When you think of “power hour,” you might think of a drinking game, but what we’re about to discuss is actually the opposite of that. “Power Hour” is also a specific productivity hack; it comes from Adrienne Herbert’s book, Power Hour: How to Focus on Your Goals and Create a Life You Love, and it asks you to spend one hour a day working hard on your biggest task, or the thing you care about the most.

At its core, the Power Hour is about reclaiming some of your daily time and dedicating it to something purposeful. The author uses flowery language here, saying that you should do this in the first hour of your day “before the rest of the world needs your love, attention, and energy,” and suggests using the Power Hour for a task that’s meaningful to you. However, you can adapt it to use it for productivity, even for tasks that are more necessary and boring than your passion projects.

Herbert suggests using the first hour of the day for this, but you can also use whatever time of day makes the most sense for you. Everyone is different and has different “peaks” of productivity, largely determined by the time of day and something called the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which suggests that you’re likely to be most productive when you’re under a little bit of stress (like a deadline), but not too much (like a deadline that’s 15 minutes away). Use time-tracking software and a journal to figure out when you tend to be most productive, and then shape your Power Hour around those times. This is generally a habit you’ll want to try to build and maintain, so it’s best to schedule your Power Hour for a set time each day; but if something like a big project comes up, you have some wiggle room to adjust it to your liking.

Once you’ve decided where in your day you want your Power Hour to fall, it’s time to get started. This is where you’ll be doing deep work, or uninterrupted work that focuses solely on one task. Your first step to getting there is to block off your Power Hour in a way that holds you accountable and lets other people know you’re busy. Make sure you put it on your calendar and stick to it, but also try to include it on public calendars, whether they’re ones you use with your family or with your coworkers.