Summary

The article outlines a self-coaching strategy for enhancing personal productivity by leveraging one's strengths, managing negative thoughts, eliminating unbeneficial activities, and setting achievable goals.

Abstract

The article "How To Coach Yourself Into Living a More Productive Life" emphasizes the importance of self-reflection to identify personal strengths and weaknesses as a foundational step towards increased productivity. It suggests that by acknowledging and focusing on one's skills, individuals can optimize their performance. The text also addresses the detrimental impact of negative self-talk, often rooted in the fear of failure, and provides methods to counteract these thoughts, such as writing them down and physically discarding them. Furthermore, the article encourages the removal of non-beneficial elements from one's life, whether they be time-wasting activities or toxic relationships, to streamline focus on meaningful tasks. The concept of self-motivation is introduced through the setting of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based) goals and the practice of rewarding oneself for achievements, fostering a habit of productivity.

Opinions

The author posits that individuals are not inherently lazy but rather have untapped productivity potential that can be accessed through self-coaching.
Negative thoughts are seen as a significant barrier to productivity, stemming from a fear of failure and a misguided attempt to soften the impact of potential setbacks.
Productivity is linked to the alignment of activities with personal values and goals, necessitating the elimination of anything that does not contribute to one's aspirations.
The article suggests that self-rewarding for accomplishments reinforces productive behavior and creates an intrinsic motivation to achieve more.
Self-coaching is presented as a self-sufficient method for personal development, without the need for external guidance.

How To Coach Yourself Into Living a More Productive Life

Gone are the days of wishing you had more time.

You aren’t lazy, I promise.

I know that in comparison to the ‘go-getters’ of the world you feel like you aren’t doing enough — you aren’t getting as much done as you’d like to.

Trust me, you aren’t alone in feeling that.

You aren’t lazy though, you just haven’t tapped into your inner productivity. You are capable of getting more things done throughout the day and you don’t even need anyone’s help to do so. You can achieve this through self-coaching.

Here’s how.

Take time to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses

To become more productive, you should start by identifying what your strengths and weaknesses are. You need to be able to prioritize the things that you are best at.

A simple way to do this is creating 2 separate lists — one for weaknesses and one for strengths.

While you are doing this, ask yourself the following questions:

What am I good at?
What have others told me that I am good at doing?
What do I usually struggle with?
What sort of things depletes my energy?
What do I like to do and why?

There’s power in self-acknowledgment. The sooner you can identify your skill set, the sooner you will be able to optimize them.

Tune out any negative thoughts in your head

That voice in your head telling you that you aren’t capable is exactly what is holding you back from being productive.

The negative thoughts that people have are often bi-products of the fear of failing. They think that by attaching a negative connotation with something that they won’t be as affected by the blow when it doesn’t work out.

Failure is only guaranteed when you opt-out of even trying.

If you think that you aren’t smart enough, too tired, or that you don’t deserve something then that’s what your reality will become. You will stand in the way of yourself.

Here are some ways that you can tune out those thoughts:

Write your thoughts down on a piece of paper and then throw it away.
Step away from social media and turn off the news.
Exercise.
Separate fact from fiction — what is the truth and what isn’t.

Eliminate the things that don’t benefit your life

A key part of becoming more productive is being able to recognize things that don’t serve you and letting them go. The weight of things that add no value to your life is only keeping you from getting what you need to get done, done.

These types of things are going to look different for everyone, and it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly what they are for you.

A great starting point is to evaluate what is currently present in your life that doesn’t match who you are as a person and what you are trying to accomplish — either short-term or long-term.

The negatives in your life could be as simple as the x-box that you spend too much time playing or a partner who doesn’t honor your boundaries.

Whatever it is that you come up with, get rid of them as soon as you can. Once you’ve done so, your newfound lightness will carry you through your to-do list.

Motivate Yourself

In this game called life, you need to be your biggest cheerleader.

While you most likely have people in your corner that are rooting for you to accomplish something, you are the only one that can make it happen.

Set good goals

A good, sustainable goal is not to lose 40 pounds in a month.

It’s possible to achieve whatever goal you set for yourself, but the probability becomes even lower the crazier your goal is. In that case, the lack of progress that you will eventually start to see will bog you down and increase your likelihood of giving up — counteracting productivity.

A useful strategy for setting meaningful goals is the SMART model:

S — Specific: your goal should be clearly defined.

M — Measurable: the progress you make towards your goal should be easily tracked.

A —Attainable: you should be able to complete your goal within a certain timeframe.

R — Relevant: your goal should align with who you are as a person.

T — time-based: your goal should have a realistic end date.

Reward yourself

There is a positive correlation between accomplishing something and rewarding yourself.

If you start to make a habit out of rewarding your good behavior, eventually your brain will start to form an innate drive to be more productive and get things done.

The prize waiting for you at the end of the finish line doesn’t have to be anything crazy — a quiet bubble bath at the end of a hard day can suffice.

A recap for the coach within you

Shakespeare once said, “To be or not to be.”

That is the question that you need to ask yourself when thinking about what kind of person you want to be. Do you want to be more productive? Great, you have the power to be just that.

The first step in the process is to identify what your strengths and weaknesses are — separate the things that you are good at and the things that you aren’t.

Then, learn to tune out any negativity that seeps into your mind. The thought of not being smart enough, while very much so not true, is only going to hold you back.

Next, you need to eliminate the things in your life that don’t serve a purpose. This is going to take a lot of self-reflection, but the result will only help you be more productive.

Finally, be your biggest motivator. Setting goals is a great way to add purpose to your life and give you something to strive for. Make sure that whatever goals you are setting are realistic. Once you’ve completed them (which you will), take the time to reward yourself — you deserve it.

Now go out there and get sh*t done!