When you write stuff like this you run the risk of sounding like an authority, but i really want to collect good ideas on how you squeeze more out of your day.
On motivation & productivity
On substances: Substances feed creativity and increase productivity, but if not consumed in the right way they will simply be used to maintain your status quo. Try to use a substance to take you further than you otherwise could journey without it. Using caffeine to wake up will simply lead to the accomplishment of waking up. Now, if this allows you to wake up earlier than it is worth the endeavor, but if it allows you simply wake up and go to work, etc, than your relying on a substance to reach bar that is set too low. Nicotine is an awesome substance of focus when writing, reading and working, but you should need increased focus after your normal focus has been saturated. You shouldn’t need nicotine simply to develop enough focus to start working. Again, the bar is too low.
Avoiding unproductive conversation
Individuals are never too tired to talk about themselves. There need only be a slight chance of receiving gratification from our problems or accomplishments in order to keep us talking. You can play this game of gratification-send-and-receive with just about anyone at anytime, but is the game itself productive? Surely we all need a daily dose of “look at me”, but how much productivity are we willing to give up in return? My suggestion is to ration this need for self indulgence and actually start producing
When cornered in conversation:
You will find yourself conversing with people that you otherwise wouldn’t converse with if you had the choice. This may be coworkers, family, friends, etc. If you find yourself cornered, than find a way to control the conversation. I have certain go-to topics for people i must chat with. I use these topics to at least make the conversation somewhat productive.
Aggregates of Time
There are so many portions of your day where you can find 60 seconds to escape. For this reason, I’m never without a book, paper and pen. Aggregate these short blocks of productivity over a year and you’ll see the advantages.
Sleep:
I nap and sleep at times i’m the most distracted or the most unproductive. If you enjoy sleeping 8-12 hours a day than you must begin to think of these extra hours as a hobby. In essence, you have a hobby of oversleeping that you routinely engage in for 2-4 hours everyday. Your good at it!
Got any to add?
Read until you have something to write...Write until you have nothing to write...when you have nothing to write, read...read until you have something to write...Jeremiah
There is such a thing as working too hard, and trying to be too 'productive'. In the end, you may find yourself getting less done, whilst working harder than ever before.
Perhaps those short unproductive minutes (aggregates of time) don't need to be used for sometime 'productive'. You may be better just staring blankly out the window. Sleep is vitally important, even naps can be good. By taking time to participate in idle conversation, you may actually find that you make more friends etc.
What I'm trying to say is that many 'unproductive' activities do have a purpose, most notably keeping you healthy and sane. Don't work too hard - you'll go crazy. Besides, what's the point of being the most productive person if you never benefit from whatever you're producing?
Note: I'm not saying sleeping all day is a great idea either, merely that there is a balance to be struck.
I try to care as little as possible about what other people think. Nothing is more inhibiting.
For the most part, I have to agree with that. Sometimes, other people say things that aren't completely retarded, so it is worth at least paying some attention before you decide not to care. Oh, and stop watching/reading the news so much, it's rubbish anyway. You can always wait until tomorrow to check the news (same goes for checking your email, biggest waste of time checking it 10 times a day).
Motivation comes from within. You either care, for whatever reason, or you don't. Someone who is motivated has translated their passion into action.
I agree with Caley about other people. What they think, and what they want, is not very important unless it is what you want. Learning to say "No" to friends, neighbors and family is liberating.
Also https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/leechblock/
This might be terrible advice but...
Promise to reward yourself everytime you achieve a small goal you set for the day, such as rewarding yourself with a trip to a food court with great food.
For not achieving the set goal for the day, your "punishment" is to double your efforts with the same task or work in the next week or next day, to keep up pace.
My thoughts pretty much parallel the following:
http://www.math.purdue.edu/~dimberti/Productivity.html
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"Even when leftists talk about discrimination and sexism, they're damn well talking about the results of the economic system" ~Neodoxy
I agree with David about the news. Information in general can be detrimental.
Very clever!
Scrooge McDuck:I agree with David about the news. Information in general can be detrimental.
I got rid of my TV three years ago, and I don't read the paper, listen to the radio or visit any news sites. Almost all of my news comes from people I know, LRC, Mises Blog, Infowars and forum posts. I have mostly stopped tracking pessimism porn (financial news, Alex Jones etc).
It is better to be the news than to read the news IMO.
liberty student:Motivation comes from within. You either care, for whatever reason, or you don't. Someone who is motivated has translated their passion into action.
^^This.
I am most productive in processes during which my productivity is the last thing on my mind, and the motivation comes from impatience about seeing the result/outcome/answer. Finding those projects (placing myself in such a state) is a fine art of combining self-knowledge, rumination, knowledge acquisition, knowledge simmering, meditation, and a lot of what productivity-obsessed people call "wasting time". IMO, there's no general human formula for productivity. You have to know enough about yourself first and build from there.
Z.
I generally find myself to be the least productive whenever I'm wrapped in in my own thoughts. That's possibly the most useless thing I find myself doing. I don't mean thoughts focused on something in front on me like "Ok this pipe is leaking, what should I do to fix it?"- but general nonsense thoughts about how I should've done something in the past that I didn't do, or how I'm not sure how the future will turn out- or how someone could possibly do or say something that wasn't congruent with my own beliefs.
So getting out of the thoughts during the day has been the most liberating thing I could've possibly done- when this happens I find it impossible to be affected by anything. If someone wants to start some "unproductive conversation" and gossip, they can go ahead and tell me about it, I can listen to them and still do the work I'm doing.
Work also stops feeling like a heavy burden. Used to be I'd work all day and feel like I absolutely need some kind of "release' when I get out to relax, but without focusing on silly thoughts like "Is it 5:00 pm yet", there's nothing left to do but enjoy the work which makes things a lot more efficient for me in everyway. If I'm relaxed all the time(mentally), I don't need to make time to relax.
99% of my work is mental/social. I find I need breaks, and I need to go do something quiet and physical, even if it is washing dishes or chopping vegetables to give my mind time to "cool off".
I also find I am most productive early, but most creative late.
To-Do Lists: Are a perfect tool for a productive day; the problem is of course that they are only used day-to-day, not day-to-week or day-to-month. A six week goal needs to be thought of as a 42 day goal and chopped up in this fashion. I would argue that you truly don’t have a six week goal until it becomes a 42 day goal (though there are exceptions). Speaking about things you want to do 52 weeks from now is idle, unless it is broken in down into smaller chunks. Actually, those who speak about their long-term goals in idle fashion are in reality engaging in a different goal then the one they speak about; they are engaging in the goal of talking about goals. Inspiration: Find it, save it, share it, and exploit it! Motivation works great for when you want to exercise, or diet, or engage in some other routine to which you probably don’t truly love engaging in. You shouldn’t need motivation to do your passion. You may need motivation to be better at you passion, but not simply to engage in it. If you need motivation to simply engage in what you believe to be you passion, then your passion probably isn’t your passion Competition: You can feel great about yourself by simply lowering your bar of competition, but at some point you must realize that these people aren’t your competition. So who is? Clustering: History is written by those who connect the dots, not those who invent the dots. Read widely and expose yourself and your ideas to as many opinions and other ideas as possible. You never know where you might find your catalyst