👋 Hey Reader!

Here’s what I’ve got for you in today’s issue of WFH Dads:

→ 5 best time hacks for WFH dads who can't catch up

→ Recommendation of the week - A new show I'm loving: House of David

Let's get into it.

5 practical time hacks for WFH dads who can't catch up

Most WFH dads are working long hours but still feeling like they're constantly behind. Work eats up your best hours and energy and your family gets what's left over.

After testing dozens of approaches I found a way to cut my work week by over 10 hours.

Here are 5 of the best hacks that have helped me work shorter, more focused days without falling behind at work (and allowing me to be fully present with my family).

Hack #1: How to see your entire week

How clear of an idea do you have of what your week will look like?

I found the reason it was hard to keep up with the various tasks I had was because they were in so many different places:

• tasks in emails
• tasks in Slack
• tasks on my calendar
• tasks on my task manager

What has helped me is taking 60 to 90 minutes at the start of the week to create a weekly map.

First, I go through a checklist where I pull tasks from every different source that they could be found in. I then put them in one central place

When I have that full list I sort it by:

• top priorities: things that absolutely have to get done this week
• medium priorities: things that I would really love to get done this week
• low priorities: things that if they don't get done this week it's not the end of the world.
• meetings: I have a separate section for meetings

Then to make it a lot easier to find those tasks when I need to I always leave a link to either the email or the Slack thread or the project management link with that task so when I get to it I can click out to wherever I need to go.

You can do this in virtually any task management tool.

The result is that you stop working on tasks in random order or as they come to you and instead you move the needle on the most important things

Hack #2: How to find time to workout (when you don't have time)

Struggling to find time to workout? What helped me was I started working out while doing other things.

It's not uncommon for me if there is a meeting where I don't have to have my camera on and I'm not having to contribute, I will:

• put some headphones
• put the meeting on my phone
• make sure my mic and camera are off
• go for a run or a do a workout in my garage

Yes, there have been times that I have been thrown into a breakout room unexpectedly and I was really sweaty but I just said "Hey uh just out here on a walk..." (while I'm drenched in sweat 🥵).

When I can't do that and my day is already full I'll take the mornings where I'm watching my son and put him in the running stroller and then we'll go running together.

The result is exercise stops being one more thing that you have to fit in and instead becomes part of your routine while you're doing other things.

Hack #3: A better approach to the to-do list

When you have a massive to-do list (even if it's been prioritized into top, medium, and low priority), the overwhelm of having so many tasks staring at you can make it hard to know what exactly you should tackle next.

The solution is to take a note card and write down the three to five most important things that you need to get done that day—your daily MITs.

This does 3 things:

• having the physical card keeps you from jumping into the digital rabbit hole of 'what do I need to work on next' because you have it right there on your desk.
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• at the end of the day you have physical evidence that you got important stuff done that day instead of wondering where the day went
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• it's super satisfying to physically check off a to-do item!

Hack #4: How to stop working late

It sucks when work begins to fill every part of the day...

• early morning
• mid-day
• evenings
• weekends...when will it stop!?

There's this idea that if you give yourself three hours to complete a task you will take all three hours because you've given yourself that time.

BUT, if you gave yourself two hours to complete that same task you can still get it done in two hours

It's called Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the amount of time that you've given it.

So for me, knowing that I have committed to a hard cut off every day—I'm done at 4:00 p.m. no matter what—forces me to focus to prioritize and to ensure that I am getting this work done by 4:00 p.m.

Otherwise, my attitude is just like 'the work gets done when it gets done' and then it just takes all day.

This is the #1 way that I protect my family time.

Creating a hard cutoff literally helps you get the same amount of work done in less time so your work does not spill out into evenings or worse weekends.

Hack #5: How to have fewer meetings

It's amazing how much time you'd save if you attended fewer meetings.

But before you say to yourself 'sorry Thom, but I've got to attend every single meeting on my calendar,' consider that there may be options to renegotiate some of those meetings.

Ways to renegotiate meetings:

• if you've got a weekly meeting, could you suggest that you meet every two weeks instead?
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• if you have a 60-minute meeting could you say "Hey would you all be open to trying to do this meeting in just 30-minutes for a few weeks and see how it goes? "
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• if it's a meeting that you feel you don't really need to be at perhaps just try hitting 'decline' on those Google invites and see if anyone notices?

Obviously this depends on your company culture and what is and isn't allowed (and if you just got hired maybe don't start pitching some of these ideas.)

But the principle is don't just default to "this is what's on the schedule and this is the way we've always done it so we're just going to keep doing it this way."

Renegotiating meetings at whatever capacity that you are able to will protect more of your hours every week and free you up for more high leverage work

Want 6 more time hacks?

I share these 5 hacks as well as 6 more in this video, including a hack to help me maintain focus throughout my whole day:

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Recommendation of the week

​House of David​

I was pretty skeptical of this series before watching it. I've seen quite a few biblical adaptations and they either have awful acting, low production quality, or completely stray from the original stories.

I've been pleasantly surprised with House of David. They've definitely taken some creative liberties but it stays true to the text in a lot of ways. And it's compelling. I was watching the Goliath battle with bated breath even though I already knew what would happen!

And I like that they didn't try to make it too family friendly. You may or may not know that David beheaded Goliath after he defeated him...a detail not typically included in the children's books. While the show doesn't show a bunch of gore, it also gives you a clearer picture of the brutality of the times.

If you've watched The Chosen, I wouldn't say it's as AS good as that, but I've definitely been enjoying it.

Definitely recommend it regardless if you're a Christian or not. It's great storytelling. But I probably wouldn't watch it with kids under 8.

What's one thing that's helped you get your time back as a WFH dad?

Reply and let me know, I read and reply to each one.

Thom Gibson Founder of WFH Dads ​​

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PS:

I recently went on the Goalbuster's podcast which is about a 10-minute episode where I share some of my best productivity tips as a WFH dad (I even share a practice I do every morning that I didn't mention in this email or the video above).

Additionally, the host, Robin Emdon has offered a free copy of his book GetResultsology to readers of this newsletter.

​Watch or listen to the podcast episode here.​

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