LIFE LESSONS
How to Achieve Effortless Productivity?
The answer is counter-intuitive: slowing down
Today, let me share my experience on productivity with you. In writing, it’s important to be productive. We hear it all the time. In order to become successful, we need to write, write, write.
But I have adopted a bit of a counter-intuitive approach in the past years. And it’s working wonders for me. No time-management. No pushing and pulling. It’s more the effortless approach of Napoleon Hill.
“All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination…. Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.”
— Napoleon Hill
To be honest, I never read the book. But I do know what it says. And I found my own way of applying these effortless lessons, this wisdom, to my life.
To build a better life. An effortless life of productivity and creation.
So, how do I do it?
First of all, let me tell you how I did it. I’ve always worked in business and have always been a busy bee. Thinking, making plans, executing them. And still, I never reached effortless productivity. I worked hard. Really hard. And I burned out because of it.
Years ago I started learning the effortless way of being productive.
And it works for me now.
So, I wanna share 3 tips with you.
- Slowing Down
- Stop the Overthinking
- Creating Variety in My Energy
1. Slowing Down
I’ve been tense for a large part of my life. Tense, as in really tense. Trying to control. Fearing not to have enough. Thinking about what do I really want? Making plans on paper about being a writer and how to get there.
I’m not saying I wasn’t productive. I was. I had tough jobs, working 60 hours a week. But my productivity didn’t flourish as it does now.
So, what’s different?
I learned to slow down.
What does slowing down mean for me?
Let me first tell you what it doesn’t mean.
- It isn’t sitting on the couch and scrolling through social media
- It isn’t watching TV
- It isn’t mindless consumption of anything
Slowing down is to feel my body from the inside out. Feel the energy move within me.
Slowing down is being in nature, opening my senses wide to birdsong, the breeze on my cheeks, and watching the sunrays on a flower petal.
Slowing down is relaxing my body to a state I was never in before and keep feeling the body relaxation throughout the day.
My brain becomes clear from slowing down. So when I sit and write, the words flow and come from somewhere beyond me.
I just love this writing process!
Did you know that being a multi-tasker might look productive, but isn’t really?
So, I focus. And I switch my attention consciously nowadays. Whenever I’m writing, I’m feeling the flow of writing. When Mike asks me a question, I consciously switch my attention from the keyboard to his eyes. And focus on what he’s saying. I take the time to answer.
And then go back to my keyboard to effortlessly slip into the flow again.
They say it takes 23 minutes to refocus again. Well, not for me, it doesn’t. I can refocus easily now. And I think that is because my body is relaxed and I have a clear head.
2. Stop the Overthinking
I’m a thinker. I’m an overthinker. I always spent a lot of time making plans. And dreaming. And seeking distraction because I couldn’t handle my overfull brain.
Well, I changed.
And for those of you wanting the quick fix, I’m sorry to say, it didn’t happen overnight.
One thing I did to clear my head is to learn how to meditate. It wasn’t easy at first. I started out with Zen meditation. Breathing, counting, watching the bubbles in my head come and go.
But I also used my breath in a more active way to let go of the immense clutter in my head. I wrote about it in this story. I used Quantum Light Breath for decluttering.
An elephant has the second-largest brain on the planet. And an elephant is also known for his good memory. He won’t have a cluttered head. So, what if we would declutter out heads and combine it with our immense creativity.
Our superpowers would emerge…
By now, meditation is second nature to me. I often can reach the state in between two tasks. Not sitting down on a cushion anymore, but just going into this deep state of relaxation in the in-between times. It does need a bit of training, but for me, it has definitely been worth it.
3. Variety in Your Energy
I’ve always been a person for variety. I love many things and I get bored easily. So this last tip has been kind of easy for me when I got the hang of it.
When my body is relaxed, I can feel the energy go through it, so I can also change it consciously.
Let me give you a practical example.
When something emotional happens, I feel my body tenses. And because I feel that, I can consciously do something about it. When I sit down, I go stand up. When I’m standing, I start walking or I sit down.
And the tense feeling disappears, my head clears again.
So, during the day I make sure that I do things one after another that give me a completely different energy. When I first sit down to write, I go for a walk after that. And I feel that new inspiration for my next writing already comes up again.
Something I don’t do myself, but what does help some of my friends is timing their focused periods. They set the alarm after 20–25 minutes and when the time is up they get from behind their keyboards and do something completely different for 5 minutes.
Especially getting my body into action works wonders for me. Stretching, wandering outside and smelling the roses, or sometimes dancing for a bit to really get my heart pumping.
We, humans, aren’t made for boring, repetitive work. We are made for experiencing, enjoying, and being vibrantly alive!
Happy working! Happy living!
And if you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or my website. Or somewhere in the world stretching my body and feeling the flow…
Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words.