A Secret No One Told You About Productivity

Summary

The article outlines unconventional productivity strategies that focus on personal enjoyment, task variation, and reward systems to enhance work efficiency.

Abstract

The article "A Secret No One Told You About Productivity" suggests that traditional methods of increasing productivity by force may not be sustainable. It emphasizes the importance of engaging in tasks that align with personal interests for those who have the luxury of working in their desired field. For others, the author proposes three secret approaches to boost productivity: creating a task list that includes enjoyable activities, adopting a "jumping mind" technique to swiftly transition between tasks, and setting up a reward system for task completion. These methods aim to leverage one's natural inclinations and rewards-based motivation to increase both immediate and long-term productivity.

Opinions

The author believes that forcing oneself to work hard on a tight schedule without personal interest is not a viable long-term strategy for productivity.
Engaging in tasks one is passionate about is seen as a privilege that can lead to success.
The article suggests that incorporating activities one enjoys into a task list can provide instant motivation and sustained productivity.
The "jumping mind" approach is advocated as a time-saving method, where one takes breaks after completing sets of tasks rather than between individual tasks.
The author posits that using a rewards system can effectively motivate the brain to focus on task completion.
The article conveys that slightly altering one's approach to tasks can significantly improve productivity and is worth trying.

Give it a try

There are a lot of ways by which we try to improve our productivity, some work well and some don’t hold any significance. If we force ourselves to work hard on a tight schedule, we may improve our productivity for a while but will fail in the long run. The failure of such an attempt is because we cannot put effort into things we don’t like.

Is doing only those things we care about the solution?

Somewhat yes, if you are the one who got this luxury to work in a sector where your heart lies, you are privileged and may end up being successful and on the top. But those of us who aren’t that lucky, need to put effort into those works that we aren’t passionate about.

To back you up with some tips that make you interested in the project you are working on, I'm sharing a few secret approaches by which you can improve your productivity instantly and in the long run too.

Make a task list and include things you already enjoy doing: A task list is one of the most common ways to keep you on track, but you are going to add an extra punch to improve its efficiency. You are advised to add things you already love doing whether it be something as trivial as walking your dog at the park or listening to music. You may think it ridiculous but it works, it'll fill you with motivation instantly and the feeling of putting that “done sign” in front of an assigned task will push you to do the next one too.

The jumping mind approach: Instead of going through your tasks one by one and taking an unacknowledged amount of time for rest in between, you are going to instantly shift to the next task. You’ll take a break after finishing sets of tasks, ex. 15 minutes rest after completing 3 tasks. By this, you’ll save an ample amount of time daily, the only thing you need to take care of is to assign yourself tasks in a more practical manner. It shouldn’t be something that is beyond your capabilities.

Give yourself rewards: Our brain is constantly seeking rewards if we use its quest for satisfaction and bonuses, we can make it focused on completing a task. You just have to set a target and remind yourself of the reward you are going to get once you’ve finished it. This will provide you with enough motivation to start and keep going to finish that assignment. That reward could be anything such as chocolate, listening to music, or going to a coffee shop as a treat.

These are the most undervalued productivity tips I believe if you follow the foregoing advice, you’ll notice a significant improvement in the amount of work you are now finished. If slightly changing the approach of going through the process of finishing a task can improve our productivity and efficiency, it's worth a try.

A Secret No One Told You About Productivity

Give it a try

Is doing only those things we care about the solution?

Thanks for reading!