The Mistrust of Unconditional, Loving Thought

One of the greatest tragedies of current culture is the disparaging of unconditional, loving thought.

There is a (seeded) mistrust in the idea of releasing negative thought patterns and replacing them with entirely positive ones.

(Something) We’ve been trained to think that focusing only on loving thoughts is somehow impossible, irresponsible, and/or not worth our time.

For myself, at least, I know this shift has been a hard one to make.

In fact, in certain ways, the negative thinking and self-criticism has felt necessary to my success.

I saw my results as being, in part, generated by the extraordinary levels of pressure that negative thinking put on me - my constant self-critiquing, a seemingly inexhaustible compulsion to plan and control, and a ceaseless sense of being behind schedule.

It felt as though these patterns kept me in line - they kept me focused, and ensured I was always in action towards the next thing.

They were such a large piece of my mental model in fact, that they felt inextricable from who I was, like they were part of my identity.

I felt scared to change them because I did not know who I would be without them.

These incentives for negative thinking were further strengthened by the communities I belonged to and the core narratives of the media I consumed.

It felt as though success was the only outcome that mattered, and the only way to become successful was to put yourself under these extraordinary levels of pressure.

In this way, the idea of changing or releasing my negative thought patterns felt like an abdication of my chance at success, fulfillment, and ultimately true, lasting happiness.

But thankfully, this is no longer true.

Through a lot of suffering, and through much trial and error, I’ve come to realize how backwards all of this thinking is.

What I’ve realized is that extraordinary results and “doing hard things” is our natural state as humans.

When we care deeply about what we’re working towards, and when we encourage our selves lovingly (like we would a young child), our ability to create exactly what we want, effortlessly and expeditiously, skyrockets.

In this way, unconditional, loving thought actually accelerates your ability to create what you want.

Integrating this understanding requires a surrendering and shifting of identity.

You must see yourself as separate from your patterns of thought, and capable of relating to yourself in a new way.

When you combine this with an understanding of your true priorities outside of the culture focus of “success-at-all-costs”, you create a scenario in which unconditional, loving thought becomes your persistent, resting state.

From this state, everything you want is achievable and comes about in exciting, delightful, and effortless ways.

Discounting Spirituality

We live in a society that values technological advancement over most other things.

This focus on artificial computing, on physical/material advancement, on this externalization of intelligence, is in direct conflict with the essence of spirituality - which is not physical, not intellectual, but a felt, visceral experience.

Culture teaches us to distrust the value in lived experience, in our emotions, in the wisdom of our bodies, and so the idea of taking spirituality seriously, of seeing it as a healthy priority in life, seems almost laughable:

“You’re asking me to put down my core operating system - the one that I’ve built my entire life upon, the one that anchors me to my communities and my current sense of belonging, the one that is trumpeted and celebrated by almost every piece of media I come into contact with - in order to take a chance on ‘my feelings’?

… are you out of your fucking mind?”

The tragedy in this, is that without spirituality, without connection to something greater than ourselves, we exponentially multiply the chances for suffering.

We neglect and ignore arguably one of our most innate and human needs.

In distrusting the possibilities of a spiritual connection, we unknowingly obstruct the very richness and fulfillment that we’re so hoping technology will bring us.

Furthermore, I think spirituality is often made out to be “fringe”, with much of the mainstream narrative focusing on extreme or misportrayed practices of spirituality, instead of presenting it as a normal, beneficial part of everyday life.

Because in reality, spirituality is actually very simple.

To me, spirituality is the study of life itself, from many different angles.

Combining an intellectual appreciation for the beauty and intelligence of life, with the felt sense of openness to and reverence for the mystery and un-knowability of this experience.

I hope to do my part in normalizing and demystifying spirituality and what it means to have a spiritual life.

I think that MANY would more easily find happiness, peace, and fulfillment, if they understood how the habit of studying life could lead them to the changes they hope to see in their life.

One of The Most Important Mental Models I Use

When I think about the mental models I use to navigate the world, there is one idea that has been absolutely fundamental to my life and the way that I see things.

It’s the idea of Systems Thinking (or System Theory).

The core of the idea is that EVERYTHING can be understood as part of a system - which is made up of individual parts, and then the relationships between those parts.

One of the most obvious examples of this is an eco-system - a group of organisms (parts) that all impact each other (relationships).

Within this eco-system, you have the individual groups of organisms (deer, wolves, rabbits, trees, plants, soil, etc.), but then you also have the relationships between these groups of organisms.

And one of the most valuable pieces of Systems Thinking is studying and understanding the relationships in any given system.

Because when you understand the RELATIONSHIPS between these groups, you start to understand the underlying forces and patterns at play that impact the eco-system as a whole.

Say for example that within an eco-system, the rabbit population suddenly skyrockets. 

There’s an overwhelming number of rabbits, which is causing issues in other parts of the eco-system (they’re wiping out the vegetation, causing issues in the local town, etc.)

If you ONLY look at the individual group - you say, “Wow, there are too many rabbits. We need to control the rabbit population.”

So maybe you start offering bounties to people to go kill rabbits. Or maybe you introduce a new kind of predator into the environment that hunts and kills rabbits.

But here’s the catch - you’re not really addressing the core issue. 

You are addressing a SYMPTOM of the core issue.

Let’s say in this hypothetical example, that the rabbit’s natural predator, the wolf (the part of the system that kept the rabbit population in check), has had their population drastically reduced.

Maybe a local town felt that the wolves were a threat, and allowed people to hunt them. 

Maybe development started on a big piece of land that was the wolves main home, and they’ve since moved. 

Or maybe someone’s been poisoning the wolf population.

Regardless of what’s causing the wolves demise, when you understand the RELATIONSHIP (wolf->rabbit) that’s causing the SYMPTOM (hella, hella rabbits) you are much closer to addressing the CORE issue.

And addressing the core issue is the most effective solution, because you are, in a sense, cutting off the problem at the head - you are working to rebalance the system.

What I find so interesting, and why I think this approach to solving problems is so important, is because as a society we seem to have an obsession with fixing the symptoms, instead of addressing the actual core issues.

A few examples (these are highly simplified):

Western Medicine/Healthcare 

Symptoms: Malnourishment + issues in the body from vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Approach: Take these vitamins and supplements to fix the problem.

Core Issue(s): An improper diet - not getting the proper nutrients you need from the food you’re eating.

Corporate culture

Symptoms: People are disengaged at work, not going above and beyond, not producing top quality work.

Approach: Micro-management systems, tracking employee keystrokes and screen time, harsh rules and policies.

Core Issue(s): A culture and Leadership team that views people as resources, and is unwilling or scared to innovate and do things differently.

In a relationship:

Symptoms: Disinterest in sex or no sex life at all.

Approach: Ignore the issue, normalize/rationalize it, watch porn, potentially infidelity or (in some cases) wanting to “open” the relationship.

Core Issue(s): Lack of authentic, honest communication, breakdowns in partnership and intimacy, potentially a core mismatch in values/personalities.

On the individual level

Symptoms: Depression, anxiety, general lethargy, lack of excitement.

Approach: Stimulants, drugs, alcohol, video games, activities that distract and numb.

Core Issue(s): Unaddressed trauma, lack of purpose, lack of adequate support systems.

Part of this obsession with fixing symptoms (I think) is that oftentimes it’s easier, and has us feel that at least we’re “doing something”.

I think the “Script” also incentivizes people to ignore the core issues and focus on the symptoms (because it’s comfortable and it’s what everyone else is doing).

And especially with these larger scale problems, like those in government, it can feel a bit overwhelming to address the core issues, especially when there’s a financial incentive to not address the core issue (looking at you Big Pharma).

That said, using systems thinking to understand and discover the core issue is ESSENTIAL to making meaningful, lasting change.

Because at the end of the day, only addressing the SYMPTOMS does not work to solve the problem. It might alleviate it temporarily, but it will continue to persist.

I find this especially exciting when applied on the individual level, and candidly is what underpins much of the impact that I want to have on the world.

Because if we all started to use Systems Thinking to address the different parts of our lives, we’d spend so much less time being distracted by the symptoms, and actually addressing the core issues.

And when we address the core issues, we remove our biggest roadblocks to fulfillment, happiness, and a rich life.

Would love to hear from you: 

What are your thoughts on Systems Thinking? 

How do you apply it in your daily life? 

Or if you hadn’t considered this perspective before, how might it change how you’re going about things?

My Guide to Productivity (Getting More Done With Less Effort)

This blog post started as a suggestion from one of the online communities I'm involved in, NextGen. I'd posted asking for support with time blocking, prioritization, and general productivity principles. People shared some incredible resources with me, and as I thought more about it, I realized how much I've learned in the past few years about my own productivity and getting more done (without totally killing myself).

This article is a mixture of things that have worked for me, and some things that I'm currently in the process of trying. The idea is to make this a living, breathing document that I'll update over time as I try and implement new things.

A note on productivity: When I say productivity, I don't simply mean getting more things done. What I mean is getting more things done in a way that feels easy, fun, and energizing. This isn't a list of time hacks and productivity excel frameworks. Some of it will be mindset related, some spiritual. I think this distinction is important because what's the point of getting more done if you have to kill yourself to do it?

WELL-BEING

There are many ways to define Well-Being, but the way that I use it here is as an all-encompassing term for having your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social needs satisfied. Basically the things you need to do take care of yourself and "feel good" in every sense of the word.

I think this is the most important place to start because it has so many impacts outside of just your productivity. If you did nothing else except get your Well-Being in order, your life would be 10x better (which is exactly what's happened to me).

The other reason why I think this is the place to start is because the QUALITY of your attention + presence is FAR more important than the amount of attention you give something, and the quality of your attention is directly tied to how well you maintain and take care of your Well-Being.

Your attention is a blade you use to cut things. Taking care of yourself sharpens your blade. Not meeting your physical/mental/emotional needs dulls your blade. You can still get stuff done, but it's much harder and takes longer.

SLEEP

If sleep is the only thing you take on as a new habit, your life will change, I promise you. Good sleep hygiene is incredibly important to maximizing the amount of energy you have on a day to day basis.

How I approach sleep:

• I get 7.5-8 hours of sleep every single night.

• I go to sleep at a consistent time (10pm) and wake up at a consistent time (6am).

  • Consistency is THE most important factor in your sleep schedule. Move things if you need to, commit to getting to bed at the same time. This will get easier with time.

• I read 30-60 minutes every night before I go to bed.

  • This calms my brain down and puts me in a mental space where I can fall right asleep.

• I sleep in the cold.

  • Studies show the ideal temperature for sleep is about 64 degrees. I notice a huge difference when I'm sleeping in a hot room: I can’t fall asleep as easily, I’m more likely to wake up, and more likely to have nightmares.

• I wake up with a "progressive" alarm clock. It's an app on my phone (this one) that plays a series of bell sounds, quietly at first, and then progressively louder.

  • Think about it - you're in a deep state of sleep, literally the most vulnerable you can be (biologically speaking). Then all of a sudden RING RING RING RING RING RING, an enormously loud noise jolts you out of sleep. Of course you feel groggy. You go from zero to 100 in half a second. Be kind to yourself in the morning. Wake up slowly + softly.

• I leave my phone on the other side of the room.

  • This is important for three reasons. One, I don't have it near me as I'm in bed getting ready to sleep. Second, I don't have it next to me in the morning as a temptation to check it immediately. And third, I have to physically get up out of bed to turn it off, and once I do that I'm much less likely to get back in bed.

• I drink water as soon as I wake up.

  • Waking up can be hard, and it's easy to fall back asleep. Drinking water "wakes up" parts of you body so that you feel more awake and alert and are less likely to fall back asleep.

Benefit to my productivity: Sleep is THE single greatest determinant of my energy on a day to day basis. It impacts how much I remember from the day before, it impacts how much energy I have the day of, and without it, I cannot operate at 100% efficiency. A good sleep routine takes time to develop, so I’d encourage you to try out just a few things to start and just notice over the course of a few days the difference it makes.

EXERCISE + MOVEMENT

I workout 3-4 times a week in the morning. I’ll get up, eat something small (usually toast with almond butter) and chug water while I read for 30 minutes. This helps my body wake up and also ensures I can go 100% in my workout, which is usually a combination of cardio and body-weight exercises (pushups, squats, pull-ups, etc.).

Benefit to my productivity: Nothing during the day feels all that "hard" if I kicked my own ass working out in the morning, and getting physically grounded into my body first thing keeps me out of my head. This means means I'm less likely to entertain negative thought patterns and can enter flow states and creative states more easily. I also notice that I can sit for longer periods of time without getting stiff or uncomfortable if I incorporate movement + stretching into my day.

NUTRITION

I'm still working on this one, but I try to eat on the healthier side. I avoid sweets, I don't do takeout often, and I avoid anything packaged or highly processed. I avoid buying junk food in the first place because if I don't have it then I'm not tempted to eat it.

• Breakfast

  • I eat the same thing everyday. A fruit smoothie with protein powder. Super easy to throw together, and I can buy ingredients in bulk.

• Lunch + Dinner

  • Usually some variation of a rice bowl with vegetables and a lean protein. Again I eat the same things frequently so I can cook a lot and eat leftovers throughout the week.

• Snacks

  • Carrots, pretzels + hummus, almonds, turkey slices.

• Portion Size

  • I am extremely conscious of portion size. What I notice is that when I overeat, the physical pain of overeating pulls my attention that I could be using on whatever I'm working on.

Benefit to my productivity: First and most importantly, I don't have my energy sapped by eating unhealthy food. Eating packaged things can be easier, but you pay for it later with residual grossness and grogginess. Second, as a bonus I get an energy boost when I'm eating whole, healthy foods.

MENTAL + EMOTIONAL

I am constantly looking at how I can get myself into a higher quality mental and emotional state. Like I said earlier, the quality of your attention is most important component of productivity, and if you’re in your feelings, super disempowered, or distracted, you will not be nearly as effective.

Morning Routine - My morning is arguably THE most important period of my day in terms of setting myself up for success. Every time I skip something in the morning, I pay for it later in the day two-to-three-fold.

• I'm an enormous advocate for what I call "slow mornings". I do not rush my mornings. Even if it means I get a later start than I was expecting.

  • I want to ensure that I am in the BEST possible place when I start working for the day. When I feel rushed I get anxious and overwhelmed more easily, and how the first part of my day goes, the rest of my day goes. By taking my morning slowly and avoid feeling rushed or anxious, I ensure I'm operating at 100% the rest of the day.

• I don't check phone or social media until after I've woken up, showered, eaten, journaled, meditated, and stretched.

  • As soon as I pick up my phone and check social media I'm on someone else's agenda. I want to give myself as much time in the morning to get grounded in ME and what my intentions are for the day.

• I read for about 30 mins in the morning, usually a business book.

  • Great way to warm up my brain and get some learning in at the same time.

Morning Journal Exercises - Everyday I take on a series of journaling exercises.

• I start with a journaling exercise I call "Completion."

  • The idea is that as we go throughout the week, things happen that trigger us. A client fires us, we get in a fight with our significant other. All of these things leave "emotional residue" that sticks around after the physical event is over (when you can't stop thinking about it the next week).

  • Completion for me is sitting down and getting out ALL of the emotional residue that might be lingering from the day or week before. This looks like writing out all of the thoughts/feelings/judgements I have about those past events so that there's nothing left to say and so that my brain can move on.

• I then go through and list out what I'm grateful for and I set my "Expectations" for the day (I think of the best case scenario).

  • Setting expectations means I look at all of the things I have on my calendar for the day, and I write out what I expect to happen, focusing on the best case scenario and outcome (I expect to get hired today, I expect to have a powerful coaching conversation), etc.

• Then I pull open a dance/pump up song while I look through my vision board, which has visual images of what I want to create in my life. Then I read through my email and social media messages

• Benefit to my productivity: This set of exercises is one of the most important things I do for my productivity for a few reasons:

  • Everyday is its own little "energy container". I don't let what happened yesterday or last week impact how I show up today, and so as a result I show up clear, fresh, and much more powerfully. I've had too many weeks ruined because something bad happened on Monday, and I let that event snowball and collect a bunch of other incomplete energy and ruin my week.

  • I "prime" the day with gratitude and new expectations. I find that gratitude is one of the most centering emotions. I also notice that my natural tendency is to expect worst case scenario all the time, so consciously re-writing that helps me attack the day and feel more excited about what's to come.

  • The music I listen to is super upbeat and puts me in a positive mood. This combined with a visual reminder of what I'm out to accomplish reconnects me to my WHY and has me thinking much more strategically + creatively throughout the day. I also feel more resilient because it something negative happens, it's just a small bump in the road in service of a grander vision.

Breaks + Rest

• I build in rest breaks throughout the day, usually 30 minutes around 10/11, and then another 30-60 minutes in the early afternoon for lunch.

• Benefit to my productivity: Without scheduled breaks, I'm liable to work ALL day, nonstop. Building breaks in forces me to stop working, to take a break, and re-center if necessary. It also makes my energy more sustained throughout the day, like running short, fast sprints with rest breaks in between.

Boundaries (Start + Stop Working)

• I generally stop working at around 6, and don't usually start until 9.

• Benefit to my productivity: I like waking up early, but again I don't want to rush my morning. I start working when I feel ready, and then I stop myself at about 6pm. I used to work days that would be 8am-8pm nonstop, and I would be overwhelmed ALL of the time. I love working, but I don't want to work all the time. It's a myth that more time = more results, so I'm figuring out how to get what I want WITHIN the confines of the lifestyle I care about.

INTEGRITY

Integrity is SUPER important to productivity (and to living a well-balanced life). I'd argue that next to Well-Being, integrity has made the biggest difference for me from a personal power and productivity perspective. Now what exactly do I mean by integrity?

A bicycle wheel falls apart when there aren't enough spokes to keep the shape and workability of the wheel in order. Your commitments and projects (the wheel) will fall apart when your words, thoughts, and behavior (the spokes) are not aligned.

Another way to think about this is the ratio of the number of promises made, to the number of promises broken. The closer the promises broken number is to zero, the more you are in integrity. And by broken promises I mean every time that you :

• Tell yourself that you're going to do something without a defined deadline

• Tell yourself you'll complete something by a deadline and then don't complete it

• Tell someone else that you'll complete something by a deadline and then don't complete it

Every time that you're out of integrity with a promise or commitment you made, that's an "integrity leak." You've probably experienced this before when you're behind on a bunch of things/projects/deadlines, you haven't had time to exercise, and you haven't been sleeping very much - how does that feel? You usually feel small, disempowered, overwhelmed. Not very productive or powerful.

A big part of true productivity is repairing these integrity leaks, i.e. repairing the spokes on your work tire so that it rolls better and more efficiently. I sit down every so often when I'm feeling overwhelmed and ask myself "Where am I out of integrity within my commitments?" and I write out all of the places. Then I make a list of actions, and I take on those actions to get back into integrity.

In the past I've even made this a recurring process, where every Sunday I would sit down and do an an "integrity" audit so that I was consistently staying on top of it.

The other reason this is important for productivity and creating bigger results is that it builds self-trust. The more promises you make and also keep, the more that you learn to trust yourself. So that instead of your goals passing you by or falling off the radar, when you make a promise to create a result, you know in your bones that you're going to keep that promise to yourself and do whatever's necessary to create it

As you reach the next level of output + results, you will have to create new integrity structures. It's a never ending process.

TIME MANAGEMENT + STRUCTURE

This is the place I'm starting to play around and experiment, because now that I finally have my well-being and integrity in order. If I didn't, it actually wouldn't make any sense to experiment with these next strategies because the foundations of my productivity wouldn't be set and solid.

Trying to truly improve your productivity by time-blocking and "productivity hacks" alone while ignoring your well-being and integrity is like trying to build a house on a rickety foundation. It might look fancy from the outside, but you're not going to be able to build it very tall and any minor storm that comes through is going to decimate the house.

• Quarterly, Weekly, Daily Planning

  • At the beginning of each year I sit down and create a list of goals for the year, which I then break down into each quarter, and then into each month.

  • At the beginning of each month, I sit down and take a look at what I need to be taking on on a weekly basis.

  • At the beginning of each week, I sit down and take a look at what I need to take on on a daily basis.

  • At the end of each day, I sit down and get clear on the top three most important things I need to accomplish the day after.

  • Super simple, super straightforward. I use Notion to track these goals, but you could use Excel, Word, a notepad, literally anything. What's important is that you're clear on the overall goals and the monthly/weekly/daily things you need to be doing in order to hit those goals. The key here is clarity and transparency.

    • Benefit to my productivity: This process let's me know where I'm going. If I align my actions each day, week, and month with the goals I've outlined for the year, then I know that I'm headed in the right direction. Having unclear or unarticulated goals has in the past led me to feel like "I'm not doing enough" on a daily basis.

• Time-Blocking Instead Of A To-Do List

  • This is a very recent shift for me, but I've started to schedule my weeks with large time blocks. Before, I had no clear organization or "buckets" for my time. I would just take calls, write content, and do all of my other business development activity whenever it happened to be scheduled, and then would try and check off my "to-do" list in the spaces in-between. In addition, my to-do list was unorganized. It did not delineate between level of importance or "type" of task. It was highly inefficient, and like the lack of clear goals led me to feel like I wasn't "doing enough" each week.

  • To start this process, I sat down and created three time buckets: 1. Utmost importance, non-negotiable, 2. Still important, but negotiable, 3. Least important.

    • I then looked at all of the activities and commitments in my life and my business, and started to categorize them by importance, along with the gross amount of time it would take each week

    • I then looked at how I wanted to structure my week and pour out the buckets. For example Mondays I don't do calls, so I block off the morning for content creation, and the afternoon for podcast work. Tuesday-Thursday, I have a mixture of team calls, coaching clients, and room for business development activities. Friday tends to be a catch all

    • I then went in on my calendar and physically blocked off the time periods when I wanted to be working on certain things to ensure that time was accounted for, and so I wouldn't schedule anything on top of it

    • When the time block comes up, I pull up a smaller "to-do" list specifically for that activity or project (i.e. all of my website to-do's are grouped together, so I only work on my website when I have time set aside for it)

  • I also perform a semi-regular "time + energy" audit. Basically I note on a day to day basis what's working in my scheduling, what isn't working, and where I can improve. Then every Sunday, I go through my audit notes from the week prior and make the necessary updates on the calendar for the coming weeks.

  • A few other key things I've noticed:

    • Once you've set your goals for the day/week, do NOT add more. This very quickly turns into an experience where you feel like you're never doing enough because you keep adding things to do. Recipe for burnout and overwhelm

    • I have to stay on top of updating my calendar scheduling app to reflect changes I've made in my weekly calendar and to stop people from scheduling when I don't want them to. I've also capped the number of meetings people can create via my app (I use Calendly), and they have to schedule at least 48 hours in advance.

  • Benefit to my productivity: Time-blocking has been an absolute GAME CHANGER.

    • I am more consistently hitting the goals I've set out for myself. Because I'm clear on how much time I'm spending each week in each area of my business to drive it forward, I'm more consistently achieving the results that I set out to (instead of getting lost in the chaos of the week).

    • I'm more present with each activity I take on. I'm clear on what I'm doing when and for how long, which helps me just focus on the thing directly in front of me. It also means that the quality of my attention is better and tasks get done faster.

    • I spend less time "spinning my wheels". Sometimes I would find myself looking for more things to do or unsure of what to take on next. This system allows me to be super clear about when I'm done and what I should be doing each hour of the day.

    • I spend more time in deep focus. There's a transition cost to switching rapidly between different types of tasks. It contributes to fatigue and you wear out more easily. Because I spend hours focused on the same kind of task/area, I find myself more frequently in the zone and in flow.

• Distractions

  • Being connected all the time can be great, but it can also be insidious. In my quest for productivity and focus, I've come across some other distraction hacks that have done wonders for me:

    • White Noise - I use Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones and I listen to WhiteNoise while I work. It takes some getting used to, but now it's hard for me to do good quality work without them. It completely blocks out all other noises and lets me be 100% focused on what I'm doing.

    • Just Focus site blocking app - This is a Chrome extension that allows you to block certain URLs for a period of time. I try and use this on a daily basis to block sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and also my email. It's helpful to use because when you unconsciously click on a social media site, you're reminded of what you're supposed to be doing.

    • Email blocking - I'm getting better at this, but I'm trying to limit my email time to short segments at 9am and 4pm. What I find is that it's easy to get sucked into answering emails consistently throughout the day, and it makes me feel like I'm "busy", when I'm not really being all that productive. Also email tends to be a list of what other people want/their priorities. You can't do without it, but I think it's better to limit it to short, pre-determined time periods. (And no one's going to die because you didn't get back to them in an hour).

    • Phone out of sight - I put my phone on the other side of the room when I'm working so that I can't see it. I notice that even having it in my peripheral vision makes me more likely to pick it up and check it and get distracted from what I'm doing.

    • Phone hacks - I've turned off ALL notifications on my phone, which has been a goddamn god send. I have the Do Not Disturb function turned on almost all of the time, which means I won't get push notifications from calls or messages. I also have put all my social media + email apps in a folder on the last page of my phone, which makes me less likely to check them.

  • Benefits to my productivity: All of these activities can be great by themselves, but combined they are SUPER powerful. It's interesting when you start to notice how easy it is to get distracted and not give 100% of your full attention to whatever it is you're doing. Producing twice the results with half the effort comes from noticing where you can be more intentional and focused with your attention, and blocking distractions is a big piece of that.

MINDSET + OTHERS

• I wanted to mention a few other components. Some of these are mindset tweaks that I (unfortunately) can't give you direct access to via strategy, but I think are important to develop over time in order to be more productive.

  • Good enough is good enough - I'm notorious for being a perfectionist. One thing I work to become more aware of is when I let perfection get in the way of good enough. Speed over perfection is the name of the game in entrepreneurship, and the small bits of time you spend trying to make things perfect will add up

  • Systematize - I'm always on the lookout for ways that I can start to "systematize" my processes and the things that I'm up to. One way I'm starting to do this is batching my content. Before, I would wake up in the morning and be like "what am I going to post today." Not a great intentional use of time and highly inefficient. Now I plan out all of my content for the month and sit down and create it in one sitting. It's labor intensive, but I benefit from economies of scale. I get super focused on cranking out content and it's easier to do, instead of "switching into content mode" every other day

  • Radical Transparency - where am I taking on activities that aren't producing the return I'd like them to? Where are the "candy" actions? They taste good and make you feel productive but aren't all that impactful

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I hope you found some nuggets of goodness inside all of this. Well-being and taking better care of myself has become extremely important to me in the last two years, as I come to realize how much hell I put my body and mind through for most of my adult life.

The best part of all of this is that while this guide is written with productivity + better results in mind, the impacts extend into every other area of life. My life experience on the whole has gotten tremendously better as a result of these practices and structures I've put into place, and I look forward to learning even more.

If anything in particular resonated with you, or if you have any questions on any of these pieces, would love to connect with you! Feel free to drop me a line - Hayden@haydenhumphrey.com