What I Learned From Reading 100+ Productivity Articles

Stop reading productivity articles and start taking action, but make an exception for this article

Photo by Darya Ivanchuk on Unsplash

Here’s the shorter version:

• Focus on only one thing.
• Focus on quantity, rather than quality. Accept the fact that you cannot master a skill without practice.
• Focus on the process, rather than the result. Let’s say, you want to master trading, but you cannot start making profits on the first day, it will take some time, but believe the process.
• Set a deadline for your tasks. I have committed myself to write at least one article every week.
• Do deep work. Keep your phone away when you’re doing work, you’ll be amazed by how much you can achieve through deep work.
• Consistency
• Do what you like. If you don’t like what you’re doing right now, shift to something that you like.
• Don’t rush into things, take time, it’s ok to take time, we cannot become an expert in one day.
• Start taking action, it’s ok to fail or do it wrong, you’ll learn on the way. I am not an expert writer, but I started writing and taking courses on writing.

Here’s my story:

Focus on only one thing:

I wanted to do lots of things, but you cannot do everything. Here are the lists of the things that I wanted to do in my life.

• I want to start a YouTube channel.
• I want to start a Technical blog.
• I want to start a small hotel.
• I want to start trading and make a profit.
• I want to be a singer and dancer.
• I want to get into DataScience and Quantum Programming.
• I want to learn Mathematics, especially Linear Algebra.
• I want to be better at data structures and algorithms.
• Etc…

Did you see, is it possible to do everything?

No right, so pick one and start focusing on that.

Focus on quantity, rather than quality:

We have to reduce the friction to our goals.

This is how I write articles on Medium, I will think of a topic and start writing, and that’s it.

I can be able to write, because I have knowledge or experience on the topic, that I write about.

If you have to do research or learn about the topic, then you’ll feel demotivated.

So, start leveraging what you know and slowly move into unknown territories.

Focus on the process, rather than the result:

So far, I have written three articles on Medium, and I have zero followers and 20 views.

I am not expecting any big hit from these articles, because I know it will take time to get to the point, where my articles will be read by millions of people.

Set a deadline for your tasks:

I am working as a Software Developer, in our company, there is no deadline, but we will take responsibility to complete them within a reasonable timeframe.

Because of the responsibility, I am motivated and can able to do the tasks.

For your side hustles, nobody is there to motivate you or guide you on what needs to be done.

So, what will motivate you is, the deadlines you set up for yourself.

Deep work:

This is very much important.

In my early days of programming, I used to program while listening to songs. I will start my work by seven in the morning and will end it by 9 PM.

I am not being productive, then I started experimenting with deep work, I will not hear songs during programming, and I will be fully focused on my work during office hours.

As expected, I can be able to complete the planned tasks for the day and at the same time, I am not being burned down by 14 hours of work.

Allocate time for your activities and focus on that only, no side activities.

Consistency:

Am I a consistent person? No, but I was trying to be

When I want to learn new things, I will spend an insane number of hours continuously without rest. This leads me to burnout and eventually, I lose the motivation to continue further.

Instead of trying to learn it in one short, split the learnings into days, and eventually, you’ll be able to complete it without losing motivation.

One step at a time daily

Do what you like:

I started my career as a Senior Sales Executive, at Cothas Coffee. I worked as a Marketer for 1.5 years.

Did I like my job as a Marketer? No, marketing is not for me, but I like programming very much, the power of creation in your hands.

So, I learned to program and shifted to Software Developer.

If I can’t able to sustain 1.5 years as a marketer, how will I be able to lead the rest of my life?

Don’t rush into things, take time:

Fear of missing out (FoMO) is what I call rushing into things.

Have you had thoughts like,

• This is the right time to start YouTube Channel, if you don’t start now, then you will miss the market.
• If you don’t invest right now, you cannot make more profit.
• Data Science is getting popular, I have to learn it now to be one step ahead of others.

Don’t let the market put pressure on your progress or don’t change your goals because of the market.

Conclusion:

Start now, slowly and steadily wins the race.

Feel free to leave your suggestions/improvements.

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