Dennis Yu

Secret Tips on Time Management: How I Crush My Daily Workload

Time Management /

I woke up exhausted this morning, as you can see from my low recovery and 41 HRV. 531 messages to reply to— people urgently wanting my involvement in their matter or a situation that needs rescue. Imagine how it feels to wake up to this each day. Yet I manage to crush this workload every day. Here’s are my secret tips on time management…. Nearly every task takes 3 minutes. Reply thoughtfully to a client, make that decision, write that blog post, talk to a struggling team member, or whatever. It’s the postponing of work that actually eats up your time. I see people drag on for weeks stuff that would take 3 minutes to do. They engage in busywork to avoid the one thing that’s nagging them. Could be writing that proposal, talking to an unhappy client they’ve ignored, or optimizing that PPC campaign. When they do start, they take a whole day or many days to do it, since they are grooving to that killer song on their Spotify playlist rather than having 100% focus on the task. Being behind leads to a feeling of hopelessness and low energy. And then the excuses come. I even catch myself sometimes wanting to claim I have too many projects, not enough time, a mean boss, lazy colleagues, or eharber. All to avoid the simple task at hand. The beauty of checklists is that we know exactly how long it should take to complete a task. Since we’ve done it repeatedly ourselves. Hence I can manage what others believe to be an insane workload. I also keep my energy levels high with proper supplements, sleep aids (mask, earplugs, 68-degree dark room, mouth tape), oxygen baths, etc.. Right now I’m on a plane to Dubai, but I’m just as productive on a plane, in an Uber, or at home. Since I sit down and just grind. That’s my secret— I diligently put in the time. And somehow the harder I work, the “luckier” I get. Yes on prioritizing and delegating— 80/20, not falling for the squeaky wheel, and focusing on the highest and best use of your time. But even with that, you still need grit to make it through the stuff you didn’t plan happening.

Secret Tips on Time Management: How I Crush My Daily Workload Read More »

Work-Life Balance

advice, Time Management /

How to Balance Work with Life- Work-Life Balance Want to know how lawyers maintain a work-life balance and what it’s like to hang around the most successful lawyers on the planet? Remarkably similar to high-performance individuals from other walks of life. On the surface, these lawyers are expert litigators who have sophisticated techniques to win against the insurance companies, whether through settlement or going to a jury trial. But underneath, you see humans who have learned how to systematize their businesses— to be CEOs that don’t file claims, talk to clients, write checks, or go to court unless they have to. They are stewards of people— since, ultimately, it’s a people game. Mike Morse did $160 million this year in creating a “fireproof” law firm. And he has applied principles to give him time and freedom, so he never misses his kids’ games or things in life we want to savor. Jesse Itzler sold his private jet company for billions to Warren Buffett and is married to the billionaire founder of Spanx. And he plans his entire year out in advance— blocking out time for adventure, new experiences, and date night. Put in the big rocks first, or else the pebbles and sand fill up your jar— leaving no room for the big rocks later. I witnessed tender moments with Ali Awad, his wife, his brother, and his father— a close-knit family that spends time together. And I felt welcomed, like part of the family. This struck me more than the powerful opening keynote Ali gave on how he scaled his law firm to 8 figures via social media. I admire the CEO Lawyer more for how he treats people than for his ability to convince billionaires to speak on his stage. No matter what you do, you’re in the people business, so these same principles apply. I’m also grateful for Mark Lack, who taught our private group at the same time I was on stage, which happened to be during our weekly Office Hours call. Mark shared his techniques on how to partner with ultra-successful people— and I noticed how Mark and Ali have a huge overlap in their circle of friends. And that’s not a coincidence, since many of the attendees I met, even though I’ve never met them before— feel like long-time friends because we have so many friends in common. I wasn’t expecting to do any deals- my focus was teaching the dollar-a-day strategy so well that even the not-so-young adults would be comfortable making one-minute selfie videos and boosting them on TikTok and Facebook. I gave away all our training for free, as this felt like the right place— so these CEO lawyers could build a Content Factory using our processes and hire VAs for $5 an hour to edit videos. And doing so yielded some new partnerships, where some ads and analytics support from us (not as a traditional agency) will create massive growth for these firms while advancing our cause to create a million jobs to implement these techniques. There is always another level up that you haven’t seen if you are willing to humble yourself— and these folks have such an abundance mindset that they openly share and decisively take action. If you haven’t been to a high-end event like this, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Work-Life Balance Read More »

Work, then play.

advice, Growth Mindset, Time Management /

I’ve seen so many young adults, so bright and well-meaning, crash and burn their careers. One simple reason and one simple fix… The fix—put in a solid day of work, then play. Playing Bitcoin slots, for instance, is the perfect alternative to manage and overcome stress after a long day. When you face got to-do list head-on, instead of procrastinating, you’ll be surprised how fast you get work done. But if you live in excuse land— waste time complaining, blaming, and otherwise not working— your clients, teammates, and boss will notice you create problems instead of solving them. Wouldn’t you rather be celebrating success instead of trying to put up flimsy defenses? I’m proud of the folks on our team who are clearly kicking butt. Such a good feeling to be there! Help others who are struggling to see this— simply working before playing will solve their issue.

Work, then play. Read More »

It’s 4:32 am and I’m now going to bed.

Time Management /

What you see on social media is only 1% of the picture, when the cameras are out. The other 99% of the time is mundane– responding to emails, tuning ad campaigns, organizing my schedule, reading books, waiting at baggage claim, showering, and hopefully– sleeping. There are 1,440 minutes in a day– and if someone posts 14 one-minute videos, that’s only 1% of their day. Learn from people who are honest about what happens in that 99%. Don’t trust the people who claim to have struggled mightily at first (to show they’re “human like you”), now live a life of carefree luxury, and now want to sell you a program. The most successful people I know are super humble– they continue to have struggles… Their challenges instead of shrinking, grow BIGGER– but their power to deal with these grows even faster.

It’s 4:32 am and I’m now going to bed. Read More »

En route from Dallas to New York. And tomorrow is London, followed by Bucharest and Budapest.

advice, Time Management, Travel /

#1 question people ask me– how do you not get tired from all this travel? #2 question is– how are you able to manage your agency with so many people and clients? They think the answer is that I don’t sleep– or that if someone were to cut my skin, they’d see the exposed metal underneath. But here is the real answer– while I might physically be on a plane right now at 40,000 feet somewhere between Dallas and New York, mentally I’m somewhere else. I’m looking at events over the next year– planning out exactly where projects need to be, intersecting to hit larger goals. I’m thinking about key team members– not just their current issues, but charting their path over the next 5 years, based on their Goals Sheet. I’m writing software requirements for 10 iterations ahead of our current development– because I see where the education system inevitably is heading and the opportunity for the Uber of marketing. Because of this, you may think I’m absent-minded since I appear to be looking out into space. And when I’m in that state, I often forget about current realities– forgetting my electric toothbrush in the hotel bathroom or forgetting to eat (some would argue I never forget that). When I’m in an Uber, I’m in that same state– so I can trade money for more time to think, instead of worrying about parking or filling up the rental car to not get charged $6 a gallon. I’ve not spent time on my appearance, though I probably should– since I’d rather put it into training up young and not-so-young adults at scale. A mentor who is far wiser and more successful than me told me that I could have ANYTHING I wanted– as long as I was insensitive to the price I have to pay for it. He also said that everyone gets exactly what they want since where they spend their time is a vote for what’s important to them. I don’t count the costs of travel or see what I’m doing as work– I count it all joy. What is so important to you that you’d give your life for it and aren’t counting the costs?

En route from Dallas to New York. And tomorrow is London, followed by Bucharest and Budapest. Read More »

One of the most powerful phrases I know

advice, Time Management /

This is what you say when your friends hit you up for free consulting. After all, you’re a social media marketing pro, and social media is free– so your help is free, too, right? You and I spend all day long just hanging out on Twitter and Facebook doing teenager-type stuff– not anything important. So naturally, they can “pick your brain” for “only a minute” to help them with their ads, a strategy question, or whatnot. Here is the phrase I learned from a mentor of mine: “You know I do this for a living, right?” You’d not expect them to offer their services for free to you, either— free meals if they own a restaurant, free homes if they build houses, free tax advice if they are a CPA, and so forth. So why should digital marketing services be any different? If it’s a quick question you can answer right there– do it. But if it’s more, you can use that magic phrase to wake them up. They’re not consciously trying to take advantage of you– they just don’t know any better. You can also send them a link to an article that you wrote or one I wrote– maybe a video. So give away your content for free– shared transparently via videos, articles, and podcasts you’ve made. Just don’t give away your time. And if you know it’s more than “just 5 minutes”, say “I’d be happy to help you. This is going to be more than 5 minutes to do it right, so you can book time with me at [link].” Which sends them to your Power Hour page to buy a consulting slot— not to your calendy to give away time for free. Time is your most valuable asset– it’s so precious that you must charge for it and ensure others respect your experience. Otherwise, your entire day will be filled with distractions from people who don’t value your time, yet are the most demanding. And if you find yourself “too busy” to pay your bills and pursue your priorities, this is likely why.

One of the most powerful phrases I know Read More »

I’m back to reading for an hour before going to bed.

Personal Growth, Time Management /

This has been one of the most powerful habits I used to have, which I somehow lost. I forgot how amazing it is to have the world’s smartest people, like Ray Dalio (Principles, as you see here) as my mentor, guiding me. See past your blind spots (usually where there is emotion or dogged closed-mindedness) where you think you have the right answer, but don’t consider opposing points of view. Find the most believable people in each topic and have thoughtful disagreements with them to together seek what’s true. I’d gladly forgo an hour of TV or work to have an hour of reading each day.

I’m back to reading for an hour before going to bed. Read More »

That “one” thing.

advice, Time Management /

You know that one email you’re supposed to send or that call you’re supposed to me, but you keep doing other stuff because you’re avoiding that one thing? Tackle it first– and you’ll feel such relief, you’ll wonder why you kept putting it off. Plus, most of the time, that one thing takes only 5 minutes to do, but has been on your mind for weeks or even months. I put off exercise and daily reading for the longest time because I was “busy”. Now I do that first and the day opens up for me. I swam 2 miles in the pool yesterday (the longest I’ve done in years), after swimming a mile a day the last few days. Yesterday, I had one email that I dreaded sending, even though it was necessary– then I tackled it head-on and was done in 5 minutes. When the same issue pops up multiple times, it’s time for an honest examination of the situation– to look for blind spots and seek advisors, instead of ignoring the pain. But instead of being sure I was right, I sought out 5 of my mentors for help this weekend and got a plan that I would never have thought of, with their assurances to help along the way. The silver lining of problems is that it draws your true friends and mentors close to you. If you can tolerate some pain, the learning is incredible. I’ve viewed these not as problems that hurt me, but as valuable gifts from these people. So I win no matter what. The structure and accountability that I had been dodging is exactly the solution my business needed. And where I have weaknesses, others stepped into those roles (you know who you are), so we can each focus on our strengths. Funny how the “wisdom” you hear oft-repeated (yeah, yeah, yeah, I’d say) doesn’t really strike you until it’s your own personal circumstances and your own breakthrough. I hope this has value for you.

That “one” thing. Read More »

There is always enough time to get what you want done.

advice, Do Delegate Delete, Time Management /

Because if it’s important enough, you’ll make the time. Saying you’re “busy” really just means you aren’t managing your priorities. Logan and I were up at 4:45 am yesterday to go on a sunset canoe ride, after going to bed after 1 am. We didn’t want to miss a once-in-a-lifetime experience in the Amazon. But we also had some business promises to keep and a promise to work out when on the road. So sometimes sleep suffers, though not ideal. If anyone ever tells you they were too “busy”, it really means tour request is not a priority to them. Even if you don’t have enough time yourself, you can delegate it to others. I delegate out housekeeping services, grocery shopping, driving cars (I Uber everywhere), and anything that doesn’t personally require me to do, so I can have more time. Have you noticed that the people who make the most excuses get the least done? That’s because of the time they could have spent doing it, they chose to instead spend complaining. Worry not about looking good, but about achieving your goals. Time is your weapon. Use it to your advantage by practicing #DDD— Do, Delegate, or Delete. Handle everything just once via #DDD, so you increase your processing speed. I have over 700 emails per day coming at me. Yet for the last month, I’ve been traveling, speaking, and vacationing in Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, the Philippines, and many other places. I didn’t claim I was “busy”. Instead, I delegated more than I usually do. And that’s possible because we have an awesome, growing team. I said no to more things than usual, giving what we call a “polite decline” to meeting requests and various business opportunities. You cannot “do” more— don’t fall for the lie. You have only so much time and energy. Practice #DDD to clear your plate, largely by delegating and deleting, so the few things you choose to do REALLY count. Say NO unless it’s a “heck yes” option that’s so good, it makes you excited. Maybe means NO, and no more FOMO for you or me!

There is always enough time to get what you want done. Read More »

Scroll to Top