What I’ve learnt about Productivity (The Productivity series — Part 1)
Vision is not enough; it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.
— Václav Havel…
I finally finished my first set of essays and published them on Medium last week. I had only been working on it for a couple of weeks, but this project was years in the making.
As outlined in my previous articles, I’m prone to procrastination. I would say it’s my default state of rest. I need to do many things to get moving and progress on various fronts.
I may be great at coming up with new ideas and brainstorming. But I have always had an inherent difficulty in closing the loop. Changing this mind-state of mine from ‘thought’ to ‘action’ is something I’ve worked on the hardest in my life. This would not have been possible without the global pandemic-induced lockdown.
It’s easy to rush from crisis to crisis, sharing life responsibilities with my partner, juggling two kids, and doing home chores. Now, combine that with running a remote product team forced to work in a distributed environment for the first time.
When you’re running around putting out fires, it’s challenging to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. While there might be some growth happening with crisis management, that isn’t something to derive personal happiness from.
Backed by science
I realised that productivity is my secret mood-maker. Reading about, tracking, modifying, and optimising my productivity is something that drives me. Nothing will get me moving like seeing tasks outlined in my calendar, unchecked to-dos in my lists or seeing time spent on mindless news consumption in my time tracker.
All these different avenues have been feeding my brain hits of dopamine, a neurotransmitter chemical in the brain, often called the motivation molecule.
Dopamine provides the drive and focus, nudging us into actually doing things. Low levels of dopamine result in procrastination and lack of enthusiasm. When our brain gets accustomed to higher dopamine release levels, we make the higher effort needed to chase our dreams. This usually ends up in a bigger payoff down the road.
It helps to break down big ideas into smaller actionable items. Each completion milestone releases a tiny bit of dopamine, keeping motivation high. Plus, it’s immediately gratifying to check stuff off a to-do list. The feeling of doing and done is so good.
My advice
There are many articles on productivity out there — and I mean a lot. I can’t claim to have read each one of them. But I have done my fair share of reading and experimenting over the past few months.
In this series of posts, I will be breaking down the major concepts, explaining what worked for me and how you can become productive.
Before going further — a word of caution. We must remind ourselves not to fall into the pit of what is now referred to with disdain as Productivity Porn. This means you chase productivity for the sake of productivity. As Sam Altman said it best, “It doesn’t matter what system you use or if you squeeze out every second if you’re working on the wrong thing.”
You need to make Productivity work for you, not the other way around. These tips should make your life easier, yes. But think first about what you want to work on rather than how to do it faster.
Remember that reaching the wrong place faster isn’t efficient.
