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Is the secret of productivity really just doing what you enjoy? | Oliver Burkeman
The best predictor of getting things done
The secret to great productivity is simply to do what you enjoy.
Copying other successful people will not guarantee you success: Just because Elon Musk works 120 hours a week does not mean that you'll have the same success if you work for 120 hours a week. Musk likes to work those hours. If you tried to follow that schedule, you'd have to make yourself do it. The same goes to advice like "write every day." It won't work unless you want to write.
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This bias addresses why we do unimportant tasks we think are time-sensitive over tasks that are not time-sensitive, even if the non-time-sensitive tasks provide greater rewards.
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- Use the Eisenhower Matrix. It will reveal the urgent/not urgent and important/not important tasks.
- Block off on your calendar the most productive 2-4 hours each day for your most important work.
- Only answer emails at specific times. Don't allow email to bleed into other time.
- Give your important tasks a deadline and find a way to commit to it.
The Zeigarnik Effect
This effect describes our tendency to remember incomplete or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks. Each unfinished task takes up some of your attention, splitting your focus. It also interferes with your sleep.
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- Write your tasks down as soon as they come to you.
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- Have an end of work shutdown ritual, so your unfinished tasks don't stay in your mind after-hours.
- Take a small step to help you get started. The act of starting can help you keep going to the end.
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Buying Time
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We Don’t Know What Productivity Really Is
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Knowledge work in the modern age involves thinking, analysis, theories, trial and error, problem solving, brainstorming and other stuff which is done in a variety of counter-intuitive ways. It is defined by a diverse range of iterative exploration of yet-to-discover possibilities.
Comparing the earlier (linear) definition of productivity to modern knowledge work is like comparing a bicycle to a computer.
How The Idea Of 'Productivity' Holds Us Back
- The linear definition of productivity assumes that if we complete our to-do list, we are productive for the day, not taking into account the time required for creative insights that come from serendipity and lateral thinking.
- It falsely ties us to a quantitative output, which involves pseudo-work based on input and output of an age gone by. Example: Making and emailing a daily report that no one reads.
- As we answer emails and put out the fires, we miss opportunities for creativity and deep thinking, and even getting bored, which makes the brain work better.