The Most Important Productivity Hack Is To Just Do It
All your productivity hacks and apps will fail unless you do the work.
There is no other way.
The hacks and apps can remind you about your tasks and give you a system to rely upon but at the end of the day you have to do it.
And if you are afraid of work then these apps and hacks are useless.
What I have observed is that the results of majority of events depend on the Pareto Principle: 80% of results are obtained from 20% of things.
Doing the work gives you 80% of the results. Whereas the apps and hacks give only 20% of the results. They are feelgood stuff which don’t actually move the needle and only give you the impression of being productive.
Something similar is with the habit of waking up early. Yes, when you wake up early, you have extra time in the morning. But you gotta utilise that time.
I also think our lives are overfilled with productivity apps, tips, and tricks.
And we are so much hellbent to learn and implement these tips and tricks that we end up overcomplicating productivity. Because this over information makes us subside the most important part of being productive: the work.
This brings me to the Eisenhower Matrix.
This matrix says to take care of the urgent and important.
But you should also do the not urgent and important work because it not only becomes urgent and important after some time, but it also frees your mind.
Let me give you an example.
Suppose you get a job and the company wants to verify your documents. And you need to submit the documents within a month.
It’s a small (but important) task of sending the documents and you have an entire month to do it.
But if you procrastinate to send the documents, there is a little worry at the back of your mind. It will keep troubling you until you send the documents. And the moment you do it (which hardly takes 5 minutes,) your mind is free and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from your shoulders.
That’s why you must finish the not urgent but important task ASAP.
I have tried all hacks and apps like to-do lists, waking up in the morning, time blockers, planning the day the night before, etc.
They are all good, no doubt. They helped me maintain a routine and a path throughout the day. But I had to get my bum up from my bed and do the work.
Therefore, I reached the conclusion that my favourite productivity tools are a pen and a paper.
Yes.
I use a pen and paper to write down if I have to remember something. That’s all. But what I focus on is creating an undistracted environment in the morning and doing the task.
Thank you,
Joydeep Biswas
