As Tim Ferriss keeps it short, sweet and simple and says, “Focus on being productive instead of being busy.”
Let me ask you a simple question, the question that is asked by everyone and but only a few know the answer to it. The question being :
Let me know in the comments.
Productivity according to the dictionary meaning is being creative, fruitful, fertile, rich, profitable, and successful. But productivity is much more than this, being productive is a major lifestyle shift that can only be made by you. Let's start with some simple tips that I have used to be more productive, I am not promising that these exact tips will make you productive because every individual is different, so treat these tips as Hits and misses.
Why is it important?
Whatever you aspire to be or do, it all starts with a thought, a thought that is then nurtured or discredited by the mind, giving you pros and cons and trying its best to keep you in your comfort zones. So building a mindset, and more importantly, a positive one is a first and foremost priority. Let's take an example for more clear understanding, “ Let's suppose that you are planning to study 10 hours per day for the next week because your exams are approaching, but till now you have studied for only 4 hours on an average. So what your brain starts telling you is that it will not be possible because if you are going to give 6 extra hours to study you will miss out on hanging with friends, being on social media, not be able to play your favorite game or you will not be able to complete that series you have planned for a long time. But still, you build a timetable, a schedule, and try your best, mainly because you have no other option.” This is how you change your mindset, do not let your mind give you options, give your mind options.
As Robin Sharma says, “Mind is a beautiful servant but a terrible master.”
Why is it important?
Now you have heard this infinite times, but have you started doing it, maybe yes and maybe no. But it is very important, because of the finite retention capacity of our beautifully designed storage capacity. Let me ask you a straightforward question, What were you doing on 17th September 2018? , take a moment, think, and if you do not recall, it's time to start tracking. Track your routines not because it makes you more productive, but because of the domino effect, it has on your days, months, and years to come. When you start tracking, you start seeing what you are actually spending your time on, and when you start seeing you become conscious, as simple as that.
As it is rightly said, “You will never change your life untill you change something you do daily.The secret to your success is found in your daily routine.”
Tracking your routine does not say that you have to track every second of every day, take a day of 24 hours and divide it into major chunks ( for example let us dedicate 5 hours to study, 2 hours to binge-watch, 2 hours to family, 1 hour to exercise, so on and so forth), build a plan for a week this way and then clock in and clock out (record time of every activity that you do, start to end) and feel the change.
Why is it important?
It is important because our brain has been built and evolved around the fact that if we set mental timers towards certain tasks we are always under constant pressure to complete them. Also if you set deadlines you are absolutely clear on the amount of time that you can spend and this, in turn, helps plan you better. Another benefit that you derive from prioritizing and setting deadlines is that you avoid procrastination (the topmost productivity killer).
As Brian Eno rightly puts,"Everything is an experiment until it has a deadline. That gives it a destination, context and a reason."
Why is this important?
This activity is important for the harder and complex targets you are planning to achieve. Let us take an example, “Suppose you are planning to achieve a muscle mass equivalent to Farhan Akhtar, inspired by Toofan, you see the results and you think that okay 6 months is enough time to get in that shape. What you are planning is that you will cut down carbs, increase protein intake and exercise an hour daily. What you forget to plan is the weekly gains you are trying to achieve, and if you do not focus on weekly gains and you keep focusing on the 6-month long result, there will be times when you will have no motivation left to push yourself.”
This will happen mainly because of a cycle of success and motivation, “ Motivtion leads to Success leads to motivation leads to success.”
Why is this important?
As great a genius you think you are, scientifically our brains are not simply designed to handle multiple tasks, mainly because we are humans. When you jiggle through scrolling social media and attending a meeting or a class and cook at the same time, what your brain is actually doing is simply shifting focus from one task to another, so you think you multi-task but instead, you simply do not. The main loss that happens when you multitask is that you are not able to do anything with maximum attention and something or the other screws up. Instead, work like Elon if you really want to do 100 things in a short span of time, give 5 mins to each task completely and then keep shifting focus.
As rightly mentioned, “ Multitasking is the art of messing several things at once.”
Why is this important?
In the 21st century, if I tell you to ditch your social media, games and other OTT platforms, you would not be able to relate to the situation, well of course, if you are still living under a rock somewhere. So when everything is moving towards digitalization, you can not avoid them, instead, a better way to deal is to set the allotted time for each application so you do not miss out on anything important. The allotment of times can be different depending on the age group, your focus, and your work profile. For example, “If you are a working professional, you simply cannot avoid WhatsApp, zoom and emails. If you are a student you can not avoid the news updates and youtube. If you have a girlfriend or wife, well you cannot avoid calls and WhatsApp, so allot different times according to your priority.”
As mentioned," You don't have to POST IT to PROVE IT. Your worth is not measured in likes, comments , notes or followers; but in your ability to love, keep comments to yourself, take note and lead."
Why is this important?
This is mainly important because of the number of contact points we have in this digital era. So many people, companies and movies, OTT's are trying to grab your attention that you simply have to give in at some point in time, but have you forgot, it is up to you, and you only, to say NO. Say NO to distractions, say NO when you think that something will not directly or indirectly have an impact on your long-term goals.
Disclaimer : Now, this does not mean, cutting off friends, family and plan for a trip to the Himalayas as of now. It means cutting off the urge to keep peeking at your phones every 2 minutes and saying yes to drinking and partying when you should not.
Saying NO is an art and like every other art, it takes time to build, saying NO also does not mean you should be blunt with people who genuinely care for you, build a backup and relevant reasoning and they will understand.
As Steve Jobs mentiones, “It's only by saying ”NO" that you can concentrate on the things that are really important."
So you have 7 time tested and proven techniques at your disposal to choose from and be more productive and in turn, become more successful, pick one, give it a week and test whether it works for you or not, if it works the change will be visible, if it doesn't, just move on to next one. With this wishing you all the best in your future endeavors.
