Productivity is something personal…
No really, I mean it. Trust me. Actually wait, trust your taste, feeling and body, whatever actually… Just listen to yourself.
OK, let’s cut the crap and get to the point. I know we all like to follow those who are successful and crushing the time limits and finishing everything they want in short amount of time.
I can imagine that, Elon Musk does more before brushing his teeth than I would do on whole Monday. Why? Because it is personal and he knows what works for him. So, you need to ask that uncomfortable question. Not “should I say I love you or not”, but “What exactly works for me?”.
It is not about note taking method someone uses, or time-blocking or any other tenchique out there, it is about “damn I did very important things today”. Oh, yea one more thing its about quality not quantity, but about that maybe next time.
Let me tell you a story of mine. I am a student. Yeah, imagine that during pandemic. So, I tried like gazillion tactics of productivity out there. Guess what did I get from them?
I realized that I hate calendars, I hate blocking my time, I was lied to believe that productivity is about waking up early and working from there and not sitting until dawn. I know, I know… Stop it!
But I also realized that I like to freaking delete stuff from my to-do list after I do them, I realized that I love the feeling of finishing something and thinking “Damn, I am productive” and more importantly I found out about systems.
Focus on system…
It is personal, like your finances or like your relationships. Productivity is like the kitchen-digging at night when everyone is asleep. Yeah, I know about that. Trying to lose weight? Good job keep eating at night.
Just recently, I came up with a system that would help me to survive the new movement control order here in Malaysia. Honestly, I am done with sit at home and do your shit regime. It is not that I live outside and come home just to sleep, but every now and then we all need to socialize, but nevermind. Anyways, so this system literally saves my life. It goes real simple by taking into account all those benefical points.
Before 9 AM out of the bed [before shower need to exercise while watching new episode of my fav tv-show]
Until 3 PM, productivity time, no distraction, no social media unless needed for work and no freaking Netflix. Wait, did you just say there are new episodes? Shit here we go again. I am really sorry, forget about it.
From 3 PM to 4PM reading time. One more hour and I can touch my phone. Reading and my eyes literally run through the notifications on the phone that lays near me. So, I take it and put it in the drawer with everything that I don’t need for a long time.
It’s 4PM ladies and gentlemen. I open the phone, and that notification came from Instagram just to tell me that someone posted a story? WTF?! Really? No one texted? Damn… Anyways, until 6PM do whatever you want, will you? I usually go grocery shopping this time.
6 PM to 8 PM, there are few things I enjoy doing and cooking is one of them. Honestly, learn to cook man, come one… So yea I cook and have my dinner.
From 8 PM to 11 PM call family, friends or whoever you feel like calling. And please drink water, okay?
By 12 AM you better be snoring or seeing your 3rd dream.
And, now forget whatever I talked about. If you think this works for you then go ahead and take it, but if not then just experiment and see what works best for you.
We live in the 21st century (if you didn’t notice), everyone can find about some millioner twat’s daily habits and stuff. I know, I know you want to be like Elon Musk or like Bill Gates, hell who doesn’t?
But then again, we forget that productivity is personal, you might be in your peak during the night when everyone is sleeping and no one disturbs your work. Or maybe you good working in the morning, or hell you can be both. (If you can be productive in both times, please leave this article and let’s have a deal that you didn’t open it). Well, if you didn’t leave yet, then let’s move to next part.
There are zillions of books out there about productivity and each of those authors will try to teach you their own understanding of productivity, hell maybe they are using as example some of the famous people (remember Elon Musk with more than 4 companies?). And we get those books trying to implement those productivity “tips” and after we start fucking up we get mad and grab pack of chips and watch “Friends” again…
I understand your sadness or whatever is it you feeling while holding pack of chips, but core of the idea is that you need to find what works for you. By that, I am not trying to be a jerk face who will tell you not to buy any productivity books, what I am trying to say is that you need to experiment. For that you will need books, strategies and of course actions.
Experimenting can take weeks, hell it can take years, but important part is that you will be growing throughout the process, something like eating pack of chips everyday and getting fat.
I should stop bringing chips as an example until it gets weird…. Let’s change that to pack of Oreos.
So while eating pack of Oreos, you get no shit done, except what, like finishing your series that you have watched for thirty two times already. It is, let’s call like temporary pleasure. No, literally like all of the things these days are in category of limited time pleasure. You ate the chips and cookies while feeling good or even hell sometimes I eat cookies and be like “I suck at this diet, I am gonna be fat and no one gonna look at me”, here we go again…
Well, you feel bad after eating something unhealthy, but actual idea is not even about diet or unhealthy food, it is about doing something productive instead. About experimenting what works for us. I know that urge to open the laptop and start working and you got a notification that there is new episode of whatever you watch, and you close everything and open Netflix, and nada, nada, nada. Basically, we are gone. In that 3 seconds when our eyes look at that notification we are gone.
How about removing your phone from thr table then?
“But, but what if I get some important text?” Awww, aren’t you cute like a button, desperate for your screen time.
Are you fucking curing cancer or something? What is that important? Anything worth disturbing will find its way to you without your phone, trust me. Another thing needs to be mentioned is that, I am with my phone too, but only after 3PM or when I finish everything I need to that day. Or I bring it to kitchen to listen to audiobooks or something, So, yea, I am like you too but to a certain point.
I can talk like for hours about this topic but core idea is that please find what works for you. Don’t try to follow Tesla’s daily schedule. The dude slept like 40 minutes every 4 or 5 hours. In our words, suicidal act. Try something simple first, like waking up at 7AM and see whether you are active, or try working at around 11PM and compare. I mean if you are working there shouldn’t be questions of trying, gotta get your ass up by 7 AM, but you got the idea.
Whatever is it, have your own system, search it, google new tactics, develop new habits, literally anything that will help you to get shit done And hey, remember, taking random Thursdays off or forgetting to do something is totally okay. Don’t just judge yourself mentally for not doing tasks. If you are someone like me, keep to-do list and circle the shit out of the things you already did. Because later on you look back and actually you can see that you did a lot of stuff. So you move on and grab another pack of Oreos.
Well, these should be it. I have no idea how to end this article, or whatever. I am just gonna say, try any method you can find and work with only ones that works for you, because remember? Productivity is personal.
And, yea..
Adiós.
