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I exercise my mental toughness every day.
I exercise my body every day.
I have a set of daily habits that help me to be in control of my life. I journal, read, set daily priorities, and don’t consume useless information. I also make sure I interact with my friends and family every day.
I don’t have high expectations of life.
I always have a list of small (but important) tasks that I have to complete.
1. Eliminate. Eliminate. Eliminate
2. Think About Past Success
“All you need to do [to increase serotonin levels] is remember positive events that have happened in your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is a region just behind the prefrontal cortex that controls attention.”
Focus on your life. Think about what matters to you. Then, do those things and don’t get distracted — stay on the path.
One thing that all procrastinators have in common is that procrastination has a price. This highly cited study, published in the American Psychological Society journal, by Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister discusses the cost of procrastination. It is related to: Depression Irrational beliefs Low self-esteem Anxiety Stress
What are some things that research proved to be effective? Self-imposed deadlines. Accountability systems (commitment with friends, or a coach). Working/studying in intervals. Exercising 30 minutes a day. A healthy diet. Eliminating distractions. And most importantly: Internal motivation.
Why do you do what you do?
If you don’t know. Make something up. If you know why you’re doing something, even the most annoying tasks become bearable. It will become a part of the bigger picture. So, instead of diving into work, take a step back, think about why you do what you do, and then rely on a system that supports that.
The reason I research productivity is simple. I think that a productive life equals a happy life. Also, if you’re more productive than average people, you’ll advance faster in your career. You learn more. You do more. And eventually are rewarded more.
And when I talk about productivity, I talk about being effective. Because productivity doesn’t suggest that you get the right things done. It just means you get a lot of stuff done. But that’s not what matters. Effectiveness, however, refers to getting the right things done. And if you want to do your job well, earn money, live a meaningful life, or learn skills, that is what matters the most. Otherwise, you just run around in circles. You might appear busy, but you won’t achieve anything meaningful.
How do you know your time? Keep an activity log. Before I even have a real session with clients, I often ask them to keep an activity log for two weeks. An activity log is exactly what you imagine — an hour by hour record of what you’re doing throughout the day.
“Go through all the recurring activities in your log one by one. What would happen if you would stop doing them?”
Boom. That’s it. Know where your time goes. Identify the critical tasks from the trivial tasks in your life. And cut the trivial, time-wasting, tasks.
Your activity log probably looks something like this: (insert time) — Read Darius Foroux’ article about keeping a time-log and started my own time-log. (insert time) — Turned off my phone and got back to (whatever you were working on). (insert time) — Browsed the news, Facebook, Instagram.
And watched YouTube videos. (Be honest with yourself. Shit happens). (insert time) — responded to emails.
If you journal, that’s even better. But I’ve found that not everyone likes the idea of journaling. So let’s just call it “writing things down.” What did you write down while you’re reading this article?
Read books. Get courses. Watch videos. Do it from home or go places. It doesn’t matter. Just learn new things. You’ll be more productive and more excited about life.
For example, one of my personal rules is this: Never complain. Another one is: Read and exercise every day. And: Close the day every evening by setting your next day’s priorities.
From minute 0 to minute 10: Close The Day
From minute 10 to minute 20: Review Tomorrow’s Calendar
From minute 20 to minute 25: Prepare your outfit
From minute 25 till minute 30: Visualize
DISCONNECT FROM THE INTERNET.
I went from “Always Connected” to “Always Disconnected.”
On my phone, wifi and mobile data are standard off. I only turn it on when I need it. On my laptop, I use an app called SelfControl during the times I work (try FocusMe for Windows). The app blocks distracting sites. The advantage is that my apps like Evernote, DayOne, Office 365 remain connected so I can save my work in the cloud.
I’m a believer of ‘do what you’re passionate about’, but I’m also a believer of ‘do what you’re good at.’ The sweet-spot is right in the middle — a job that you love, and are also good at. I’m not saying that productivity tips are useless. In fact, I’ve written about productivity tips that improved my output. What I am saying is that the best solution for procrastination is doing meaningful work. And procrastination can be a sign that you’re doing something that’s not meaningful. Don’t let procrastination become a habit. After all, the worst procrastination is putting off your dreams and
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These days, fear is only something that occupies your mind. Our thoughts are so cluttered with fear, worry, and stress, that we can’t focus on our goals. In my personal experience, living a full life has nothing to do with the resources or opportunities you have. It’s about knowing what you want, and also knowing how you can get it. That’s why you need to be focused every day. Without work, no goal will ever be achieved. That’s why I want to share one ancient habit that stood the test of time. This habit has proved itself over and over again.
“Let’s go.”
That’s my mantra. I’ve trained myself to say it every morning when I wake up. It really energizes me. I wake up and immediately say, “Let’s go.”
I prefer something short and powerful. Not only do I say it when I wake up, I also say it before I start working. Or, when I want to start my workout. “Let’s go.”
Give it a try. It works really well for me because it changes my state of mind to action. Especially when I feel afraid or powerless in life, I try to force a change in state.
All you need to do is pick a slogan that helps you to get focused, and that changes your state. Give it a try now.
There are always distractions. So you better train yourself to manage your attention. Not your time. Because that’s the biggest mistake people make. We falsely believe that we can manage time. But time can’t be managed. The only thing you control is your attention.
And remember: Focus determines the quality of your life. No focus means no control of your attention. And no control means frustration. We all know what frustration leads to. Start managing your attention. Not your time.
I have turned off ALL my notifications except messages and calls I’ve removed myself from all Whatsapp groups except for one with my closest friends I’ve removed all news apps (if something important happens, you’ll hear it from the people around you) I only consume music, paid journalism, articles from specific authors I follow, podcasts, YouTube videos (mostly to learn, but also for entertainment because I’m not a robot), books, and audiobooks on it For the rest, I use my phone to call, text, and to take notes, photos and videos
There are two types of perfectionists: The one that never starts. You want to achieve something, but you immediately start doubting yourself. You think: “I don’t think I can do it.” So you never start. The one that starts but has too high standards. You set a goal. You work hard (maybe too hard). But you’ve set your
goals so high, that you’re always failing yourself. Both scenarios can cause the following: Anxiety, worry, depression, and Type A behavior.
So I started looking into learned resourcefulness. And this is what I’ve found from an article by Michael Rosenbaum: “Learned resourcefulness refers to the behavioral repertoire necessary for both regressive self-control and reformative self-control. This repertoire includes self-regulating one’s emotional and cognitive responses during stressful situations, using problem-solving skills, and delaying immediate gratification for the sake of more meaningful rewards in the future.” Learned resourcefulness is the skill that you need to stop sabotaging yourself.
Resourcefulness — Goals can work well, but they can also be counterproductive. That’s why you want to rely on systems. And when shit hits the fan; use your problem-solving skills to figure things out.
To me, that’s the sweet spot: Instead of beating yourself up when you make a mistake or if you fail yourself, you just adjust or solve the problem. Avoid the perfectionist’s favorite sentence: “OMG, this is the worst thing ever!” Also avoid the slacker’s favorite sentence: “I don’t care.” But instead, you say: “I’ve got this.”
If you do that, you’ll read more than 100 books in a year. Here’s how. Most people read 50 pages an hour. If you read 10 hours a week, you’ll read 26,000 pages a year. Let’s say the average book you read is 250 pages: In this scenario, you’ll read 104 books in a year.
50 pages an hour. Atleast read for an hour per day on the weekdays and more on weekends.
Don’t waste your time reading about subjects you have zero interest in. Instead, pick out the books that are related to your profession or hobby. Read books about people that you admire. Don’t read a book just because it’s a best-seller or a classic if it has no meaning to you.
I like to read biographies before I go to sleep because they are like stories. Fiction also works well in the evening.
I don’t want to read a book about investing in bed with a highlighter and a pen. If I do that, I will be awake until 3 AM because my mind is buzzing with the new things I’m learning.
When you read a book, use a pen to make notes in the margins and highlight important text.
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