A Pattern-Breaking Productivity “Hack” You’ve Likely Never Seen Before
And insights on integrity, inner/outer balance, and “optimal” workout time/routines
This is the 14th edition of the biweekly Manximize-360° newsletter — that shares actionable insights on fitness, productivity, and 360° excellence. Plus, free access to my best articles, book picks, and more.
I first sent this to my 7500+ subscribers a week ago. To get these editions fresh in your inbox, subscribe here.
At A Glance
- Story Spotlight: Of the 500+ Books I’ve Read, only These 5 Reside on My Desk
- Proven Productivity: The Furniture Hack for Pattern-breaking Productivity.
- Excellence Epiphanies: On Integrity, Inner/Outer Balance, & Letting Go(d).
- Fitness Findings: The “most optimal” workout time and routine(s).
- Bonus #1: A breezy magical book you’ll love.
- Bonus #2: A free value-packed resource you’ll find insightful.
Story Spotlight
Inspiration when idle. Hope when low. Clarity when confused — these 5 books provide them all:
Proven Productivity — The Furniture Hack
I could (and probably will) come up with a “better” name for this hack …
But it’s so useful I have to share it with you. Now. Only 3 simple principles:
- Our brains mentally Associate our moods/behaviors/thoughts with objects/places/people.
- Such an Association exists between our work environments and productivity.
- By changing the work environment, we can break old procrastination patterns.
But not everyone can be a digital nomad or cubicle-jumping daily.
That’s where the Furniture Re-Shift comes in — re-ordering the furniture/items in your work environment to break old patterns.
P.S. Credit to Masculine Theory for the seed idea — mine is merely an offshoot of the same.
I recently did this for my workroom — and boy does it all feel new!
Free of the old procrastination Associations, I’m ensuring to set up Deep Work ones for this new setup.
It’s a one-time grunt effort — but massively worth it. The effort is therapeutic too.
Try it out once. You can thank me later.
Excellence Epiphanies
#1 — The Difference Between Honesty and Integrity
A friend of mine innocently dropped an epiphany-inducing bomb on me today:
“Honesty is saying what you (have) do(ne) and Integrity is doing what you say.”
I realized I’m “honest”, brutally so — but not so “integral”. Humbling but I now know what to work on.
Are you Integral or Honest? Both? Neither?
#2 — The Power Of Letting Go(d)
There’s a problem I’ve tried white-knuckling with willpower for years now — only to fail repeatedly.
But for the first time, I’m winning over it — through Surrender…
By Letting Go(d).
It’s a Slogan I’m aiming to lead my life by:
Do Your Best.
Surrender the Rest (to God).
It’s almost like the Serenity Prayer (Worth reciting multiple times a day):
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
#3 — Balancing Your Inner & Outer Worlds/Success
There’s an inescapable truth I’ve realized:
- Material success without inner progress leads to misery and emptiness.
- Inner growth without outer efforts leads to frustration and guilt.
The key is balancing both — at every stage of (inner) life.
As to the question of be(com)ing a philosopher after getting rich or before?
It’s during.
- A(f)t(er) every step of wealth/success, we need to reflect and retreat within.
- After every stage of Inner Progress, we must go/progress out there.
Fitness Findings
Finding #1 — The “Most Optimal” Time To Exercise
Morning. Noon. Evening. Late Night…
Both the research and my personal experience with “optimal” workout times agree with one thing:
When you workout doesn’t matter as long as you workout consistently.
So, there you go.
The time you can be the most consistent with is your “most optimal” workout time.
P.S. There are deeper nuances and if you want to truly “optimize”, I’d suggest reading this article:
Finding #2 — The “Most Optimal” Workout Routine
I wish I could say it’s “whatever routine you can stick to consistently” as the above.
But it’s not that simple here.
You can and should still choose a routine you enjoy and can be consistent with. But it must tick off these boxes:
- Trains every muscle group at least 2x a week: For naturals, it’s crucial to stimulate muscle growth every 36–48 hours for optimal growth.
- Involves some form of progressive overload: Progressive overload is the one necessary factor for continued muscle growth.
- Has optimal weekly Volume for all muscle groups: This is to ensure proportional development of the whole body’s musculature. This is the difference between unaesthetic proportions (left) and aesthetics (right).
Don’t want the headache of research, trial, and error?
Skip it all with the free Aesthetic Vault — I’ve already done the heavy lifting (no pun intended) for you :)
Bonus #1 — A Magical Book You’ll Love Reading
Meaning “It is written” in Arabic, Maktub is a collection of micro-stories on fate, peace, meaning, love, and joy.
It’s an 11-year compilation of Paulo Coelho’s travels, his master’s teachings, and the unforgettable — exchanges, excerpts, and encounters.
Maktub is not only an unforgettable first read — but also a perfect daily re-read.
Bonus #2 — A Free Resource You’ll Find Valuable
When Havard Mela reached out to me suggesting a cross-promotion of each other’s free products, I was skeptical.
But after observing how genuine and value-packed his “freebies” were, I happily agreed.
On that note, I’m sharing his free guide to thrive in the 21st century — the one I believe would benefit you the most…
Because Digital Toxification is the greatest poison of the modern day.
Go free your mind of all those digital distractions and dopamine:
3 More Ways I Can Help and Be of Service to You:
Phew! I loved the effort, value, and time I poured into this edition — I hope you do too.
That said, here are 3 more ways I can help:
- My Self-Proven 1-On-1 Coaching/Consultation: From beating procrastination to finding true love to building your dream body, I can help with everything I’ve already achieved — minus the trial, error, and frustration.
- The Ultimate No-BS Fat-Loss Bundle: The best all-around solution for lasting and enjoyable fat-loss — no need for brutal workouts, extreme dieting, or costly pulls.
- Free Guidance On Twitter/𝕏: Questions, doubts, problems, challenges — whatever it is, DM me on Twitter. I’ll be happy to help you out.
Godspeed and Cheers!,
Neeramitra Reddy
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