4th January 2025
I’m always looking for new ways to help structure my days for improved productivity, progress, and enjoyment.
I recently came across a brilliant approach from bestselling author Gretchen Rubin, which is called The Four Quarters Method:
“Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, ‘I’ll get back on track tomorrow,’ try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter.” – Better Than Before.
The method is based on the idea that you can trick your brain into seeing each quarter as a new day, and that you can focus for set periods of time. You can also set an intention for each quarter, such as “prepare” for the morning, “produce” for the late morning, and so on.
The four quarter method has parallels with how many sports are set up.. Most sports have breaks. Football has two halves, Test cricket has a lunch & tea break.
The four quarter method also has similarities with the Pomodoro technique. The Pomodoro technique sets 25 minutes for each task. Being focused on the task for 25 minutes increases productivity.
The basic idea is that you split your waking hours into four equal quarters.
For example,
Quarter 1: 6am to 10am
Quarter 2: 10am to 2pm
Quarter 3: 2pm to 6pm
Quarter 4: 6pm onwards
You can then plan out the core activities you’re aiming to work on during each quarter:
Quarter 1: Morning routine, Meditation & walk, deep creative work, posting my daily blog, breakfast
Quarter 2: work, some reading, lunch
Quarter 3: Deep business work
Quarter 4: evening routine,
Family dinner, Reviev of the day, morning preparation.
If the quarter did not go as planned, have a break and ensure that you do something completely different: take a walk, have a shower, make some lunch, read a book, or have a mindful tea moment and just give yourself that little break that will give you extra energy and help make the cognitive transition to approach the next quarter. If the day does not start as you wish, instead of beating yourself up all day, use a circuit breaker and then continue with the next quarter to change and take control of the day.
The next time you hit a rough patch in your day…don’t wait for a fresh start tomorrow.
There’s another quarter right around the corner.
Try out the ‘Four quarters Technique’ and stay blessed forever.