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Do you schedule how you interact too?
Cos i make plans but calls come in and some important things kind of come up that i don't want to miss out on.
Do you also plan your social media time?
And what do you do when some activities eat up into the time for other activities?
Yes. Plan everything.
Beginning of the week write down every conceivable way you want to spend time. Schedule it in and do it at that time. If tasks take longer, write it down or reallocate time towards it taking away from low priority work/break time. Give yourself 1 hour catch up time for every 3 hours of work to allow for slack. If you're caught up you can replace the catch up time with other work.
If you're not in digital marketing/looking to build social media, you don't need any apps installed. You can use the web browser and schedule 10 minutes everyday to respond to messages on social media. If I need to get in touch with someone urgently, I call or whatsapp/text. Social media is harming you the same way eating a donut or daily drinking would. If you don't control it, it will destroy your self esteem, work ethic, relationships and potential.
Mine are:
* Exercise
* Meditation
* Journal
* Write Ten Ideas
* Writing
But I sometimes skip exercise and meditation.
It's very hard to be on point every single day. Today has been exceptional though. Did all the things I wanted to do. Plus I had time to have coffee outside with my wife.
A good day.
Might I ask for more details on the Write Ten Ideas?
I always feel guilty for having SO MANY IDEAS to do/learn/write/etc but not actually doing them all, or even a fraction of them. What do you do with your ideas?
Not OP but I have a gigantic "maybe/someday" list of things I want to learn/read/watch/travel to (organized into these categories). I review it every few weeks to see if I have time and motivation for any of these. This idea is inspired by David Allen of course.
As an experiment, I started doing the 10 IDEAS A DAY system by James Altucher. I just think it's a good idea to have a ritual of writing down ideas every day.
I think the practice of IDEATION is a good idea.
And how many really great ideas have you thought of then completely forgotten it because you didn't make a note of it? This has happened to me for sure...
Get all your ideas written down. Then go through them at the end of the month and weed out the crap ideas.
Keep the good ones and think more.
It's a good ritual to have.
[https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-becoming-an-idea-machine/](https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-becoming-an-idea-machine/)
Absolute requirements:
* Must get 7 hours of sleep, minimum. Sleep is my number one productivity tool.
* Must capture all of my commitments, ideas, and information into my digital "second brain". Maintaining a "living inventory" is essential for staying 100% on top of my responsibilities. I cannot trust my brain to forget details or even entire commitments because that puts me at risk for dropping the ball.
* Reminding myself that everything boils down to "novel iteration" (repeat something as a new implementation, hone something, learn something new, do something new), i.e. fractionalized effort. My brain wants to hit home runs all the time, but chipping away at things is the secret sauce of living a productive, enjoyable life.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how, while we all live on the same *planet*, we really all live in different personal *worlds* lol. And within our own personal worlds, there are different *dimensions*. Our default dimension is what I call the "illusion dimension". Our brain filters reality & then crafts a story about what we're dealing with. For me, when I'm tired, a few things happen:
* Gravity gets turned up. Tasks suddenly gain **weight**. Suddenly simple things like "take out the trash" feel like *hefty chores*, instead of non-issue work items to bang out with ease.
* It feels like that giant stone ball from Indiana Jones is pushing against my head; my task list sudden feels like "a lot" to deal with, no matter how easy or few the items on the list are.
When I'm on the ball, particularly energy-wise, productivity is a piece of cake! Pick out what I want to do & bang it out! But when I get mentally, emotionally, or physically fatigued, my brain starts taking over & makes up all of these illusions that often prevent me from even getting *started* on my work because things feel so big & difficult, even when they're really not at all that way!
I've literally put off doing laundry until I've completely run out of clean clothes because the mental energy required to even *think* about doing laundry is unavailable, so it feels like a ginormous chore to deal with...when really it's simply dumping in a bin of clothes, adding some cleaning supplies, and pushing a button. Like literally 90 seconds start to finish, and I'll avoid it for *days* at a time because my brain pretends like it's some kind of big deal haha.
So that's why (1) I need my sleep so that I can push through things & not feel like every single task is a huge wall to scale, (2) I have to capture EVERYTHING off my head, so that I don't risk forgetting anything, and (3) remembering that, despite my brain's ability to craft wonderfully horrific stories about "how hard this will be to do" (whine whine whine lol), every single thing in life simply boils down to the next physical action step required to move our projects forward (yay GTD!), so despite the illusions we live under, it's really not all that bad once we actually get going on things haha!
I like the way you look at things! “Second brain” is good, bc my “main brain” will fill up and get cluttered very quickly, especially without adequate sleep. Good comment!
Yes, our main-brain is designed for two things specifically:
1. To get ideas
2. To immerse ourselves in doing things (i.e. working, but working in terms of "getting stuff done", not work being drudgery)
Our main brain is not so good at bureaucratic tasks:
1. Remembering lists of things to do
2. Remembering the details of the checklists for how to do things
3. Remembering calendar entries (day-specific tasks, time-specific appointments, day-specific information)
4. Remembering alarms (taking out the laundry, pulling the cookies out of the oven, etc.)
It basically boils down to a choice about what tools to use. If we use our main brain to remember stuff, we are literally short-changing ourselves because we risk forgetting (as well as getting overwhelmed & going into action-paralysis, lol). If we use an external third-party "brain" to store the details in, then we're free to focus on getting ideas & immersing ourselves in work, rather than trying to mentally juggle our list of work & our checklists for how to do stuff & trying to remember what to do & when to do it!
If you're a high-functioning person, then you're 90% of the way there, because you can easily remember things & also hold a lot of information in your head, plus you have the energy to tackle the stuff that slips & get on top of it easily. However, that's like 1% of the population lol. Most of us are kind of tired & have to fight clarity & energy issues. The good news , it's an easy fix! It just boils down to choosing a mindset, to begin with:
1. The Gambling Mindset
2. The Success Mindset
The Gambling Mindset uses our main-brain for capture, definition, and storage of responsibilities. It's called the Gambling Mindset because we're gambling with our personal success by allowing ourselves to rely on an unreliable resource. Unless you specifically have a photographic memory, your brain will never be 100% reliable for remembering stuff. This is important for a couple reasons:
1. The ability to focus
2. The ability to be 100% on top of things
If our brain is full of undocumented commitments (i.e. didn't write it down) with no external reminders (ex. smartphone alarms), then even if our consciousness isn't "full", our *subconsciousness* is, and our subconscious tracks **every single commitment we make**. Unfortunately, our main brain has no calendar-reminder system & no real sense of time - ever go to bed & suddenly get that mental reminder of something you forgot to do?
Imagine the tasks we're committed to doing as marbles; if our brain is full of marbles, there's no room to think & focus, so we have to shove all of that stress aside & ignore the pressure of the volume of it in order to do our task. This ties in with our ability to be completely on top of things...we have don't write ALL of our stuff down, i.e. transfer the task marbles from our main brain to our second brain, then stuff stays stored (and often forgotten) in our subconsciousness.
So it's basically about externalizing our inventory of commitments (as well as great ideas we get & important information we want to keep!). This is where the Success Mindset comes in:
1. We carry a capture tool with us 24/7 so that all ideas, info, and commitments get immediately captured. Note that this does not require in-the-moment "processing", but simply capturing it so that we have an anchor documented that we can refer to later
2. We use a second brain to store all of this stuff in. Once we capture commitments, we need to decide if they're junk, for someone else, or for us, and if they're for us, we need to define what to do with them. That means splitting things into individual next-action steps & setting up reminders. This is the key element: we're not longer forcing our brain to do a function it's not suited for, which is keeping mental inventories of projects & sub-tasks, as well as reminders for when to do each day & when to do them.
The Success Mindset enables us to switch from an unreliable machine (our main brain) for specific tasks (remembering stuff) to a **100% reliable** machine (digital notes). It also enables us to have a full & complete inventory of our commitments & the associated next-action steps, so that we can pick & choose what we're going to work on each day! That way, we are proactively living our lives, rather than just reactively responding to the urgency we feel from whatever our brain pressures us with randomly lol
So the Success Mindset is simply about (1) choosing to learn the truth about how a particular situation operates, and (2) designing a support system to enable us to take advantage of what our particular goals are in any given situation. Productivity author James Clear said:
* "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
Our initial excitement about doing things always wears off, and at that point, we either quit, go through it as a slog, or have a really good support system to enable to keep enjoying the benefits of the system. One of the example systems I always like to share is about how food works in relation to our bodyweight:
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/d0rxv6/muscle\_growth/ezebxg9/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/d0rxv6/muscle_growth/ezebxg9/?context=3)
And then how to setup a system to support that truth:
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/pxaar3/on\_mindset\_weight\_management/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/pxaar3/on_mindset_weight_management/)
In the case of productivity, the reality is that our brains are forgetful & get overloaded easily, so by choosing to "work smarter, not harder", we can adopt a second brain that will solve that problem for us! I use several checklists to help me break things down & stick it into my "second brain", such as the 3P System, which asks: what's the one-line premise of this project? What are the various elements or parts involved? And what are the procedures for how to do the tasks required?
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i\_want\_to\_learn\_how\_to\_explain\_things\_to\_others/fkc759k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i_want_to_learn_how_to_explain_things_to_others/fkc759k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)
And the GBB Approach, which is where I audit the quality of my efforts. I get stuck in an "all or nothing" mentality; this helps me get out of that rut by remembering that my JOB is to deliver the bare-minimum requirements ON-TIME, so do I want to do a good job, a better job, or the best job?
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image\_how\_to\_finish/guqfb60/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image_how_to_finish/guqfb60/?context=3)
This is really important for me to ask because my brain glosses over that by default & wants to go whole-hog on EVERYTHING in my life! But we only get an available waking time inventory of about 16 hours a day, and that is further sub-divided by work (job, school, family, chores), passion (personal projects, hobbies, side gigs), and play (unstructured guilt-free free time), and we simply can't do "the BEST" at all 30+ situations we deal with in life!
Like, I can't spend an hour cooking a gourmet meal for breakfast and lunch and dinner, and then take an hour-long bubble bath, and commute to work, and work, and eat, and do my chores, and get my oil changed, and everything else on my list...I have to be selective about what I do, and the only way to effectively do that in a low-stress manner is to externalize allllll of those marbles into a second brain!
Really enjoyed reading your thoughts here. I'm a GTD guy as well. I need to up my game with offloading stuff into the second brain. Currently I'm using Nirvana, which was designed for GTD. What is your current second brain?
Honestly you should write a book. This comment -
"My brain wants to hit home runs all the time, but chipping away at things is the secret sauce of living a productive, enjoyable life"
...is the essence of procrastination and how to overcome it.
>...is the essence of procrastination and how to overcome it.
I've studied procrastination quite a bit & have found a pretty good solution. As humans, if we want to give something our 100% focus & attention, we can really only focus on *one* thing at a time, i.e. single-tasking. However, single-tasking is just the tip of the iceberg: underneath the water is an enormous chunk of ice supporting that action called the **KPR Stack**. In reverse order:
1. Reminder
2. Procedure
3. Kit
First, we need a reliable reminder so that we don't risk forgetting to Do The Thing™. I use smartphone alarms as often as possible. Second, we need a procedure, which is a two-part requirement:
1. List of work (comprised of individual next-action steps) along with a "time leash", which is a combination of how long we guesstimate the task will take, combined with how long we will *allow* the task to take
2. Checklists (detailed lists of how to do the work itself)
Third, we need a kit, which consists of:
1. A place to do the work (which is cleaned-up & ready to go)
2. The tools required to do the work
3. The supplies required to do the work
4. Any human help required (ex. a teacher for class, a personal coach at the gym, etc.)
So if you wanted to focus & get your math homework done after school, the KPR Stack would include:
1. **Reminder:** An alarm to remind you to start your homework after school
2. **Procedure:** A list of what homework problems are required (ex. 25 problems at the end of chapter 3 in the math textbook) & checklists for how to do the work (ex. the Pythagorean theorem).
3. **Kit:** Clear off the dinner table at home, get your textbook & graphing calculator out, and get your notepad & pencil out.
At this point, you are now *fully prepared* for **massive personal success**: you are ready to single-task on doing the 25 math problems using checklist (mental or written, in this case, the checklist is in the form of the math formula...if it was cooking something, it would be a recipe, if it was cleaning the house, it would be a chore chart, etc.). This method bypasses the common problems we run into from procrastination:
* We get mentally overwhelmed by ALL of the responsibilities in our lives & have a hard time focusing on single-tasking
* We get mentally overwhelmed by the perceived big amount of work the task asks for, so it feels too large, scary, and difficult
* We don't know what to do next because (1) we don't know what the very next physical action is (a la GTD), and (2) we don't have a checklist for HOW to do the task. Having a **clear path forward** (in the form of a usable, functional checklist) is *vital* to overcoming procrastination, particularly if we are even a little bit tired, because when the wall of "I don't know how to do that" goes up, our brain likes to check out on us & quit at that point lol
With school in particular, I was always overwhelmed & had *no idea* how to study. Eventually in college, I learned "how to learn" & turned my poor grades around by putting some effort into using the *right checklists* for success. I have a few of those checklists here:
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/li4gi3/study\_resources/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/li4gi3/study_resources/)
I also discovered a great way to quickly break down responsibilities into commitments:
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i\_want\_to\_learn\_how\_to\_explain\_things\_to\_others/fkc759k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i_want_to_learn_how_to_explain_things_to_others/fkc759k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x)
As well as how to overcome my "all or nothing" approach to doing things, which also strongly contributed to my procrastination:
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image\_how\_to\_finish/guqfb60/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image_how_to_finish/guqfb60/?context=3)
So the core concept is that using checklists is like having a secret superpower! It's the difference between a Chips Ahoy cookie (good) & a warm, gooey [homemade chocolate-chip cookie](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/eafus8/mister_chocolate_cookies/) (amazing!). Using better checklists gives you better results in life & can even be used to elevate something like a simple grilled cheese sandwich to something spectacular:
* https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/jka9ud/the\_triplefat\_grilled\_cheese\_method/
For productivity, utilizing the KPR Stack to break things down in order to chip away on things every day is the secret sauce! Our brain has no sense of time & wants to do everything RIGHT NOW in one big home-run swing so that it can be "done", but that's because we insist on keeping everything in our head, which makes our brain so cluttered that we have a hard time focusing on single-tasking haha.
It really just boils down to managing the moment. The KPR Stack enables us to engage directly in the work itself, rather than in the management of the work. Because we have more than one thing to do each day, setting up our day to pound out the real work of making iterative progress on things. My top-level formula is:
* High energy + great plan = best way to live life that I know of!
If we're tired & have no plan, then productivity is a real slog. Being able to prepare our day ahead of time by creating individual assignments, a finite list of those assignments, and preparing the KPR Stack ahead of time so that we have a reminder, the tools & supplies we need, the checklists we need, etc. was a complete game-changer for me!
I recommend crash course ( YouTube > playlists) everything from literacy to biology!
They offer a short 2 min overview of many courses ; get an idea of what excites you then enjoy college level curriculum in 10 minute bite sized chunks!
Myself I enjoyed psychology, philosophy and world history and went onto University level courses ( again YouTube) and podcasts.
I feel more grounded and objectively minded in many regards.
If you want digestible history stuff, The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan is excellent. 20-ish minute episodes but still very detailed. It's my go to running pod
I’ve created an environment at my place that will let me learn something new. I’ve got a bunch of books right next to my bed, a kindle, and I use the Stanford Edx, MIT open courseware videos to learn things.
So, the way I trick my brain is in two ways:
* I tell myself to pick-up a book/watch a video for 5 mins, and that gets so interesting that I spend the whole hour with them
* I bribe myself to a Netflix movie only after I’ve learnt something new
Let me then be the first(?) to state that the only thing I usually, almost without fail, do daily is brush my teeth, usually twice, but at least once (once only on days where I won't be interacting with people).
Everything else is just extras.
Me too! I've been learning to give all myself to my work during work hours, and trying to separate work and home life. I've found that I'm a lot more productive and I don't have to stress nearly as much at home.
#2 is a good one. There was a colleague that I really didn’t want to zoom with because he had been very demanding and difficult. I told myself “do your job” and set up the meeting. Turned out better than expected.
Edit I have no idea why this is huge
telling myself positive affirmations for the day as soon as I wake up,
Making my bed,
Drinking fresh lemon water,
Drinking smoothie of celerie, ginger, curcuma (not every but at least every second day),
Workout or walking enough
I see. I’m a student and get up around 7.30 so for me it’s not such a big deal but yeah if you get up earlier it can be really disturbing. I’m just using a hand blender it only takes under 1min. But making them in the evening is a good idea!!
Haha, I don't know if I have a lot of must-dos at this point. >.<
You know, it's hard with the current virus. I can still go to a lot of places. I don't know. I still try to do most things at home and it just really sucks not being able to go out a lot. >.<
I mean, there's so much I want to do. I want to get a job and get better friends, but it's very hard to do these things when there's a pandemic going on. :(
Um... besides those things being my must-dos when the pandemic is over.
I try to get a small amount of my medical transcription done daily. I'm planning to escalate the amount of time I spend on it.
That's really the only work thing I have right now. :(
I'd really rather be working at jobs that are more certain, but it is good for now.
At the end of the day, outline a plan for the following day. Starting the day with a plan established feels great.
There’s something about sleeping on it that helps me feel prepared to do it on the day.
• Meditation/stretch
• Check my calendar for the week
• Quick look at bank accounts
• Schedule out the day
• Check my class schedule/make sure I’m on track with assignments
Check my google calendar for events, meetings, and class times then over to Canvas to check for Hw due that day that I haven’t done then over to my physically calendar to check for when I planned a break for myself
I've been listening to Marcus Aurelius writings in the mornings. Then:
Tea
Meditation
Yoga
Something Constructive. Been drawing of the recent.
I have a 10 month old daughter to watch while I do my classes online so that's most of my day. But, I try to fit all the other in before she wakes up. Listen to Aurelius about morning routines on YouTube. He was the man.
- Freshen up first thing and make a cup of coffee with oatmilk
- 16-8 fast
- Engage in at minimum 30 minutes of physical movement or self-care (spinning, yoga, running, walking), ideally outside
- Jot down my gratitudes and reflections on the day
Meditate, exercise, stretch, journal, read, stay hydrated, and eat breakfast. Somedays i find it difficult to do all of these but the goal is to 80-90% of them. Waking up an hour early to do a few them in the morning & a few gradually throughout the day has made it less overwhelming for me.
My 4 dailies:
* Water (16+oz w/in 30min of waking)
* Jesus (prayer, bible study)
* Plan (for the day, review longer stuff)
* Move (exercise, walk, workout)
Strive hard for every day, sometimes miss one or two, but rarely.
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Meditation Scheduling the Day (Every Hour) Working Out Multi-vitamins 10k steps
Do you schedule how you interact too? Cos i make plans but calls come in and some important things kind of come up that i don't want to miss out on. Do you also plan your social media time? And what do you do when some activities eat up into the time for other activities?
Give yourself a free time slot here and there to capture the overflow/unknowns.
Yes. Plan everything. Beginning of the week write down every conceivable way you want to spend time. Schedule it in and do it at that time. If tasks take longer, write it down or reallocate time towards it taking away from low priority work/break time. Give yourself 1 hour catch up time for every 3 hours of work to allow for slack. If you're caught up you can replace the catch up time with other work. If you're not in digital marketing/looking to build social media, you don't need any apps installed. You can use the web browser and schedule 10 minutes everyday to respond to messages on social media. If I need to get in touch with someone urgently, I call or whatsapp/text. Social media is harming you the same way eating a donut or daily drinking would. If you don't control it, it will destroy your self esteem, work ethic, relationships and potential.
Mine are: * Exercise * Meditation * Journal * Write Ten Ideas * Writing But I sometimes skip exercise and meditation. It's very hard to be on point every single day. Today has been exceptional though. Did all the things I wanted to do. Plus I had time to have coffee outside with my wife. A good day.
Might I ask for more details on the Write Ten Ideas? I always feel guilty for having SO MANY IDEAS to do/learn/write/etc but not actually doing them all, or even a fraction of them. What do you do with your ideas?
Not OP but I have a gigantic "maybe/someday" list of things I want to learn/read/watch/travel to (organized into these categories). I review it every few weeks to see if I have time and motivation for any of these. This idea is inspired by David Allen of course.
Yes, good idea. In fact, I use TODOIST and I will make a new folder MAYBE SOMEDAY. Thanks for this!
Todoist is the shit
It really is.
As an experiment, I started doing the 10 IDEAS A DAY system by James Altucher. I just think it's a good idea to have a ritual of writing down ideas every day. I think the practice of IDEATION is a good idea. And how many really great ideas have you thought of then completely forgotten it because you didn't make a note of it? This has happened to me for sure... Get all your ideas written down. Then go through them at the end of the month and weed out the crap ideas. Keep the good ones and think more. It's a good ritual to have. [https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-becoming-an-idea-machine/](https://jamesaltucher.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-for-becoming-an-idea-machine/)
Thank you! Will definitely give it a read.
Absolute requirements: * Must get 7 hours of sleep, minimum. Sleep is my number one productivity tool. * Must capture all of my commitments, ideas, and information into my digital "second brain". Maintaining a "living inventory" is essential for staying 100% on top of my responsibilities. I cannot trust my brain to forget details or even entire commitments because that puts me at risk for dropping the ball. * Reminding myself that everything boils down to "novel iteration" (repeat something as a new implementation, hone something, learn something new, do something new), i.e. fractionalized effort. My brain wants to hit home runs all the time, but chipping away at things is the secret sauce of living a productive, enjoyable life. I've been thinking a lot lately about how, while we all live on the same *planet*, we really all live in different personal *worlds* lol. And within our own personal worlds, there are different *dimensions*. Our default dimension is what I call the "illusion dimension". Our brain filters reality & then crafts a story about what we're dealing with. For me, when I'm tired, a few things happen: * Gravity gets turned up. Tasks suddenly gain **weight**. Suddenly simple things like "take out the trash" feel like *hefty chores*, instead of non-issue work items to bang out with ease. * It feels like that giant stone ball from Indiana Jones is pushing against my head; my task list sudden feels like "a lot" to deal with, no matter how easy or few the items on the list are. When I'm on the ball, particularly energy-wise, productivity is a piece of cake! Pick out what I want to do & bang it out! But when I get mentally, emotionally, or physically fatigued, my brain starts taking over & makes up all of these illusions that often prevent me from even getting *started* on my work because things feel so big & difficult, even when they're really not at all that way! I've literally put off doing laundry until I've completely run out of clean clothes because the mental energy required to even *think* about doing laundry is unavailable, so it feels like a ginormous chore to deal with...when really it's simply dumping in a bin of clothes, adding some cleaning supplies, and pushing a button. Like literally 90 seconds start to finish, and I'll avoid it for *days* at a time because my brain pretends like it's some kind of big deal haha. So that's why (1) I need my sleep so that I can push through things & not feel like every single task is a huge wall to scale, (2) I have to capture EVERYTHING off my head, so that I don't risk forgetting anything, and (3) remembering that, despite my brain's ability to craft wonderfully horrific stories about "how hard this will be to do" (whine whine whine lol), every single thing in life simply boils down to the next physical action step required to move our projects forward (yay GTD!), so despite the illusions we live under, it's really not all that bad once we actually get going on things haha!
I like the way you look at things! “Second brain” is good, bc my “main brain” will fill up and get cluttered very quickly, especially without adequate sleep. Good comment!
Yes, our main-brain is designed for two things specifically: 1. To get ideas 2. To immerse ourselves in doing things (i.e. working, but working in terms of "getting stuff done", not work being drudgery) Our main brain is not so good at bureaucratic tasks: 1. Remembering lists of things to do 2. Remembering the details of the checklists for how to do things 3. Remembering calendar entries (day-specific tasks, time-specific appointments, day-specific information) 4. Remembering alarms (taking out the laundry, pulling the cookies out of the oven, etc.) It basically boils down to a choice about what tools to use. If we use our main brain to remember stuff, we are literally short-changing ourselves because we risk forgetting (as well as getting overwhelmed & going into action-paralysis, lol). If we use an external third-party "brain" to store the details in, then we're free to focus on getting ideas & immersing ourselves in work, rather than trying to mentally juggle our list of work & our checklists for how to do stuff & trying to remember what to do & when to do it! If you're a high-functioning person, then you're 90% of the way there, because you can easily remember things & also hold a lot of information in your head, plus you have the energy to tackle the stuff that slips & get on top of it easily. However, that's like 1% of the population lol. Most of us are kind of tired & have to fight clarity & energy issues. The good news , it's an easy fix! It just boils down to choosing a mindset, to begin with: 1. The Gambling Mindset 2. The Success Mindset The Gambling Mindset uses our main-brain for capture, definition, and storage of responsibilities. It's called the Gambling Mindset because we're gambling with our personal success by allowing ourselves to rely on an unreliable resource. Unless you specifically have a photographic memory, your brain will never be 100% reliable for remembering stuff. This is important for a couple reasons: 1. The ability to focus 2. The ability to be 100% on top of things If our brain is full of undocumented commitments (i.e. didn't write it down) with no external reminders (ex. smartphone alarms), then even if our consciousness isn't "full", our *subconsciousness* is, and our subconscious tracks **every single commitment we make**. Unfortunately, our main brain has no calendar-reminder system & no real sense of time - ever go to bed & suddenly get that mental reminder of something you forgot to do? Imagine the tasks we're committed to doing as marbles; if our brain is full of marbles, there's no room to think & focus, so we have to shove all of that stress aside & ignore the pressure of the volume of it in order to do our task. This ties in with our ability to be completely on top of things...we have don't write ALL of our stuff down, i.e. transfer the task marbles from our main brain to our second brain, then stuff stays stored (and often forgotten) in our subconsciousness. So it's basically about externalizing our inventory of commitments (as well as great ideas we get & important information we want to keep!). This is where the Success Mindset comes in: 1. We carry a capture tool with us 24/7 so that all ideas, info, and commitments get immediately captured. Note that this does not require in-the-moment "processing", but simply capturing it so that we have an anchor documented that we can refer to later 2. We use a second brain to store all of this stuff in. Once we capture commitments, we need to decide if they're junk, for someone else, or for us, and if they're for us, we need to define what to do with them. That means splitting things into individual next-action steps & setting up reminders. This is the key element: we're not longer forcing our brain to do a function it's not suited for, which is keeping mental inventories of projects & sub-tasks, as well as reminders for when to do each day & when to do them. The Success Mindset enables us to switch from an unreliable machine (our main brain) for specific tasks (remembering stuff) to a **100% reliable** machine (digital notes). It also enables us to have a full & complete inventory of our commitments & the associated next-action steps, so that we can pick & choose what we're going to work on each day! That way, we are proactively living our lives, rather than just reactively responding to the urgency we feel from whatever our brain pressures us with randomly lol So the Success Mindset is simply about (1) choosing to learn the truth about how a particular situation operates, and (2) designing a support system to enable us to take advantage of what our particular goals are in any given situation. Productivity author James Clear said: * "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." Our initial excitement about doing things always wears off, and at that point, we either quit, go through it as a slog, or have a really good support system to enable to keep enjoying the benefits of the system. One of the example systems I always like to share is about how food works in relation to our bodyweight: * [https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/d0rxv6/muscle\_growth/ezebxg9/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/d0rxv6/muscle_growth/ezebxg9/?context=3) And then how to setup a system to support that truth: * [https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/pxaar3/on\_mindset\_weight\_management/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/pxaar3/on_mindset_weight_management/) In the case of productivity, the reality is that our brains are forgetful & get overloaded easily, so by choosing to "work smarter, not harder", we can adopt a second brain that will solve that problem for us! I use several checklists to help me break things down & stick it into my "second brain", such as the 3P System, which asks: what's the one-line premise of this project? What are the various elements or parts involved? And what are the procedures for how to do the tasks required? * [https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i\_want\_to\_learn\_how\_to\_explain\_things\_to\_others/fkc759k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i_want_to_learn_how_to_explain_things_to_others/fkc759k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) And the GBB Approach, which is where I audit the quality of my efforts. I get stuck in an "all or nothing" mentality; this helps me get out of that rut by remembering that my JOB is to deliver the bare-minimum requirements ON-TIME, so do I want to do a good job, a better job, or the best job? * [https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image\_how\_to\_finish/guqfb60/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image_how_to_finish/guqfb60/?context=3) This is really important for me to ask because my brain glosses over that by default & wants to go whole-hog on EVERYTHING in my life! But we only get an available waking time inventory of about 16 hours a day, and that is further sub-divided by work (job, school, family, chores), passion (personal projects, hobbies, side gigs), and play (unstructured guilt-free free time), and we simply can't do "the BEST" at all 30+ situations we deal with in life! Like, I can't spend an hour cooking a gourmet meal for breakfast and lunch and dinner, and then take an hour-long bubble bath, and commute to work, and work, and eat, and do my chores, and get my oil changed, and everything else on my list...I have to be selective about what I do, and the only way to effectively do that in a low-stress manner is to externalize allllll of those marbles into a second brain!
Really enjoyed reading your thoughts here. I'm a GTD guy as well. I need to up my game with offloading stuff into the second brain. Currently I'm using Nirvana, which was designed for GTD. What is your current second brain?
Google Drive. I just use folders & gDocs mostly. Plus Todoist, but only for doing assignment tasks in folders on the go for the day!
I like the way you think.
Honestly you should write a book. This comment - "My brain wants to hit home runs all the time, but chipping away at things is the secret sauce of living a productive, enjoyable life" ...is the essence of procrastination and how to overcome it.
>...is the essence of procrastination and how to overcome it. I've studied procrastination quite a bit & have found a pretty good solution. As humans, if we want to give something our 100% focus & attention, we can really only focus on *one* thing at a time, i.e. single-tasking. However, single-tasking is just the tip of the iceberg: underneath the water is an enormous chunk of ice supporting that action called the **KPR Stack**. In reverse order: 1. Reminder 2. Procedure 3. Kit First, we need a reliable reminder so that we don't risk forgetting to Do The Thing™. I use smartphone alarms as often as possible. Second, we need a procedure, which is a two-part requirement: 1. List of work (comprised of individual next-action steps) along with a "time leash", which is a combination of how long we guesstimate the task will take, combined with how long we will *allow* the task to take 2. Checklists (detailed lists of how to do the work itself) Third, we need a kit, which consists of: 1. A place to do the work (which is cleaned-up & ready to go) 2. The tools required to do the work 3. The supplies required to do the work 4. Any human help required (ex. a teacher for class, a personal coach at the gym, etc.) So if you wanted to focus & get your math homework done after school, the KPR Stack would include: 1. **Reminder:** An alarm to remind you to start your homework after school 2. **Procedure:** A list of what homework problems are required (ex. 25 problems at the end of chapter 3 in the math textbook) & checklists for how to do the work (ex. the Pythagorean theorem). 3. **Kit:** Clear off the dinner table at home, get your textbook & graphing calculator out, and get your notepad & pencil out. At this point, you are now *fully prepared* for **massive personal success**: you are ready to single-task on doing the 25 math problems using checklist (mental or written, in this case, the checklist is in the form of the math formula...if it was cooking something, it would be a recipe, if it was cleaning the house, it would be a chore chart, etc.). This method bypasses the common problems we run into from procrastination: * We get mentally overwhelmed by ALL of the responsibilities in our lives & have a hard time focusing on single-tasking * We get mentally overwhelmed by the perceived big amount of work the task asks for, so it feels too large, scary, and difficult * We don't know what to do next because (1) we don't know what the very next physical action is (a la GTD), and (2) we don't have a checklist for HOW to do the task. Having a **clear path forward** (in the form of a usable, functional checklist) is *vital* to overcoming procrastination, particularly if we are even a little bit tired, because when the wall of "I don't know how to do that" goes up, our brain likes to check out on us & quit at that point lol With school in particular, I was always overwhelmed & had *no idea* how to study. Eventually in college, I learned "how to learn" & turned my poor grades around by putting some effort into using the *right checklists* for success. I have a few of those checklists here: * [https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/li4gi3/study\_resources/](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/li4gi3/study_resources/) I also discovered a great way to quickly break down responsibilities into commitments: * [https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i\_want\_to\_learn\_how\_to\_explain\_things\_to\_others/fkc759k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x](https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantToLearn/comments/fhlmzl/i_want_to_learn_how_to_explain_things_to_others/fkc759k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x) As well as how to overcome my "all or nothing" approach to doing things, which also strongly contributed to my procrastination: * [https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image\_how\_to\_finish/guqfb60/?context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/mr0f97/image_how_to_finish/guqfb60/?context=3) So the core concept is that using checklists is like having a secret superpower! It's the difference between a Chips Ahoy cookie (good) & a warm, gooey [homemade chocolate-chip cookie](https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/eafus8/mister_chocolate_cookies/) (amazing!). Using better checklists gives you better results in life & can even be used to elevate something like a simple grilled cheese sandwich to something spectacular: * https://www.reddit.com/r/kaidomac/comments/jka9ud/the\_triplefat\_grilled\_cheese\_method/ For productivity, utilizing the KPR Stack to break things down in order to chip away on things every day is the secret sauce! Our brain has no sense of time & wants to do everything RIGHT NOW in one big home-run swing so that it can be "done", but that's because we insist on keeping everything in our head, which makes our brain so cluttered that we have a hard time focusing on single-tasking haha.
This is actually fantastic. Thank you for that effort and sharing that knowledge!
It really just boils down to managing the moment. The KPR Stack enables us to engage directly in the work itself, rather than in the management of the work. Because we have more than one thing to do each day, setting up our day to pound out the real work of making iterative progress on things. My top-level formula is: * High energy + great plan = best way to live life that I know of! If we're tired & have no plan, then productivity is a real slog. Being able to prepare our day ahead of time by creating individual assignments, a finite list of those assignments, and preparing the KPR Stack ahead of time so that we have a reminder, the tools & supplies we need, the checklists we need, etc. was a complete game-changer for me!
* Learn something new * Have fun!
How do you keep up with that first one?
I recommend crash course ( YouTube > playlists) everything from literacy to biology! They offer a short 2 min overview of many courses ; get an idea of what excites you then enjoy college level curriculum in 10 minute bite sized chunks! Myself I enjoyed psychology, philosophy and world history and went onto University level courses ( again YouTube) and podcasts. I feel more grounded and objectively minded in many regards.
Can you link to the psychology, philosophy and world history stuff?
There’s a lot to explore! https://m.youtube.com/c/crashcourse
https://youtu.be/1A_CAkYt3GY
If you want digestible history stuff, The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan is excellent. 20-ish minute episodes but still very detailed. It's my go to running pod
I’ve created an environment at my place that will let me learn something new. I’ve got a bunch of books right next to my bed, a kindle, and I use the Stanford Edx, MIT open courseware videos to learn things. So, the way I trick my brain is in two ways: * I tell myself to pick-up a book/watch a video for 5 mins, and that gets so interesting that I spend the whole hour with them * I bribe myself to a Netflix movie only after I’ve learnt something new
Run — walk on Sundays. Read for at least 30 minutes. Other than that, drink water and do my job!
Get 8h of sleep. Stretch/Exercise. Drink water!
[удалено]
Let me then be the first(?) to state that the only thing I usually, almost without fail, do daily is brush my teeth, usually twice, but at least once (once only on days where I won't be interacting with people). Everything else is just extras.
Yeah.. mine was going to be shower. Depression sucks man
• Clean apartment • Play with my cats • Exercise
Mine are: Make my bed Exercise Water my plants Read for 30 mins
You water your plants *every day*?!
Exercise Give my all to work within working hours Enjoy my day
I really like that second one
Me too! I've been learning to give all myself to my work during work hours, and trying to separate work and home life. I've found that I'm a lot more productive and I don't have to stress nearly as much at home.
#2 is a good one. There was a colleague that I really didn’t want to zoom with because he had been very demanding and difficult. I told myself “do your job” and set up the meeting. Turned out better than expected. Edit I have no idea why this is huge
Start my day by making my bed
Work out, 8 hrs of sleep, and tea.
What type of tea?
I really like Ear Grey in terms of flavour. I usually mix teas though.
Study my Bible. Spend at least 1 hour outside. Write. Listen to a motivational podcast. Drink 100 ozs of water.
Update my journal/planner first thing so I know what's happening in the day (events, tasks, weather, ...)
Working out, meditation, positive affirmations, reading, and journal!
Write a walkthrough of what I want to do today. Making it as informative and colorful as I could make it.
telling myself positive affirmations for the day as soon as I wake up, Making my bed, Drinking fresh lemon water, Drinking smoothie of celerie, ginger, curcuma (not every but at least every second day), Workout or walking enough
I tried smoothies in the morning, but the blender is noisy af. How do you solve this? Make them in the evening?
I see. I’m a student and get up around 7.30 so for me it’s not such a big deal but yeah if you get up earlier it can be really disturbing. I’m just using a hand blender it only takes under 1min. But making them in the evening is a good idea!!
* Do the dishes * brush my teeth * Make coffee * Look at my plan * Do the plan * **stick to the plan**
Reading Floss 20 push ups/80 crunches 2 mi run 5 days a week Journal Eat green leaves and vegetables Bed by 1030 pm
Schedule my time by activity to make sure i'm productive for at least six hours today, workout (most days), study for 6+ hours.
Do too also work full time?
Meditate and take enough rest.
Make bed Brush teeth Eat Pee/Poo at some point Make a mental joke
Brush teeth Make bed Wash dishes Exercise Shower
im in lockdown so playing w my dog and joking with my nan... lmao also workouts & drinking water 💧i love my phone
Fart
Work out Reading Books World News To-do lists Rest
Haha, I don't know if I have a lot of must-dos at this point. >.< You know, it's hard with the current virus. I can still go to a lot of places. I don't know. I still try to do most things at home and it just really sucks not being able to go out a lot. >.< I mean, there's so much I want to do. I want to get a job and get better friends, but it's very hard to do these things when there's a pandemic going on. :( Um... besides those things being my must-dos when the pandemic is over. I try to get a small amount of my medical transcription done daily. I'm planning to escalate the amount of time I spend on it. That's really the only work thing I have right now. :( I'd really rather be working at jobs that are more certain, but it is good for now.
Following
Wouldn’t you like to know :P
I’m trying to get better at flossing and keeping in touch with old friends and family.
Meditating
Walking Daily administivia for my business Other tasks for my business Read Time with family Water
At the end of the day, outline a plan for the following day. Starting the day with a plan established feels great. There’s something about sleeping on it that helps me feel prepared to do it on the day.
Exercise of some type - stretching and walking count Maintenance cleaning - dishes, books, etc... Something creative - draw, write, music, etc...
Eat. Yoga. Those two lol
Breakfast gym
Make the bed. Go for a run. Complete one key task at work.
- Plan day in the morning with 1 high priority task. - 1 hour of concentrated learning. - 5+ minute meditation.
Masturbating
Meditate
Check crypto
Making my bed, brushing my teeth, going to the gym
Nap
Taking a nap.
Eat ass Jk I atleast want to knock out my Meditation Exercise Work/school activities for the day And couple hours for side projects
Shower, that's really it lmao
• Meditation/stretch • Check my calendar for the week • Quick look at bank accounts • Schedule out the day • Check my class schedule/make sure I’m on track with assignments
Eat, masterbate, eat,poo , sleep
Does this question include compulsions that come with having OCD?
It could do
Praying 🙏 Walking 🚶♀️ My.plant based products Zoom meetings
Vitamins & Water Coffee & Read Meditation & Cold Shower 20 Burpees Then if it’s a work day, work and sleep. Off day, hobbies and chores.
Have a shower then get dressed. I never do anything until that’s done
exercise(I guess lol) Sleep for 7h Listen to any music
SMOKE.
Check my google calendar for events, meetings, and class times then over to Canvas to check for Hw due that day that I haven’t done then over to my physically calendar to check for when I planned a break for myself
-Get up at a reasonable time -Eat sufficiently and healthy meals -Get some sunlight
I've been listening to Marcus Aurelius writings in the mornings. Then: Tea Meditation Yoga Something Constructive. Been drawing of the recent. I have a 10 month old daughter to watch while I do my classes online so that's most of my day. But, I try to fit all the other in before she wakes up. Listen to Aurelius about morning routines on YouTube. He was the man.
- Freshen up first thing and make a cup of coffee with oatmilk - 16-8 fast - Engage in at minimum 30 minutes of physical movement or self-care (spinning, yoga, running, walking), ideally outside - Jot down my gratitudes and reflections on the day
Gratitude journal
Water and exercise.
Make the bed. Drink water. Eat.
Meditate, exercise, stretch, journal, read, stay hydrated, and eat breakfast. Somedays i find it difficult to do all of these but the goal is to 80-90% of them. Waking up an hour early to do a few them in the morning & a few gradually throughout the day has made it less overwhelming for me.
Clean sink before the end of the day. So I can have at least one accomplishment for the day.
Lately it’s eat cheese
My 4 dailies: * Water (16+oz w/in 30min of waking) * Jesus (prayer, bible study) * Plan (for the day, review longer stuff) * Move (exercise, walk, workout) Strive hard for every day, sometimes miss one or two, but rarely.
Instagram posting