No matter what specific occupation you may be involved in with regards to your day job, and no matter what hobbies and personal responsibilities you may have, you will inevitably have various things that you need to get done on a regular basis – and other things that you want to get done for your own sense of well-being.
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Time is precious, and no one lives forever. On some level, we all understand and acknowledge these facts, and this is no doubt a major part of the reason why there is such a big industry for tips on boosting productivity, among other things. At the same time, though, if you are constantly “grinding,” and “hustling,” in order to try and get as many things done as possible, and to be as productive as possible, at all times, there is a real risk that you might go crazy.
Life needs balance, and no one wants to feel as though they are totally trapped by their schedule or routine, or as though they don’t have the freedom to live their life with a bit of spontaneity – or even just the opportunity to relax from time to time. So, without further ado, here are a handful of tips for getting things done without going insane.
Structure your environment to support whatever it is you’re trying to achieve
As a general rule, people very often focus on willpower and discipline, first and foremost, whenever they want to become more productive, or to get more things done over the course of their everyday lives. While willpower and discipline certainly have their place, however, trying to force yourself to do things over and over again, while “swimming upstream,” is not a good recipe for a sustainable approach or one that is likely to leave you feeling too positive as a rule.
One key factor in how much you get done on a daily basis – and the kinds of things you manage to get done, for that matter – is the structure and layout of your immediate environment. If your home environment is cluttered and chaotic, you’ll likely find it significantly harder to get yourself motivated to do anything much at all, partly due to the fact that you will likely be experiencing a substantial degree of “passive exhaustion” just by being in the place, and being constantly aware, on a deep level, that you’ve got a lot of tidying up to do.
By the same token, if “productivity” for you requires the Internet, but your home or office Internet connection is terrible, then it should go without saying that upgrading or switching to something like satellite internet might be a real game-changer with regards to reducing friction, and helping to streamline the process of “getting things done.”
Whatever it is you’re working on, always emphasize good sleep and good nutrition
For the sake of boosting productivity, huge numbers of people regularly sacrifice sleep, pass up on proper meals in favour of on-the-go snacking, and slip into daily routines that are totally sedentary, as well. It’s easy to see how sleep ends up becoming downplayed in the pursuit of ever-greater levels of productivity. After all, when you’re asleep you’re not “achieving” anything tangible, and sleep is relaxing and pleasurable – which means that it can end up feeling like a luxury.
No doubt for these reasons, among others, public figures ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger to highflying business moguls, have come out in favour of sleeping less, or “sleeping faster,” often with an accusatory tone suggesting that anyone who gets the recommended eight or more hours of sleep a night is unmotivated and lazy. The reality, however, is that making sure that you get enough sleep – and high-quality sleep, at that – each night in order to feel rested, is one of the very best things you can do if you want to be operating at peak performance, or anything even close to it.
Researchers continue to find more and more evidence that sleep is essential for both mental and physical function, and that even moderate sleep deprivation severely impairs our ability to focus, our motivation to do anything, and our capacity to function effectively. The same point can be made for nutrition, although maybe not quite as straightforwardly. Whatever it is you’re working on, always emphasize good sleep and good nutrition. You’ll get a lot more done, you’ll have much more vitality, and you will be a lot healthier and happier, too.
Focus on systems and habits, rather than on goals
Serial entrepreneur and Dilbert cartoonist, Scott Adams, has gone on record saying that he believes “goals are for losers, systems are for winners.” Taking this idea and running with it, the writer James Clear has emphasised the importance of daily systems and habits over things like big ambitious goals. His book, “Atomic Habits,” is all about this concept. So, how can focusing on systems and habits, rather than goals, help you to get more done?
Well, think of it like this: virtually all goals that end up getting achieved, are only achieved thanks to the accumulation of repeated, relatively small, daily actions. But focusing on the goals themselves is likely to cause you to become fixated with some point in the future that you don’t have real control over. If you can get yourself into the habit of carrying out a few effective routines every day, you can end up getting a lot done, without having to experience existential crises as you go along.
Try to keep things simple, and avoid overwhelming yourself with excessive options and decisions
Every time you have to make a decision or select from among a number of different options, you will experience some degree of frustration and fatigue. If you have too many of these decisions to make on a daily basis – even if they are about relatively small things – you can expect to be hit by “analysis paralysis, and to lose momentum as a result.
In fact, psychologists have found that at some point, having more choices dramatically increases the chance that an individual will opt to make no choice at all. Try to keep things simple, and avoid overwhelming yourself with excessive options and decisions. That way, you can get more done without getting so stressed and distracted.
