Buzz words aside, there is nothing quite like a day when you just seem to be on fire. Tasks are crossed off at lightning speed, you surge closer toward your goals, and the day whizzes by in a blur of getting things done.

At my startup Whttl, the “Kayak.com of the on-demand services” (an aggregator for startups in categories like food delivery, house cleaning, and instant rental cars), we are about six weeks into building the company. Needless to say, my co founder Tim and I have a ton to do. Early stage startup life is very time consuming. Not because it has to be, but because you need to stack the deck in your favor, and one way of doing that is to simply contribute large amounts of time to building, improving, and promoting your product. I thought I would share some of our helpful tips on how we keep from imploding. If you have any other tips, I’d love to hear them.

Split The Day In Two

I work in a typical office, and I get stir crazy when I stay in there for long stretches of time. Instead, I try to get in the office around 7 AM, sometimes as early as 6 AM. Morning times are naturally more productive for me, as they are for a lot people, and I can crank out work uninterrupted until lunchtime. To alleviate the pain of waking up that early, I don’t do a full morning routine. I roll out of bed, brush my teeth, throw on shoes, and I’m out the door and on the way to the office.

I’ll work unitl lunchtime, usually around noon. I then take a massively long lunch break. I run errands. I eat lunch. I spend time with my wife and daughter. I read. I hit the track at the local college for physical activity, and then shower and dress.

I’ll return to the office around 3 PM, and hop back into production mode. This will last until about 7 or 8 PM. When the day is over, I’ve put in 10 hours, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels like much less, in a good way.

Apple Cider Vinegar & Honey Tea

Often, I don’t have the time for 8 hours of sleep. But instead of just accepting that I’ll be sluggish and tired throughout the day, I’ve got a way that I can feel just as good, if not better, from only 6 or 7 hours of sleep.

Apple cider vinegar is renowned for its many health benefits. When combined with honey, it will knock you out and you’ll wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Immediately preceding bedtime, mix and consume 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of honey with 1 cup of hot water.

For me, drinking this before slumber reduces low energy, brain fog, and fatigue in the morning. I sleep soundly, wake up less often throughout the night and rise to feel alert. The science behind it is that the body must subsist for six or more hours without any help. It’s essentially coasting, and can run out of “gas”” before the night is over. The honey will provide a time released supply of glucose throughout the night. This fuels your brain. The apple cider vinegar has many restorative benefits, meaning your body can repair and reset much more quickly. If you toss and turn through the night because of ailments, this can also help with that.

Pomerado Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The name comes from the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that was first used by Cirillo to time his sessions. (Pomodoro is Italian for “tomato”).

Use a timer to break down work into intervals that are 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks between 3–5 minutes. Do this loop three or four times in a row. Evidently, the frequent scheduled breaks can improve mental agility and drastically increase focus during sessions. Take it to the next level by setting an intention on what you will get done in each work session. I work with friends so that we can hold each other accountable to complete our objectives. There are even groups that run free sessions all day long that you can jump into. The community aspect can help you keep on track.

Daily Huddles

In the popular business book entitled Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, the author discusses the importance of regimented daily conversations between the team. Everyone can get on the same page, set the intention for the day, and ensure work in unison for a common goal.

We’ve combined this with Scrum Methodology. Although predominantly used in the software development space, it can be used in almost any industry. Every team member will briefly run through waht they did yesterday, what they are going to do today, and any blockages that are preventing them from moving forward. We try to keep the calls to 30 minutes or less. Anything that can’t be discussed in that time needs to carved out for a more in depth meeting.