2 of 34

Overview

Meta: How productivity works.

Disclaimer
What is Productivity?
Health / Drive / Skill
Work More / Work Smarter
What works for you?
Experiment
Productivity Porn
Just Work

Skills: How you work.

Backchaining
Priorities
Elimination
Maker/Manager Schedules
Planned/Actual Schedules
Procrastination
Executive Functioning Tricks
Self-Tuning
Invest in yourself
Auto-pilot
Reflection

3 of 34

Disclaimer

You can have other goals than being productive

4 of 34

What is Productivity?

Input

energy, time, resources

Output

Progress toward Goals

5 of 34

Productivity of work

is like

Speed of travel

6 of 34

Three Resources to Spend

Health

Drive

Skill

7 of 34

Health is Options

Sleep: Polysomniograph
Fatigue: Health check up
SAD: Light therapy
Mental Health: Therapy
Pain: Exercises
Many more: Research?

Big levers but no simple answers.

Full health allows for full options.

8 of 34

Before we start - 2 minute Exercise on Health

Reflect on any health issue that might be hampering your productivity.
Pick a day this week to spend 5 minutes brainstorming on how to solve it.
Set a reminder in your calendar for that day.

9 of 34

Drive is Energy

Emotion: What excites you?
Attention: What engages you?
Values: What do you fight for?
Beliefs: What do you believe?

Align actions, with emotions, attention, values, and beliefs to unlock maximum energy.

10 of 34

Skill is Navigation

What specific actions to take to reach your goals effectively.

11 of 34

How to Increase Productivity

Work More

Work Smarter

12 of 34

Similarities & Differences,

figure out what works for you

13 of 34

EXPERIMENT

14 of 34

"Productivity porn is anything that after having been consumed

makes you feel like you were productive

when in reality you didn't actually do anything.”

~ Caleb Schoepp

15 of 34

Build a system that works for you.

And then just work.

16 of 34

Top Productivity Techniques

17 of 34

Forward versus backward chaining

You

Goal

18 of 34

Forward versus Backchaining

There are fewer paths leading BACK from your goal

than leading FORWARD from your situation

You

Goal

19 of 34

Priorities

You can only have one priority

If everything is a priority then nothing is a priority

You can rank priorities

20 of 34

5 minute Exercise

List everything you value in life and everything you want to achieve

Rank the list

Cross out everything that is not in the top 5

21 of 34

Eliminations

Everyone has 24 hours. Do you endorse how you spend it?

Social media
Unfinished projects
Unendorsed conflict
Unresolved problems
Cleaning, cooking, maintenance

22 of 34

5 Minute exercise

Where are your big time wins?

Take moment to journal about what activities in your life take more time than you would like. Keep writing for the entire five minutes. It is ok if you are babbling. Just lead your thoughts gently back to writing about what you’d like to spend less time on and why.

23 of 34

Maker versus Manager Schedule

Maker Schedule

6 Hour uninterrupted blocks

Cause

Interruptions destroy flow

Manager schedule

Chain meetings & Interruptions

Cause

Gaps won’t be filled

24 of 34

Planned versus Actual Schedule

Before (planned)

Plan your day/week/project

After (actual)

Log what you actually do

Compare:

Do you spend your time like you plan?

Do activities take longer or shorter than expected?

Where is your biggest time loss?

25 of 34

Procrastination as a signal

Physical: Tired, pain, hunger, light, exercise, temperature, thirst

Psychological: Social needs, correct priorities, mental health

Recovery activity: 5m Work - 10m Walk - 15m Water.

26 of 34

Executive Functioning Tricks

Pomodoros
Accountability Buddies
Body Doubling
Task Decomposition

27 of 34

Invest in what helps you

Headphones to block sound
Sleep mask to help you sleep
A chair you can sit in for long periods of time
Software that truly helps you be more productive
Storage in the cloud
Etc.

Don’t save money on productivity multipliers.

28 of 34

5 Minute Exercise

Think of something you can do to improve your work place
Create a step by step plan to achieve the improvement
Schedule the plan in your calendar

Ps: If you lack inspiration, consider this list:

Better lighting, better chair, better keyboard, sound-blocking headphones, better blinds on the windows, productivity tools you would like to try, snacks or drink station, note taking books, whiteboards, any object in an office supply store.

29 of 34

Self-tuning

Related to procrastination and how many hours you can work
The better you get at taking care of yourself, the more hours you can work.
Paradoxically, this may mean taking more breaks, thinking under the shower, doing stretches during work, working at unusual hours.

30 of 34

Work More: Train Your Autopilot

31 of 34

How to Train Your Autopilot?

Attention

Perseverance

32 of 34

Work Smarter: Regular Reflection & Journalling

10-20% of your time strategizing is common

33 of 34

Summary

Productivity = output/input

Check your health and drive while upgrading skills

You can only work more or smarter

Skills:Backchaining, Priorities, Elimination, Maker/Manager Schedules, Planned/Actual Schedules, Procrastination, Executive Functioning Tricks, Self-Tuning, Invest in yourself, Auto-pilot, Reflection

34 of 34

Exit Survey

Scan the QR Code

for a quick Exit Survey. Thanks!

https://forms.gle/1zw5witRWCoFWpuC7