Ultra-Productivity Has Three Crucial Elements. That’s It.
Nail those and watch your productivity soar
The Arch-Nemesis Of Productivity
As Nicolas Cole wrote, we’re always practicing something — be it snoozing the alarm, brushing without flossing, we’re practicing brushing without flossing.
Since we are what we practice, when we binge YouTube instead of reading, we become good at binging YouTube. When we abandon projects halfway instead of persevering, we become good at giving up.
This explains why we’re experts at getting distracted — we’ve been practicing it for 16 hours every day, 7 days a week, for years.
Expertise in distraction means a perennial lack of focus and rock-bottom productivity. No wonder our attention spans are lesser than goldfishes.
So, to become a productivity machine, you need to “un-practice” distraction.
But given the irresistible nature of distractions, straining your willpower will be futile. Rather than trying to overcome distractions, kill and prevent them from even cropping up:
- Switch Off All Notifications. Once interrupted, it takes 23 minutes to regain peak focus. With the average person checking their phone a whopping 160 times a day, you can imagine the insane damage.
- Wield Distraction Blockers. My go-to is ColdTurkey blocker. It can block apps, websites, searches, etc. For writing, I use ColdTurkey writer — until you meet the set word goal; it turns your computer into a typewriter.
- Play the Same Song on Repeat. Music can improve your mood, but the shifting lyrics will keep snagging your focus. Try looping one song. It’ll put you in a trance-like state.
- Find a Calm-Isolated Work Environment. Be it your desk with the room’s door latched or a cozy unused corner in your office, work in a distraction-free environment.
- Avoid Multitasking Like the Plague. Multi-tasking is actually multi-distracting. Countless studies have found it to damage your brainpower, hamper focus, incite anxiety, and cause burnout.
The Secret to 5X Efficiency
Unlearning the skill of distraction isn’t enough. You’ll also need to learn the art of focus.
As you make progress in the former, the latter will get easier. The end result, a combo of peak focus + zero distractions is a superpower.
Called flow, it’s a state where your mind plows through the ceiling of your cognitive limits into unchartered waters — a McKinsey study reported a 500% increase in productivity when in a flow state!
Tim Denning, one of the most successful online writers ever swears by flow states. In his words,
“Flow states are like teleporting from consciousness to a dreamland in your mind where effort looks easy. Without flow, you’re inefficient. Work without flow feels like a hike up the steepest hill you’ve ever seen in comparison.”
As Cal Newport talks about in his book Deep Work, here are a few techniques to sharpen your focus:
- Productive Meditation. Train your mind to work on a problem or project while you’re occupied physically. trolls, working out
- Try Memorizing a Pack of Cards. Feats of memory involve building mind palaces that require insane focus. Here’s a guide to get you started.
- Timebox Your Work. As counterintuitive as this sounds, defining imaginary deadlines makes you more mindful. This is thanks to Parkinson's law — work expands to fill the time assigned to it.
- Batch Your Shallow Work like checking emails, investing money, etc. This frees up blocks of time for uninterrupted deep work.
- Schedule Your Distractions. Sticking to your scheduled distractions itself requires focus. An example is, “I’ll check my phone for 10 minutes at 4 PM”. As soon as you’re done, you get back to work.
- Sleep at Least 8 Hours Every Night. Nothing dulls your mind and fogs your focus more than sleep deprivation.
- Meditation. Being fully present is a crucial part of the flow state. And nothing trains your wandering mind better than meditation does.
Even an hour of flow a day can transform your life beyond recognition. Try and see for yourself.
The Antidote to Unreliable Willpower
Minimizing distractions and maximizing focus revolutionize your short-term productivity.
But for the long-term, unreliable willpower and sporadic bursts of motivation won’t cut it.
Only a system will — just like custom-tailored suits, you’ll have to design your own system.
Like the tailor groping with his measuring tape, measure your strengths:
- The Time (and Place) Your Productivity Peaks — pre-sunrise at your desk, afternoon in the cafe, or 12 AM on your couch?
- The Style of Working that Works the Best for You — Short alternating bursts of work and leisure. Or long chunks of each?
- Your Total Work Capacity — 3 total hours of ultra-deep focus, 6 hours of moderate focus, or 5 hours of a mix of both?
- Mentally Energizing Physical Activities — does a sub-16-degree celsius cold shower get you buzzing with energy? Or is it a heart-drumming run? Or a muscle-aching workout?
Once the system is tailored, “wear” it around and see how you feel. Too tight around the armpits or baggy at the forearms?
Loose a few stitches and make a few new ones — the best system is one that’s tweaked from time to time.
Final Words
Once you decimate distractions, sharpen your focus, and tie them both into a system, your productivity will be unstoppable.
Being productive will become as natural and reflexive as breathing.
There will be times when your system’s disrupted, your mood’s ruined, or unforeseen distractions come in. Then, the onus is on you to boomerang back on track.
The most productive people don’t stay effective 24/7. They do most of the time — and that’s more than enough.
“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”
— Paul J. Meyer
