Declutter 101
This is not a topic we come across very often, but it's important because we all need a purpose that acts as a driving force towards whatever we want to achieve. If you are in search of that motive, do keep reading.
We are surrounded by a multitude of information. This might turn out to be the main factor in how we perceive things. This also contributes to broadening our spectrum of knowledge.
Here is a list of topics that revolve around workflow and productivity that could help you out.
Prioritise and Decongest
The first step would be to decongest yourself. Prioritise what is important and what is not. Make a list of your to-do work in the ascending order of priority and work up a schedule accordingly (very helpful, speaking from experience).
Selection
The world as we know it is filled with information, some useless, some extremely useful but missable, so it is vital that you choose how you approach a particular topic of interest.
In this process of selection, you might experience something called imposter syndrome. During this, it is very rare that you come up with something original in your chosen field of action. While researching on a topic, you will surely come across things that are part of your work but don’t understand a word of. We normally leave that for later, calling ourselves “saturated”, which is a completely dependable excuse, but this will cause repercussions in later stages. So, it is always advisable to clear up things as you go along.
Existential Crisis
Then there's something called existential crisis, a term you may not have heard of, but would have definitely gone through at some point in life. It basically says that if you are in an environment that doesn’t feel like your niche, there are high chances that you might end up rethinking your journey, and your purpose, and ultimately your existence. This domino effect would eventually eat you from the inside unless you move forward. If you are at this stage of life, before giving up, carefully introspect and understand where this thought is coming from.
Overthinking
Never overthink about overthinking, it’s an infinite loop and very difficult to get out of. Stay in the present, do your work and never think about the result. These are cliche sentences, but they are cliche for a reason, they are important and powerful.
Mentorship
The next step is to get a mentor. Someone you trust with your heart, a person who will hear you and guide you in the right direction. This is very important as this is a shortcut to the selection phase. If you know the right path, all you have to do is strive forward in that direction.
Stress
Stressing yourself out is ultimately a gamechanger and it slowly kills you. For example, stressing yourself out for reasons unknown, “where will I finally end up, what will happen if I invest too much time on this, how will I complete the rest, there is so much left” is unnecessary. Thinking about it won’t bring out any result. Doing something about it surely will and that is a stress-free process. Stick to that.
In the end, never look back and strive forward. Let me give you an example here: Apoorva Mehta is an entrepreneur who started a company called Instacart, which is currently evaluated at $3.5 billion. Sounds crazy right?
But what we don’t focus on is the fact that he has had 20 failed startups before this. So, never give up. If you get rejected, it is because something much better awaits you. If he had given up when failed, we might not even know his name.
Stress Reduction
Stress is a necessary evil. These days, people live in a constant state of competition. At this feverish pace, stress is a natural response to the information being received by the body, considering it as potentially dangerous or problematic.
Theoretically, this is a useful reaction, as it helps us survive in hostile surroundings. Over the course of our evolution, we have used this response to deal with difficult situations and to flee from predators.
That was the necessary part, now the evil part. Modern society works most of the time and is alert to any and all threats. The brain has begun to see the ping of a cell phone or an email notification like it did the threat of a predator.
One way of avoiding this kind of stress is to avoid multitasking. This might sound weird, but multitasking actually creates diversions in our brain and this leads to incompleteness in whatever we are doing. Concentrating on one work at a time can be more efficient and will lead to much better results.
Ikigai
Ever heard about the Ikigai? It basically means, well, a lot of things. Comprehend it this way: our Ikigai is the reason we get up in the morning. Ikigai is the amalgamation of our mission, passion, profession and vocation. It’s complex yet simple to understand, and once you understand your Ikigai, you will strive to achieve it and this flame in you will lead you to eternal youth. Ikigai can be split into two words, which say “life” and “to be worthwhile”, pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it? The picture below will help you understand the concept of Ikigai better.
To sum it up, challenge yourself but don’t overwork. Treat yourself after a good day’s work and keep changing plans for the day to make life dynamic instead of horrendously monotonous which is almost equivalent to getting no work done.
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