyrocketed.

I was less stressed and actually moving forward toward my goals. Even better, I had more time for my family.

And that to-do list? I logged in awhile back and took a look. I never did most of it and guess what... none of it mattered.

Shortly after that moment, I decided that I needed to get this out to other people.

I turned my printable worksheet into what you now see as the Define My Day Planner and Journal. I still use it every day.

Every day, I use Define My Day to improve my focus on what matters most to me, to avoid what pulls me off-course, and to improve my health and mindfulness.

This works because Define My Day uses science backed prompts to facilitate growth in three key areas:

Priority Focus

Priorities are the important tasks that directly align with our goals, values, and purpose.

They are the tasks that create positive change in our lives. THEY ARE WHAT MATTERS.

When we work on our priorities, we feel a sense of accomplishment. We feel fulfilled. We become our best selves.

Distractions do the opposite. They are the enemy.

When we engage in distractions and don't work on our priorities, we feel listless, lost, and many times depressed or anxious. Even when we feel the immediate dopamine hit from our distractions, our long-term mental health and well-being declines.

The Define My Day process helps you improve priority alignment in four key areas of your life: Personal, Work, Health, and Relationships. When you use Define My Day,  you learn to match your daily actions with your goals in each area.

These don't have to be huge changes. Generally, it only takes small adjustments over time to see positive results.

Mindset

Woven into the Define My Day process are prompts that grow your mindfulness and awareness.

They are not time intensive but simple prompts that are powerful nonetheless. They will help you grow your appreciation and time-awareness. They may even become a mantra that you can lean on to get you through tough moments.

There is also space to journal your progress and review your results. Both practices are greatly important when examining how and why we succeed and fail in our days.

Habits and Routine

A crucial part of the Define My Day process is a healthy routine. Building good habits and a repeatable routine improves your efficiency and reduces the amount of mental energy we waste each day.

The Define My Day process consists of a 4-week structure that keeps your weekly and monthly planning days on the same day all of the time. This immediately builds stability into your schedule and helps you separate priorities from appointments and obligations.

Also in Define My Day, you will create your Ideal Day, a repeatable routine that you will try (and fail lol) to adhere to. Life gets in the way after all. No day is perfect. But the closer you adhere to the Ideal Day you define, the more likely you are to succeed.

My own Ideal Day is still changing as life changes but at the end of each day, I can see that I succeed best when I follow my routine.

Other tools in the Define My Day Planner are a Daily Disciplines Habit Tracker, To-Do list for low priority tasks.

Flexibility is Key

One of the keys to success with Define My Day is the addition of structure in pivotal areas while allowing flexibility in others.

We add structure by creating a repeatable planning cadence, creating an Ideal Day framework, and adding daily health disciplines.

But the purpose is not to be more rigid, it's to gain the ability to be flexible in every other moment.

The purpose of Define My Day is for us to better enjoy our lives. To be present in the moment, free from stress and worry because we know we completed our priorities and are now free to relax without guilt.

Some days we'll focus more on work, other days our priorities may be our personal health. I even use Define My Day on vacation... it helps me remember why I'm here, how I want to feel, what I want to experience, and to be present.

A vacation priority may simply be "relax and be present." It's amazing how simply writing that down can cause you to catch yourself NOT relaxing a few hours later. That small bit of mindfulness is life-changing.

"I can do this on my own without buying Define My Day."

Yes! You can! And I recommend it! Please do!

I think if we all followed the process of writing down our goals, breaking them into daily priorities, doing them, and then tracking and improving our progress - we'd be a happier society! Imagine thousands of people walking around satisfied with their lives because they are living in alignment with their goals, values, and purpose!

I think we'd all be so much happier! So, yes, do it on a sheet of paper. That's what I did and it has changed my life. I'm happier, healthier, and much more able to traverse life hardships.

However, my goal was not to reinvent the wheel. If I could have found a planning system that fit my needs, I would have bought it rather than taking so long to refine my own. Even then, if you aren't sold on Define My Day, the simple act of writing a priority on a post-it note and following through will feel amazing. Do that for 28 days in a row and you'll change your life.

"I don't do paper. Why isn't this digital?"

I hear you. I'm an IT guy by trade. My entire life is digital. We even tried Define My Day in a digital format a few years ago. It didn't work. Here's why:

Your brain perceives the physical act of writing differently than typing into a phone or computer. In fact, studies have shown that learning is more effective when handwriting.

Plus, by taking five to ten minutes each morning to plan your day in Define My Day, you momentarily free yourself of distractions and grow your ability to be mindful.

I schedule everything in my iPhone but, my priorities live in my Define My Day planner.

How to Get Started

We've made it incredibly easy to get moving toward your goals today.

First, decide that today is the day you're going to finally make a positive change by allowing yourself to work on what's most important to you. That you're going to start living your life more aligned with who you most want to become. That you will be true to your dreams and values.

If you're ready to get moving forward, let's talk next steps...

The Defined Life Starter Kit

We've created the Defined Life Starter Kit so that you can get started IMMEDIATELY by taking our downloadable self-assessment and included planning page. This download will help you find your starting point and begin to see your life in a healthy, holistic way.

You'll also be able to start planning your priorities before your planners arrive with our simplified planning sheet.

You may use the Defined Life Planner for the entire 13-weeks or move onto your included Define My Day planners at any time you feel ready.

Once you move on to Define My Day, you'll begin breaking out the 4 types of goals (Personal, Professional, Health, and Relationship), create an Ideal Day, begin tracking Daily Disciplines, brief daily journaling, and go a little more in-depth in your daily, weekly, and monthly reviews.

Don't worry, none of this is time-consuming. I can do all of in in under 10 minutes per day. All of it is beneficial and truly backed by science.

What's Included in the Starter Kit

• The downloadable Defined Life Self-Assessment and Planning Page

• The 1 hour Introduction to the Defined Life Planner online course

• Access to our exclusive user group

• The Defined Life Planner

• Your choice of Define My Day 3-Pack

• 1 FREE package of pens

• 1 FREE productivity accessory