Build Your Personal Operating Manual

Goals are aspirational by nature.

To chase those goals, we start “optimizing” on the fly. New morning routine. New productivity app. You’re now on a gluten-free, paleo diet, but only during crescent moons.

But tweaking how you naturally work while chasing big goals is a two-front war. Now you’re not just trying to execute. You’re also trying to become a different person while executing.

That’s too much. Do lesssss.

Instead, try to map your goals onto how you already operate by building your own personal operating manual. 

Why Create One?

Read a book like The 5am Club and you’ll assume success comes from waking up before sunrise, doing burpees in the dark, and journaling about it while sipping mushroom tea.

This might work for some people. For others, it leads to burnout and a weird caffeine crash at 11am while you stress browse Zillow.

A personal operating manual is different. It doesn’t ask you to become a new person. It just helps you understand how you actually get things done.

What it unlocks:

• Fewer false starts when you try new routines

• Clearer boundaries around your best hours

• Less friction with teammates

• More progress with less wasted effort

At LeagueSide, this was one of the most useful things we ever did. Not job descriptions. Not OKRs. Just one-page snapshots of how each person worked best.

The result? Collaboration sped up, communication sharpened, and people started feeling productive without burnout.

What To Include in Your Manual

Don’t overthink the format. I like to keep this super simple.

This can live in a Google Doc, Notion page, slide deck, or Sharpie on a whiteboard. It’s not about polish. It’s about utility.

🧠 1. When I Work Best

This is about energy, not hours. If you keep booking deep work in your brain’s nap window, the calendar isn’t your problem.

Prompts:

• What time of day do I do my best focused work?

• When am I basically useless, and should not be allowed to make decisions?

• Which tasks match which windows?

Example Output:

• Morning: Admin, writing, solo strategy.

• Post-lunch: Low-power mode. Ideal for walks or shallow tasks.

• Late evening: Focus window for deep work

🎯 2. How I Work Best

Everyone has a way they naturally move through work. This section helps you name it. That way, you can stop gaslighting yourself into using tools and habits that obviously don’t fit.

Prompts:

• Do I need structure, or does structure choke me?

• Do I prefer collaboration early or late in a project?

• What makes me procrastinate?

Example Output:

• I do best with a clear finish line and a deadline with just a little room to improvise ~jazz hands~

• I freeze when things are too vague. Send me an outline, not a blank page.

🗣️ 3. How I Communicate Best

Most misalignment doesn’t come from strategy. It comes from two people using different mental operating systems and expecting things to “just work.”

This section helps your team avoid that.

Prompts:

• Do I prefer async updates or real-time convos?

• Do I need time to process before giving input?

• How should people give me feedback?

Example Output:

• I like to think in writing. Give me context up front, and I’ll respond clearly.

• I appreciate blunt feedback as long as it’s aimed at making something better.

• If you need to get a hold of me ASAP, phone or text is best. Otherwise, Slack. I don’t move quickly over email.

⚠️ 4. Things That Make Me Spiral

This is your early-warning system. Most of us don’t notice burnout until it’s too late. You can spot the signals earlier if you write them down.

Prompts:

• What warning signs show I’m off track?

• What types of tasks or patterns make me shut down?

• What situations drain me faster than they should?

Example Output:

• If I go two days without shipping something, I lose momentum.

• I spiral when I have to context-switch more than three times in a day.

• I start becoming a perfectionist on parts of a project that don’t actually matter

🔁 5. Weekly Rhythms That Help

This isn’t about building a perfectly structured week. This is about identifying a rhythm that helps when you’re overwhelmed and need to reset.

Prompts:

• What rituals help me feel anchored during the week?

• What’s the first thing I drop when I get busy?

• What always seems to help when I’m flailing?

Example Output:

• I think more clearly if I plan my week on Sunday night.

• A solo coffee shop session later in the week resets me.

• If I don’t reflect on Fridays, I carry mental clutter into the weekend.

📣 6. What I Wish My Team Knew

This is where you name the stuff people tend to misunderstand about working with you.

It’s less about how you communicate, and more about the invisible stuff that causes slow burns or missed signals.

Prompts:

• What do people misread about how I work?

• When do I need support, even if I don’t ask for it?

• What pattern of mine creates friction if left unexplained?

Example Output:

• I need time to process before I form strong opinions. If I’m quiet in a meeting, it doesn’t mean I don’t care. I probably just need a follow-up chat or async input time.

• I say yes a lot when something sounds exciting, even if I’m at capacity. A quick, “Do you actually have time for this?” helps me reset.

• I shut down when I feel rushed into decisions without enough context. I do better when I can review background first and weigh options before reacting.

Use the Manual. Don’t Worship It.

This manual isn’t about creating your ideal week and hoping your job cooperates 🔪🔪🔪

It’s about naming what works. And, just as importantly, calling out what doesn’t.

Some reminders:

• Just because you prefer freedom doesn’t mean structure isn’t helpful.

• Just because you hate mornings doesn’t mean they aren’t your best work window.

• Just because something is “fun” doesn’t mean it’s useful.

Also, your week won’t always follow the script.

Your “best hours” will get hijacked. Your “no meetings” Monday might become “only meetings” Monday.

When that happens, don’t throw out the manual. Adjust, reset, revisit.

If You’re Stuck, Start Here

Answer a few of these to get the juices flowing:

• What were your three best work weeks last year?

• What were you doing when you felt unstoppable?

• What do you keep pretending isn’t draining you?

• What’s one ritual you stopped doing, but kind of miss?

What To Do With This

• Get your whole team to do it.

• Share it with your manager.

• Swap it with your team during 1:1s.

• Use it to recalibrate after a rough week.

• Revisit it every quarter. You’ll be surprised what changes. Or what stays painfully, stubbornly the same.

• Stick it at the top of your onboarding doc if you’re hiring.

Remember, your goals are ambitious, your work style is human, don’t let one sabotage the other.

Want to Go Deeper?

Other articles for the overachievers:

• Setting a 2026 theme

• The superpower audit

Pair this with CliftonStrengths, 16personalities, or enneagram if that’s your thing.