Productivity Flashcards
What’s the productivity equation
Productivity = (useful output / time ) x fun
We want more output, less time. We should be productive for the right thing.
The mental model:
(1) the pilot - sets the course, figures out what direction - 10%
(2) the plane - follows the course, lands safely. Decide first what course begin of the day, rest of the day follow this course - 80%
(3) The engineer - plane should be efficient, keep the system organised - 10%
Pilot = useful output
Output = plane
Time = engineer
The myth of “I dont have time”
Our time is entirely in our control. You’re actively choosing something to do, or not to do. You want to eliminate you dont have time. Its a case of limited by the choices.
Really check how do you spend your time? Check all the time. Do you really know what you did the day? Take control of your time and attention. Time is kinda like muscle, you can grow it. Squeeze the more in, the more you can do. We all have the same 24 hours.
The Myth of Motivation
(1) The thought, (2) Motivation, (3) The action
I should study, I feel like studying, I study
The motivation becomes in the middle like a middle man.
This is the wrong way. Instead in an ideal word- you have to thought, this should lead to action without how you feel. Relaying on the feelings is recipe for disaster. You can call this discipline —> go directly to action. We don’t need motivation.
The fun factor is very important. If you like it, you dont need motivation. We need motivation which is short term pain long term rewards.
Where are the problems?
The reward is not direct. We need motivation for things where the feedback loop is longer.
How to influence motivation:
Focus on the action (1)
- Make the action more pleasurable, music, vines
- Inaction more painful, put money on the line
Focus on outcome (2)
- shorten the feed backloop, like making my exams now for my job 10 years later, make a game
- Making outcome more clear, watching youtube, see people doing it
Ideal world no motivation necessary, you have to train to get to discipline
The myth of multi tasking
Task switching is less productive
We want to go for flow state, optimal state of consciousness
Just stretch yourself enough to be interesting and challenging. Ask yourself what’s the most difficult part? Do that first. Whats skills do you still need to learn. Avoid distractions, no disturb mode. You want flow state. If you get distracted by your phone, it’s your own fault. Its not that hard to put the phone away, put it in flight mode. YOU choose to be distracted. Flow state is an ideal. When you get in this state, you’ll have fun.
Laws of Productivity - Parking’s law
- (A) Parking’s law states that work expands to fill the time we allocate to it. He realized that actually the amount of work just always expands to fill the time that was allocated to it. We all know this to be true intuitively. If we have an essay or an assignment or whatever due for tomorrow, we’re going to get it done tonight. If we haven’t due for three months from now, we going to procrastinate the living hell out of this thing and we’re just going to do it the night before. But it sucks because deep down you know its a fake deadline. Link pain to missing it.
Apply —> give yourself artificial deadlines, constraint
Questions, make a lift of 3/4 long term tasks you want to do. What would you do if you had only half as long to do them? What if you would have only 24 hours?
-coding —> Just do the essentials of the programming, watch the lectures, practice this and fly through the exercises.
- Find a job –> watch the essentials for CV, practice for a job interview. Vertel over jezelf.
Law’s of Productivity - Pareto principle
Pareto Principle says basically is that 80 percent of the results will come from 20 percent of the effort. he Pareto principle applies to most things in life and we can use the Pareto principle in productivity. For example, a exam, 80 procent of the available mark will prob come from 20 percent of the content. The rest is dimisnhing returns of the amount of effort you’re putting in. If we can recognize the actually 80 percent of the results that we care about are only going to come from 20 percent of the inputs, we can then hack the things that we’re doing. We can make our pilot in the analogy, choose the right things to do, so that we’re focused on the 20 percent of things that is going to result in most of the gain. What are you actually aiming for? What does your pilot want you to achieve? Once you’ve recognized what the end result is, really try hard to figure out what is the 20 percent of things that I need to do to get there.
Law’s of Productivity - Newtowns first law of motion
Law of Motion basically states that an object is at rest or traveling at a constant velocity unless it’s acted on by an external imbalanced force. What does that mean? That means if something is still, it will stay still by default, and if something is moving, it will continue to move at a constant speed, a constant velocity by default, unless an external force acts on it. The way that we can apply this to productivity is by recognizing that if we are not doing anything, if we are still, it requires an external force to push us into action, to push us into gear. But if we are moving anyway, if we’re all ready moving at a constant velocity, it no longer requires any external force to keep us moving 2 minute rule, just do it, don’t write it doin. If something seems like a big task, just do it for 5 minutes. Now you prob will move forward. Keystone habit —> do something which will lead to something else.
The 3 Powers of Productivity - Consistency
They’re these small fundamental units of self-development of being productive and really there’s no point in having a fancy productivity app if we don’t have the corresponding habit to make us actually use the app appropriately. If you think about compound interest and compounding gains. If you can improve by one percent every day for a year, at the end of the year, you will be 37 times better than you were at the start, and that’s just boggling.
The nice thing about habits is that when something becomes a habit, at that point, we no longer require any willpower to do the thing like for me and hopefully for you, brushing our teeth every morning and every evening is a habit. We don’t really need willpower for it.
Create a social contract —> share with others
Make the habits part of your identity
Reinforce an identity by using specific habits to become someone you see yourself to be.
The Identity - When somenthing become part of you,so root, you will feel awkward when can’t do the thing
1% improvements everyday
The 3 Powers of Productivity - productive downtime
Use your downtime, such as travel time, instead of being on instagram
Time you would have otherwise wasted, doing flashcard, do it on the toilet
Thats the idea of downtime, bits of moments in the day we can use. Als je dan gaat zitten, heb je tijd voor de andere dingen
Vraag jezelf elke dag af, what is the one thing I wan to focus on, the highlight the pilot made
Put easy stuff on the list, do it during your downtime.
The 3 Powers of Productivity - Productive Procrastination
Procrastination that is productive —> when im procrastinating takes the form of doing something useful. Watching useful YouTube videos, writing down the important points. Create alternatives that are useful
Use brainscape as useful procrastination
What’s the most important take away?
The fun factor, Least talked about, but most important one
Enjoy the stuff you’re doing, because you choose to do them
What’s the point of being productive, if you’re not enjoying it? You should love your time
How make something more fun? Try out to figure a way to make it fun
Like stydying together, little less productive, but more fun
Any time we think we have to; change to I get to, it’s a privilege, this is what my live led to
Designing the environment is important
Happiness correlates to succes, happiness led to success
Enjoy the things you’re doing, you have to power to choose to enjoy things.
