Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You

by Ali Abdaal

now learned that the study had become the cornerstone of a wave of research exploring the way positive emotions affect many of our cognitive processes. It showed that when we’re in a positive mood, we tend to consider a broader range of actions, be more open to new experiences, and better integrate the information we receive. In other words, feeling good boosts our creativity – and our productivity.

Individuals who frequently experience positive emotions aren’t just more sociable, optimistic and creative. They also accomplish more. These people bring an infectious energy to their environment, proving more likely to enjoy fulfilling relationships, get higher salaries and truly shine in their professional lives. Those who cultivate positive emotions at work

Psychologists increasingly believe that play holds the key to true productivity, partly because it provides a sense of psychological relief. As

The Director likes to plan, organise and lead others, and can fit into many different roles and activities, from directing stage performances to running a company, to working in political or social advocacy.

success isn’t down to how often you fail. It’s about how you frame your failures.

favourite method involves what I call ‘flipping the confidence switch’; in other words, challenging yourself to behave as if you’re confident in your task, even if you’re not. The method is even more simple than it sounds.

intrinsic motivation is something that can be built up. As early as the 1980s, they were demonstrating that intrinsic motivation can be enhanced by a handful of forces, chief among them our sense of ‘autonomy’. In layperson’s terms, that’s a sense of ownership. And it’s our final contributor to the sense of power that energises us and our work.

Auftragstaktik – mission-type tactics – a philosophy that prioritised a clear sense of why over an excessively detailed sense of how.

SMART goals in an issue of Management Review. The acronym stood for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Relevant, Time-related – a simple and memorable formula that quickly gained traction

Implementation intentions have been the research focus of Peter Gollwitzer, a psychology professor at New York University. They offer a method that builds moments for your new behaviour into your daily routine,

Forget SMART goals. What you need are goals that feel NICE (near-term, input-based, controllable and energising).

group that fared best of all were those who had put their fears into words.

‘affective labelling’.

‘cognitive reappraisal’: changing the interpretation of a situation so that we feel better emotionally. The main

It would be nice if ali offered his own story hear

alter ego who

I feel like i see this a lot with musicians pre concert with thei mood chanving

CBA, or ‘can’t be arsed’.

tracking your progress provides you with tangible evidence that you’re moving towards your goals. I see my word count creeping up word by word, and know that I’m ever closer to having a finished manuscript.

find that the best accountability buddies meet five criteria: being disciplined (they must stick to what you’ve agreed to), challenging (they know what it means to help you move on to the next level), patient (they don’t jump to conclusions or rush you into making decisions), supportive (they’re there with words of encouragement) and constructive (they must know how to give you honest feedback and constructive criticism).

students who said they were able to forgive themselves for not studying were much more productive. Self-forgiveness

LeBron is on average one of the slowest players in the NBA. In the 2018 season, his average speed during games was 3.85 miles per hour (more or less walking speed); he ranked in the bottom ten of all players who played for at least twenty minutes per game. During the regular season, he spent 74.4 per cent of time on the court walking, a time unmatched by almost anyone else in the league.

Things I do when I’m feeling drained of energy Things I do that actually energise me Scroll Instagram Go for a walk Scroll TikTok Play some guitar Lie on the sofa and search endlessly for a random movie to watch on Netflix Reach out to a friend and suggest grabbing dinner Scroll through Twitter, feeling incensed about what’s going on in the world Do some yoga or stretching Order an unhealthy takeaway Head to the gym for a quick workout This difference between what we do automatically when we’re feeling drained and what would actually rejuvenate us shows that the ways we rest are rarely restful.

CALM project can be almost anything creative that has a clear end point.

motivation, wellbeing and hike performance, he showed that those who had higher levels of both introjected and identified motivation were far more likely to complete the trail. They managed to tap into these forms of extrinsic motivation to help sustain their progress even when the going got tough.

Your Current Path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you continued down your current path. Your Alternative Path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you took a completely different path. Your Radical Path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you took a completely different path, where money, social obligations and what people would think, were irrelevant.

Then, under each of the areas of health,

relationships,

productivity isn’t about discipline; it’s about doing more of what makes you feel happier, less stressed, more energised.