The Uncommon Blueprint To Living An Incredibly Productive Life

I am not an advocate of the 8 to 5 “work hours”. In fact, I don’t think anyone is.

It is because it is. But because of it, we forget what work means.

Having to work a set number of hours means we have to “work” those hours regardless of whether work exists.

Working longer makes us feel like we’ve achieved.

Makes us feel like we have conquered.

Makes us feel victorious.

The greater the force we apply to getting through our work, the greater our self-indicator of achievement lights up.

However, extended hours of work should rarely be synonymous with either of those feelings. Because if you are deep in the bushes of a jungle, you can no longer see the jungle, or that where you intended on going.

If the outcome we are trying to achieve is useful productive work, then it must be a tight balance between working and not working.

Sounds counterintuitive. But…

Quality work requires a counterbalance of no work.

The no work is essential to maintain perspective.

You cross a point without the no work balancer that you now start focusing on useless irrelevant garbage. Because you’ve lost perspective. You have spent too long in the jungle, and now you see the world through your jungle glasses.

For some, this balancer will need to be a great deal heavier than others.

I’m not trying to be cryptic. So, in very simple terms…

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” —Abraham Lincoln

Productivity comes from having that tree marked up precisely where you want to cut it. And having your axe diamond-like sharp. So the strike and effort is incredibly focused for a short, but compressed, period of time.

Contrastingly, gnawing away at it with a blunt knife from various directions will make you sweat, it’ll make you bleed, it’ll make you exert a great deal of energy. You’ll feel like you moved a mountain. Your self-achievement indicator will be off the charts.

But in fact, you got lost in the jungle.

I‘m not undermining the intuition you’d require through years of experience to know which spot on the tree to mark, what method of sharpening would do the trick. But, you’ll see, these skills are honed in that space of no work. Not during work.

We expect a complex solution must be a better solution. We believe the level of effort somehow directly correlates to the value of the solution.

But. If only you took 5. Stepped back. Did no work. Saw the situation without being in the situation. And let go of the sustained force you were applying.

You may realise that taking 5 is equally as valuable as doing the work.

It comes as no surprise to me if you:

• Work because you feel guilty for not working.
• Work because it is a form of escapism from dealing with the other important shit in life.
• Work because you want to be incredibly rich, famous, or another vanity metric.
• Work because you think without doing 8 to 5 you will have no other way of getting paid.

In all these situations, the counterbalance wasn’t there.

The simple problem is that it is easy to lose perspective. It is easy to believe what everyone else believes. Unbalanced hours with high level of pressure, equals better.

If the required amount of no work was also present, you would see clearly when and how much work was really necessary.

You are not alone. I am no better. I often do not do as I preach. So this post may be self-therapy, more than anything else.

I sit in front of my screen and hours later I walk away feeling like I have been absorbed by a vortex of some kind. I started off here, wanted to go there, but am no longer sure where I have ended up. But somehow a number of hours have passed by. I am drained of energy, self loathing, and my mental faculties aren’t performing as well.

This is why I, and many others, found #FlightTime effective. It has been one post that has resonated deeply, it struck a nerve. Because, like me, many others have a tendency to lose the balance and need a process to rely on. To make it automatic.

If you haven’t read it, it is here.

We need a practical technique that forces us to be productive in today’s noisy world. We equally need one that forces us to stop and see the work.

Similarly with the Pomodoro technique. 25 mins on (work), 5 off (no work).

The 5 off is equally as important as the 25 on.

Until you have the balance. Until you step out and take 5 you won’t know whether you’re pulling the punches or getting beaten up.

Stepping out will let you step back in that much stronger.

8 to 5 is built to only step in. It’s hard to step out when the structure forces you not to.

And if you’re not constricted by 8 to 5, don’t create it for yourself.