PRODUCTIVITY

5 Ways to Boost Your Productivity With the Observer Effect

Discover the power of accountability

Yesterday, while doing my exercise, I broke my burpees record. Woohoo! I did 26 burpees in a row!

What is a burpee, you ask? You can think of it as the combination of a push-up and a jump. It’s a strenuous exercise. And that’s precisely why I’m doing it.

Lately, I’ve been doing burpees every other day during my afternoon work break. And I try to improve my record when I can.

But yesterday, something strange happened …

How the Observer Effect made me braver

Usually, I do my burpees alone in a grassy clearing. But today, there was a car parked in the clearing. The car was not facing me, but someone was inside. And it was enough to feel a pair of eyeballs staring at me.

This simple fact caused a dramatic change in my behavior. Suddenly, I felt compelled to do my level best at burpees. Of course, I wasn’t even remotely sure that the person in the car was watching me. But it made me braver.

While I was doing my burpees reps, I felt the pain growing in my body. After 20 burpees, my tights were almost failing me, but I kept pressing. I took the pain and persevered nonetheless.

Finally, I managed to get to 26 burpees! Not bad, right?

The Hawthorne Effect

When you think about it, it makes sense. We are social creatures, so when someone observes you, even in your imagination, it affects you.

Academically, the Observer Effect is known as the Hawthorne Effect. It comes from a famous study where researchers tested the effect of light on workers' productivity.

In the study by psychologist Elton Mayo, any increase in light also increased the workers’ productivity. But they soon discovered that anything would have increased the worker’s productivity anyway.

It turns out it was simply the novelty of being the subjects of an experiment and the increased attention associated with it that led to temporary gains in productivity.

The name “Hawthorne” comes from the Western Electric plant where the subjects of the experiment were working.

Now that we’ve covered the scientific ground, let’s see how you can take advantage of this effect in your daily life.

Five ways to boost your productivity with the Observer Effect

I‘ve been blogging on productivity since 2007, and I’m used to taking advantage of the Observer Effect.

Here’s a list of 5 proven ways you can use this effect to improve your productivity:

1) A public challenge

I’ve done many public challenges. I would announce my challenge on my blog and write check-in articles.

Examples include:

• Memorizing a deck of 52 cards in 2 minutes (I did it in 3 minutes)
• Doing 100 push-ups in a row (I ended up doing 80)
• Memorizing a complex humorous speech and recording a video doing it (here it is)
• And lately: writing one article each day for 100 days (I’m still working on it, I wrote the article you are reading on day number 59)

As you can see, some of my challenges have succeeded, and some failed. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that each time it helped me push my limits.

So I would advise you to give it a try.

2) Body doubling

Since the COVID-19 epidemic started in 2020, many employees have started to work remotely. Remote work can help you get productive when you know how to discipline yourself. But many people struggle to progress on their tasks when they are not being watched.

To address this issue, you can organize regular video conferences with a friend or coworker and work together on your respective tasks.

First, you talk briefly about what you are going to achieve at the start of the meeting. Then, at the end of the session, you talk about what you managed to do. I’ve done it many times, and it helps focus your attention on your tasks.

Here’s also a tool dedicated to finding a partner if you don’t mind working with someone you don’t know: Focusmate

3) Hitting the gym

When I was still working in an office, I went each day to the gym just before starting my work. And it was always a great pleasure for me.

I would do some exercise for 20 minutes and talk with the staff and the regulars. Being surrounded by positive people while working out was profoundly inspiring. While being in the middle of this community, there was no way for me to do anything less than give my best in my exercise routine.

You can apply this concept to any physical place where people are working with you. For example, you can get inspired in a co-working place or in a library where people are studying. J.K. Rowling is famous for writing some of her Harry Potter books in public cafés in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In the end, you just need to find a social place where you feel comfortable working on your project or your physical health.

4) An accountability buddy

Since 2017, I’ve been working with accountability buddies to progress on my goals.

Each week, we set a meeting to talk about what we’ve been working on. We talk together about our magic moments and big wins, we review our mid-term goals, and we set new action steps for the next week.

It’s also a time to have an external perspective on our struggles. The goal is not to advise your buddy, but more about helping them to find their own solutions.

Listening to someone is a powerful tool. It builds trust, and after some time, your partner becomes your confidant. You get so close that it’s clear you will be able to count on them for the rest of your life.

The fact that you are watching each other’s goals list is especially effective in staying motivated to work hard on your tasks. Each week, you try to do your best to progress, and you get rewarded by getting the attention of our buddy.

I can tell you that after a meeting with my accountability buddy, my mood is significantly increased. I feel pumped up and motivated to tackle any challenge thrown at me!

If you are interested in the topic, let me know about it, I’ve left my email address on my About page, and I can help get you started on this.

5) Measuring yourself

Last but not least, the Observer Effect also works in solo mode. Yes, it’s surprising, but it does.

What you need to do is measure what you want to achieve. This will automatically make you more likely to improve your score as you will want to look good to yourself. This is made possible by the fact that you can look at yourself thanks to a capacity known as metacognition.

There are many devices available to measure yourself. For example, you can install an app that counts your steps on your smartphone. Or you can use a special device such as a Fitbit.

Depending on what you want to work on, try to find a way to measure your performance, and it will almost magically improve 😀

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As you can see, the Observer Effect, or Hawthorne Effect, has a profound impact on our behavior.

Each time someone observes you, you tend to raise the bar in your performance so that you look good in the eyes of the observer.

This effect can be used to great results in the service of your goals. We can say that the Observer Effect is having a crystallizing impact on your goals. It builds an accountability structure that will guide you to achieve positive things in your life.

Today, I showed you five ways of using this effect. Just give them a try, and you will feel a clear difference in your productivity!

On February 1st, 2022, I embarked on a 100 days writing challenge. This is post number 59.