Stress is essential for your survival as it helps you in reacting to potential dangers in the world, however, too much of it is not healthy and can leave you burnt out. It is essential to balance the amount of stress in your body to ensure you can be productive. When we feel pressured or threatened, we respond by becoming stressed.  It typically occurs when we are in a precarious position that we don't feel we have any control over

Why the stress?

The brain operates on five different frequencies:• Delta• Theta • Alpha• Beta• Gamma

The Brain

Delta (0-4Hz)Essential for your growth and the healing of your cells (regeneration). This is a state that takes place during sleepTheta(4-7Hz)Frequency of deep rest that you experience when you wake up.A meditative and creative state Alpha( 7- 12 Hz)A conscious calm state of mind where you can reflect.Beta (12-35Hz)A state of focus where you can concentrate on completing tasks. In this state, you are alert and can problem solve.Gamma(35-70Hz)A state of heightened awareness is also referred to as the "state of flow ".

The 5 Frequencies

The key to calming your mind is removing yourself from the situation that causes you stress.One way to do this is by taking a walk.Look towards a brighter future and envision yourself in a better place in the future.

Redirect Your Focus

1. Curiosity: learn a new skill, read a book on a new topic, etc.2. Lust: Sexual energy is a powerful resource to tap into transmuting this energy to engage in creative or vigorous activities.3. Care: Lend a helping hand once in a while as this boosts your esteem, as well as that of others. Remove the attention from yourself and make someone else happy.4. Play: Go outside and have some fun in the sun. Engage in an activity of your liking whether it's physical or just playing a game of cards.

Feelings that help you refocus

The brain’s superpowers have been discovered by neuroscience. Your genius mind knows how to make your brain dissolve worry and stay in your best internal states longer. The result is a life full of possibility. The Worry-Free Mind shows you how to decipher the architecture of your model of reality, shift it to a newer version, and overcome your tendency to worry every day. With the powerful tools it offers, you can access your inner resources, lower stress, calm your reactive mind, feel cheerier, and create a dynamic flow. Can you imagine a day without worry and how productive you could be with the extra time you would have? By learning to shift and condition your internal state and set up your environment to support the changes you want to make, you can accomplish anything you want. The Worry-Free Mind will show you how to: Unleash your brain’s superpowers in minutes. Shatter the illusions that keep you in a constant state of worry. Recondition your mind to a new state of being. Discover how your brain chemistry works to tap into natural bliss. Shift your internal states to change your biology.

productivity

Productivity

books

Books

The brain’s superpowers have been discovered by neuroscience. Your genius mind knows how to make your brain dissolve worry and stay in your best internal states longer. The result is a life full of possibility. The Worry-Free Mind shows you how to decipher the architecture of your model of reality, shift it to a newer version, and overcome your tendency to worry every day. With the powerful tools it offers, you can access your inner resources, lower stress, calm your reactive mind, feel cheerier, and create a dynamic flow. Can you imagine a day without worry and how productive you could be with the extra time you would have? By learning to shift and condition your internal state and set up your environment to support the changes you want to make, you can accomplish anything you want. The Worry-Free Mind will show you how to: <li>Unleash your brain’s superpowers in minutes. <li>Shatter the illusions that keep you in a constant state of worry. <li>Recondition your mind to a new state of being. <li>Discover how your brain chemistry works to tap into natural bliss. <li>Shift your internal states to change your biology.

Carol Kershaw is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Carol Kershaw has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Carol Kershaw's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Carol Kershaw

Bill Wade is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Bill Wade has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Bill Wade's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Bill Wade

The Worry-Free Mind

It's okay to take a break once in a while it is essential. The human body is the greatest machine that was ever invented just like any hardworking piece of machinery we are vulnerable to overload, especially with the increasing abundance that we are consuming daily.So it's important to hit the refresh button after a hard day of work to ensure we stay at the top of our game.This is what I did in my burnout to keep myself sane.

Take A Break

Surrender to your burnout. Burnout might be a sign that you've been focusing on a difficult task or maybe you're headed in the wrong direction. This is an important time to STOP and refocus.Action steps :• Slow down • Get some sunlight to reenergize • Meditate ;focus on your breathing• Immerse yourself in nature and you'd be surprised how powerful it is to be in nature (something energizing about listening to and watching birds).• Take a walk (morning and/or afternoon to clear your head.• Take a nap or breaks between your work• Shut off all devices to remove unnecessary distractions.

Rest

Situate yourself in silence to let your mind wander and form new ideas and connections. Allow yourself to evaluate your situation without getting reactive.Action Steps :Be an observer of your thoughts.• Try to get ten minutes of solitude in the morning before diving into the chaos • Observe your thoughts, meditation also helps here in this regard.• Write down your thoughts without passing judgment just observe.• If you feel creative, sketch your thoughts on paper. • Try to get a few minutes before bed to reflect on your day.

Reflect

Recover your energy and get back into your work refocused. You are not doing anyone any favors by overworking yourself. it's best to take a break and dive back in with a fresh set of ideas rather than producing a lot of work that ends up disappointing you and your team.Quality always trumps quantity.

Reset

Feeling burnt out and looking for solutions? Try these out

mentalhealth

Mental Health

BURNOUT 

Flow state are usually described as the state where you will engage in an activity and simply lose track of time...and when it seems as if there is nothing else on this planet besides you and your activity.The flow state is a very powerful state of mind and whilst in it, it will seem as if you are ‘flowing’ through your work.So, How do we get there?

What Is A 'Flow State?

It’s been proven by research that in order to reach flow state, you must eliminate all external distractions. Every time you get pulled out of your focus, you’ll be taken further away from flow state. Only when you can focus with undivided attention for around 10–15 minutes, you can get into flow state.Therefore, it’s critical that you put your phone away and disable all alerts and notifications, close all social media tabs, remove all unnecessary files and objects from your workspace, and preferably go to a quiet environment.This will protect you and allow you to enter a state of hyperfocus.

Eliminate External Distractions

Besides eliminating external distractions, you also need to eliminate internal distractions if you want to reach flow state. Whenever you experience stress or have too much on your mind, it’ll be incredibly hard to keep your mind focused on your task at hand — and therefore it’ll be impossible to reach flow state.If this happens regularly to you, I recommend you try two things:<ul><li>Journaling every morning and evening</li><li>Daily meditation (at least 10 minutes)</li></ul>

Eliminate Internal Distractions

Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.

Getting into flow state is hard if you are low on energy. You need to have the willpower to focus on just one thing and not get distracted along the way. Tapping into your willpower and attention is energy draining, so you need to do it when your mind is sharp and energized.If you try to get into flow state when you are tired and energy drained, it’ll feel like an uphill battle where you get distracted much easier and have less willpower to stay with your tasks.Therefore, It's recommend you use your mornings to get into flow state, or right after you took a real break of around 15-30 minutes.

Work At Your Biological Peak Time

Music can help you become highly focused and, therefore, highly productive. Especially when you listen to music on repeat.Listening to music with your earbuds in helps you to block external distractions such as any chatter. Furthermore, it helps to keep internal distractions at a minimum.It’s important that the song you put on is familiar. When new or various different songs come up, the music starts to compete for attention in your brain.Putting one song on repeat for 1–2 hours or listening to repetitive type music will help you reach a state of flow with more ease.

Listen To The Right Kind Of Music

If you want to reach flow state, the task that you’re working on must be challenging enough for your brain to be fully engaged, but not too challenging as this will lead to anger and stress.If a task is too easy, you’ll be bored quickly and your mind is likely to wander, so you won’t reach flow state. But, if a task is too hard you’ll likely get overwhelmed and not be able to achieve that subconscious level that is necessary for the flow state.Flow state can only be achieved when an activity is hard enough to keep your brain interested, and when you’re skilled enough to tackle the challenge.

Pick A Challenging Task

The last method is to create a mental cue for yourself to enter flow state. In other words, do something special each time before you go into flow state. Whether it’s repeating a special sentence or affirmation, taking a few deep breaths or anything else — do that same thing each time you want to get into flow state.Over time, this will help you create a mental cue for your brain. Each time you follow it, you tell your brain 'it’s time to get into flow state'.Our behaviour is largely based on neuro-associations, by creating a mental cue, you are essentially creating a neuro-association.

Create A Mental Cue

Caught myself in this state and decided to do some research and share it with you all...enjoy!

Think about the last time where you were engaged in an activity and you simply lost track of time.. You were focused like a ninja, you felt amazing and it seemed as if there was nothing else on this…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

timemanagement

Time Management

How To Reach Flow State (Using 6 Flow State ‘Triggers’)

To live the life we want, we not only need to do the right things, but we also need to stop doing the things that divert us from our goals.<ul><li>We need to learn how to avoid distraction. Living the life we want not only requires doing the right things, but also necessitates not doing the things we know we'll regret.</li><li>The problem is deeper than tech. Being indistractable isn't about being a Luddite. It's about understanding the real reasons why we do things against our best interests.</li><li>Here's what it takes. We can be indistractable by learning and adopting four key strategies.</li></ul>

What's your Superpower?

We can understand traction as the actions that draw us towards what we want in life.On the other hand, distractions impede us from progressing towards our envisioned life.Both traction and distraction are prompted by triggers. These triggers can be internal or external.These triggers, wether internal or external, result in an action which can be aligned with our broader intention (traction), or misaligned (distraction).<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Traction helps us accomplish goals.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Distraction leads us away from them.</li></ul>

Traction & Distraction

"The wealth of information means a dearth of something else... a poverty of attention."

We are compelled to reach for things we supposedly need but really don't.<ul><li>We don't need to check our email right now.</li><li>We don't need to see that Instagram story.</li></ul>Though it's not our fault distractions exist, managing them is our responsability.

Focus on your true needs

"Being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do. Indistractable people are as honest with themselves as they are with others."

<ul><li>Master Internal Triggers.</li><li>Hack Back External Triggers.</li><li>Prevent Distraction with Pacts.</li><li>Make Time for Traction. </li></ul>These four steps are your guide to becoming indistractable.

The Indistractable Model

These ideas are a summary of the introduction of Indistractable. Soon I will publish more ideas respecting the parts of the book, from the 1st to the 7th part, in order to go deeper as it deserves.

Reveals the hidden psychology driving you to distraction. Empowering and optimistic, this is the book that will help you design your time, realise your ambitions, and live the life you really want.

"Indistractable provides a framework that will deliver the focus you need to get results." —James Clear, author of Atomic Habits "If you value your time, your focus, or your relationships, this book is essential reading. I'm putting these ideas into practice." —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind   National Bestseller Winner of the Outstanding Works of Literature (OWL) Award Included in the Top 5 Best Personal Development Books of the Year by Audible Included in the Top 20 Best Business and Leadership Books of the Year by Amazon Featured in The Amazon Book Review Newsletter, January 2020 Goodreads Best Science & Technology of 2019 Finalist   You sit down at your desk to work on an important project, but a notification on your phone interrupts your morning. Later, as you're about to get back to work, a colleague taps you on the shoulder to chat. At home, screens get in the way of quality time with your family. Another day goes by, and once again, your most important personal and professional goals are put on hold. What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused? What if you had the power to become "indistractable?" International bestselling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley's handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction's Achilles' heel in his groundbreaking new book. In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more. Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us. Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals:    • Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture—and how to fix it    • What really drives human behavior and why "time management is pain management"    • Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractable    • How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting world Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want.

Nir Eyal is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Nir Eyal has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Nir Eyal's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

Nir Eyal

Indistractable

The four-day workweek with a three-day weekend is nice, but condensing five days of work into four can prove stressful for some workers and may even be considered non-viable.  There may be other alternatives. Some organisational psychologists suggest shortening the workday, such as six hours rather than eight. Some businesses need to be available five days a week and may find it easier and more convenient to shorten the workday.

The four-day workweek

Eight-hour workdays are standard for many industries – and this structure is hard to change. Everyone thinks of work as five days a week, eight hours a day. But, the lack of evolution is a failure of imagination, not actually measuring people's results.  Studies show working longer does not necessarily correlate to greater productivity in general. Workers' output decreases sharply after about 48 hours. Other experts suggest the optimal working-hour number could be as few as 35 hours per week or six hours a day.

Arguments for a shorter workday

<ul><li>A shorter workday is linked to increased worker wellbeing and potentially heightened productivity. </li><li>A UK survey showed that, on average, people only feel productive for about half the workday. So shortening it could motivate them to increase that window. </li><li>Increased productivity could also stem from better worker morale. Many workers’ efficiency may increase while their mistakes decrease.</li><li>With shorter days, workers may be more inclined to do effective, efficient work instead of wasting time or taking on busy work to fill eight hours a day.</li></ul>

Benefits of a shorter workday

<ul><li>There’s no guarantee every worker will be equally productive during a shorter day, especially for less committed workers. </li><li>A shorter workday for multinational companies in some industries could also interfere with the overlap among time zones.</li><li>There may be hidden costs to employers, such as hiring more employees to make up for the need.</li><li>There’s also a danger that shortening the workday won’t actually change how much people work.</li></ul>

Potential pitfalls

There’s a lot of talk about four-day workweeks – but could shorter workdays be a better approach?

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

The case for a shorter workday

Read your way to success 85 % of millionaires read at least two books per months.So, as cliche as it sounds, people who read, succeed.

Offers the secrets of super achievers, such as Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and John Rockefeller, and explains how to use their secrets for success.

Ever wondered how life would be if we could condition our minds to Think and Grow Rich? Author Napoleon Hill claims to have based this book on twenty years of rigorous research on the lives of those who had amassed great wealth and made a fortune. Observing their habits, their ways of working and the principles they followed, Hill put together laws and philosophies that can be practiced in everyday life to achieve all-round success. The narrative is rich with stories and anecdotes, which not only inspire, but also show a way forward to take action. After all, riches are not just material, but also pertaining to the mind, body and spirit.  Having sold more than fifteen million copies across the world, this book remains the most read self-improvement book of all times!

Oliver Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author. He is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich, which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted that fervid expectations are essential to improving one's life.

Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich

Things our brains enjoy to do  for instance<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Creativity</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Enjoyment</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Relaxing</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Connecting</li></ul>

Type 1 Task Productivity

Keeping on top of <ul><li>Tasks </li><li>Calenders</li><li>Emails</li></ul>

Type 2 Task

The definition of Productivity is using our time intentionally and effectively.Our brain categorizes our tasks in 3 different categories. Knowing the 3 different categories will help us to know how to be as productive as we can.

Brain Tasks

This one is keeping your life in order with this you need things like<ul><li>A calender</li><li>Email Management </li><li>To-Do List: Make sure that you put all your tasks and items into your To-Do List that is extremely important</li><li>File Management System: File management is very important for instance using google drive or apple drive.</li></ul>

First Model Layer

These are the second version of the productivity app.<ul><li>The Kindle App</li><li>A Read it later app for instant using Instapaper will be very helpful, the seperation of things.</li><li>Readwise</li></ul>

Second Model Layer

WOw I can be extremely more productive now! Follow me for more insights!

Read Morning Brew ☕️ https://morningbrewdaily.com/ali The whole point of a productivity system is to get your life in order and free up valuable brain space. No one wants to be spending tons of time organising emails or searching for a book quote that they forgot to highlight. There are broadly three levels of building an ultimate productivity system: keeping your life in order, capturing new info, and creating a system around it. You can stop at layer one or use all three. I cover it all in more detail in this video, including suggestions for apps that I like to use daily. 00:00 Intro 01:37 Ron: keep your life in order 01:37 Calendar 04:21 Email 06:12 To-do list 09:06 File management 10:32 Hermoine: capture new information 11:09 Kindle 11:47 Read-it-later app 14:53 Readwise 15:59 Capture app 17:04 Dumbledore: create a system 17:07 Building a Second Brain LINKS MENTIONED: 🧠 Check out the Dumbledore Level with my Building a Second Brain video - https://youtu.be/K-ssUVyfn5g 📘 Grab your own Essentiali planner - https://aliabdaal.com/essentiali/ 💡 If you have a suggestion for a future video, submit it here. If we use your concept, we'll send you $100 - https://aliabdaal.typeform.com/video-ideas MY FAVOURITE SOFTWARE: ✍️ The best summaries of books (Shortform) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform 📚 How I remember what I read (Readwise) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 🎵 Where I get my Music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound MY FREE ONLINE COURSES: 🚀 Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity 🎬 Video Editing with Final Cut Pro X - From Beginner to YouTuber - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/video-editing 🎓 How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying PART-TIME YOUTUBER ACADEMY: 🍿 My 6-week live online course - https://academy.aliabdaal.com CREATORPRENEUR 💰 My flag-ship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle - https://creatorpreneur.academy/course YOUTUBE FOR BEGINNERS COURSE 📸 This is for anyone who'd like to start a YouTube channel. You'll learn everything you need to get started as a YouTuber including how to script, shoot, and edit your first video - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners 🎙 Deep Dive podcast - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ The podcast that delves into the minds of entrepreneurs, creators and other inspiring people to uncover the philosophies, strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. You can find it by searching “Deep Dive” on any podcast app (eg: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts etc). MY FAVOURITE GEAR: 🎥 My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal ⌨️ My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 📝 My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk BE MY FRIEND: 💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://aliabdaal.com/friendzone/ 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal 💙 The Friendzone Discord - https://discord.gg/Dh2kGavffd 🎮 Twitch - https://twitch.tv/aliabdaal WHO AM I: I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://email.aliabdaal.com). GET IN TOUCH: If you’d like to talk, I’d love to hear from you. Tweeting @AliAbdaal directly will be the quickest way to get a response, but if your question is very long, feel free to email me at hi@aliabdaal.com. I try my best to reply to things but there sadly aren't enough hours in the day to respond to everyone 😭 PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

business

Business

Read Morning Brew ☕️ https://morningbrewdaily.com/ali 

The whole point of a productivity system is to get your life in order and free up valuable brain space. No one wants to be spending tons of time organising emails or searching for a book quote that they forgot to highlight. 

There are broadly three levels of building an ultimate productivity system: keeping your life in order, capturing new info, and creating a system around it. You can stop at layer one or use all three. I cover it all in more detail in this video, including suggestions for apps that I like to use daily. 

00:00 Intro
01:37 Ron: keep your life in order
01:37 Calendar
04:21 Email
06:12 To-do list
09:06 File management
10:32 Hermoine: capture new information
11:09 Kindle
11:47 Read-it-later app
14:53 Readwise
15:59 Capture app
17:04 Dumbledore: create a system
17:07 Building a Second Brain

LINKS MENTIONED: 
🧠 Check out the Dumbledore Level with my Building a Second Brain video -
https://youtu.be/K-ssUVyfn5g
📘 Grab your own Essentiali planner - https://aliabdaal.com/essentiali/
💡 If you have a suggestion for a future video, submit it here. If we use your concept, we'll send you $100 - https://aliabdaal.typeform.com/video-ideas

💌  Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets

MY FREE ONLINE COURSES:
🚀  Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - 
 https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity
🎓  How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying
🎬 YouTube for Beginners - Everything You Need To Know To Start  - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners

MY CREATOR COURSES
🎬 Check out my free 7 day email course on how to become a part-time YouTuber: https://aliabdaal.com/part-time-youtuber-crash-course/
🏆 Creatorpreneur - My flagship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle → https://creatorpreneur.academy/course
🗣 Camera Confidence - My self-paced course on how to improve your creativity, career, or communication skills → https://cameraconfidence.aliabdaal.com/

MY FAVOURITE GEAR
🎥  My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal
⌨️  My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) -https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard
📝  My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike
🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk

🎙 Check out my weekly podcast, Deep Dive - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ - It's also available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc.

MY FAVOURITE TOOLS
🚀 VidIQ - How I optimise my YouTube videos - https://go.aliabdaal.com/vidiq
✍️ Shortform - The BEST summaries of books - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform
📚  Readwise - How I remember what I read - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise
🎵  Epidemic Sound - Where I get my music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound

MY KEY LINKS
🌍  My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com/
🐦  Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal
📸  Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal

WHO AM I:
I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets).

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

📚 Check out my first book Feel-Good Productivity here: https://www.feelgoodproductivity.com/

Hey, I'm Ali, a doctor turned entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert 😜 

On this channel, we explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love. 

If that sounds interesting, consider subscribing! See you in the next video x

Ali Abdaal

How to Build the Ultimate Productivity System (2023)

How to Build the Ultimate Productivity System (2022)

Human consciousness is at the same time as being a form of awareness and sensitivity and also ignorance.The ordinary everyday consciousness that we have leaves out more than it takes in.And because of this, it leaves out things that are terribly important.It leaves out things that would if we did know them, allay our anxieties and fears and horrors. And if we could extend our awareness you see to include those things that we leave out we would have a deep interior piece because we would all know the one thing that you mustn’t know… what is profound, what is mysterious, what is in the depths.

Human Consciousness

Focus is vastly misunderstood.People only see it from a surface level and decided to leave it at that. Most people — especially those in the self-improvement space — see it as a once-in-a-while tool for deep work.In reality, focus is the entirety of our lives.

The Focus Matrix

You'd be surprised how much you can get done with 1 hour of uninterrupted focus.

Learning how to get into deep, focused work is an incredible way to introduce yourself to the power of harnessing attention.<ul><li>You can get 8 hours of work done in 2.</li><li>You can utilize the finite energy you have in the day.</li><li>You can make a habit out of making massive progress on your goals.</li></ul>

Harnessing Attention

<ul><li>Focus is conscious attention.</li><li>Consciousness is the essence of the human experience.</li><li>Attention is how we process information within the infinite realm of consciousness.</li><li>Focus is how you maneuver your attention to navigate reality towards optimal outcomes.</li></ul>

Conscious Attention

Focus: Your vision, purpose, hierarchy of goals (mission), and priority actions are focus anchors. These “anchors” must be cultivated, refined, and revisited to give you consistent intrinsic energy.Energy: You can expand, contract, narrow, or widen your focus on these specific entities to “tap in” to their level of energy. Experience: With accurate focus and an open energy channel, you conduct yourself from your direct conscious experience right now. That is, you anchor your focus to the present moment.

The Three Pillars: Focus, Energy And Experience

Focal contraction and expansion is how you live a life of meaning, enjoyment, and progress. It is an art form. No matter how “negative” the situation is to the untrained eye. All Is Mind.Narrow, unconscious focus leads to stress, anxiety, reactivity, and annoyance.When you find yourself projecting into the predictable future, it is easy to narrow your focus on a stressful upcoming situation and pull that future experience into your present experience.

Negative Focus

Open, unconscious focus leads to feeling lost and overwhelmed with where your life is headed.There are tasks, goals, and life outcomes that trigger thoughts, emotion, and experience unless caught by the watcher.Conscious focus — both narrow and open — help us live with more depth, love and appreciation.

Positive Focus

There is one thing that separates human beings the most from other species:Depth of focus.Expansion and contraction.Expansion being a large area of attention.Contraction being a small area of attention.Like a circle that gets larger and smaller depending on what you are directly conscious of.Focus is the most important skill that has flown under people’s noses.It isn’t tangible. It isn’t material. It is near impossible to pinpoint the exact state of your focus. You can’t quantify it.

Infinite Consciousness

The majority of the human population are asleep. Living out pre-programmed unconscious lives. Habitual actions, thought patterns, emotional reactions, and decisions that result in their direct experience in this present moment.Conscious living is another layer deeper. Through practice, you enjoy life in an entirely new dimension. You begin to see this world from another dimension.What is stopping people from tapping in to this new dimension?

Most People Are Living Like Zombies

Think of a visible iceberg. Imagine that iceberg as anything you were to come in contact with in reality. Infinite icebergs that create the fabric of reality.A thought, emotion, phone, glass, plant, computer, word, letter, design, social media profile, tattoo, keyboard, key, shirt, belt, button, room, cloud, chair, smell, or anything else you can become directly conscious of.This is how most people conduct their lives. They see what they see (or feel what they feel) and forget the rest. There is no depth. There is no understanding. There is no awareness of the interdependence of life itself.

The Visible Part Of The Iceberg

How do you dive deeper?Through conscious attention and awareness.Can you become aware of the EMF frequencies that your phone is emitting? I’m not asking you to see or feel them. I am asking you to become aware of them. Visualize them. Know that they are there. Let your curiosity take you on a learning spree. Understand how it impacts everything it touches.Can you become aware of the coffee that is in your hands? What is the chemical composure of the coffee? Whose hands were involved in the manufacturing process of the coffee? What about the glass that it is held in?

Dive Deeper: The Hidden Part Of The Iceberg

You can separate the coffee from the glass, the molecules from the liquid, and as you expand and contract your focus — you become more or less aware of infinity.Can you contract down to a valve in your heart, expand out to everything within your field of vision, and manipulate your focus to everything in between?You navigate, appreciate, and thrive in life by mastering your focus.

Mastering Your Focus

Two steps to happiness: Zoom in on what's important.Zoom out from everything else.

problemsolving

Problem Solving

How To Master Your Focus

Productivity dysmorphia describes the feeling of failing to recognize your accomplishments and wanting to continue doing more, even when you’re running on fumes. It is the intersection of burnout, imposter syndrome, and anxiety. It's possible that a toxic "hustle culture" is pushing people to continue working even though they’re breaking down and desperately need rest.

Productivity Dysmorphia

Highly competitive, <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6822254">work-oriented cultures</a> normalize this constant pursuit of productivity that eats away at other areas of life. In fact, you’re often praised for putting productivity above your well-being. Remember how schools rewarded perfect attendance? Similarly, companies prefer employees who get the maximum work done while taking the fewest possible breaks. Rewards like these reinforce that rest is bad and that being constantly at work is the right thing to do.

Burnout Is Rewarded

This mindset pushes people to force their minds and bodies to work even though they’re breaking down and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0963721411434979">desperately need rest</a>. The idea is that this mindset encourages people to dedicate their weekends and free time to extra work, skip the family dinners to <a href="https://hbr.org/2021/01/take-your-lunch-break">eat in front of a computer</a>, and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/11745398.2016.1178152">take work devices on vacations</a> so they can wrap up a project or two on the plane.

Internalized Capitalism

There’s a difference between enjoying work, working a lot, and feeling compelled to work irrespective of whether you enjoy it. Popular quotes like “if you do what you love, you don’t work a single day in life” may normalize overworking under the assumption that if you’re passionate about something, you won’t ever get tired. Today’s toxic hustle culture may also feed into this narrative, advising people to maintain a side job outside of traditional office hours and utilize weekends to build a blog/channel/business so there’s no space left to take a break.

Hustle Culture and Productivity Dysmorphia

Some writers have even begun describing <a href="https://betterhumans.pub/rest-is-productive-1348b2b7eeb0">rest as productive</a>, as if people should stop relaxing if it doesn’t improve performance in some way. Not only does this mindset make it difficult to view and celebrate your achievements, but it also nudges you to <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/12/what-happens-when-your-career-becomes-your-whole-identity">build your entire life around work</a>. Messaging like this can make you feel guilty for enjoying a weekend doing “nothing” if you’re not hard at work on the two days you get off from work. As <a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/employees-seek-personal-value-and-purpose-at-work-be-prepared-to-deliver">people place more and more importance on work</a>, it becomes harder to justify enjoying something if it doesn’t lead to productivity.

Being Productive Is The Only Goal

Productivity dysmorphia describes the feeling of failing to recognize your accomplishments and wanting to continue doing more.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

Feeling unproductive even after working all day? It may be "productivity dysmorphia"

<ul><li>Individuals who set time-bound goals and begin weekly progress reports urge their peers to achieve 40% more than those who do not.</li><li>Keeping a journal raises the likelihood of meeting goals by 20%.</li><li>According to participant studies, most people performed better when their goals were important and challenging.</li><li>Only 3% of people who set written goals with specific techniques achieve ten times more than those who do not.</li><li>According to Gallup, only 41 percent of Americans make new year's resolutions.</li><li>According to a poll, 35% of people who begin New Year's resolutions abandon them within a week.</li></ul>

Key Writing Down Goals Stats

It is essential to have dreams. Setting goals to achieve those dreams is even more critical.Understanding the difference between objectives and dreams, on the other hand, is a great place to begin.Understanding the differences between these two concepts will help you achieve your objectives more effectively!Unfortunately, many individuals assume that simply thinking or dreaming about something beautiful is enough to make it come true.Goals and dreams are not synonymous.People frequently confuse them, but they are not the same. To keep on track, it is vital to understand the distinction.

Goals vs Dreams

Key writing down goals statistics: Individuals who set time-bound objectives and start weekly progress reporting to encourage peers to achieve 40% more to

23 Writing Down Goals Statistics, Facts and Trends in 2022

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