Things I need to do to stay maximally productive (I forget these frequently)

I like being productive, it makes me not hate myself. dw I like having fun too, but I wanna feel like I’ve really exhausted myself being productive so that having fun really pays off. I don’t like having fun if I’ve not worked enough.

Things I need to do to stay maximally productive (I forget these frequently)

Go to the gym

Reasons to consider:

  1. The endorphin rush is real, mood is elevated, you start feeling good. This was so vague to me when I used to hear it from other people. During COVID WFH I worked out a lot and I’d always find myself being chirpier, singing songs, having fun & being talkative with friends & family if I met them right after the gym and that for me signals elevation of mood
  2. Energy levels post workout are higher. Again goes back to being chirpier, being talkative & generally just thinking let’s get this shit done
  3. I feel productive by doing it. Let’s face it going to the gym is like any other task and if you do it you get to cut off a task from your todo list.
  4. It is absolutely the 1 thing in my life that I love If not feeling like it, watch a workout video on the youtube: Omar Isuf / Jeff Nippard / Arnold / Saket Gokhale. These are some youtubers I like to watch.

Drink some coffee in the morning with / without protein

Helps me stay awake in the afternoon. Huberman’s golden rule is to drink after 90 minutes of waking up so try to stick to that

Keep phone away in another room.

Another thing to add here is to turn on self control for ~12 hours. I think we all struggle with scrolling X, this is one way to avoid it.

If not getting motivation

1. Watching Naval / anyone else you respect

2. Watch Striver for leetcode motivation.

Always make a to-do list for the day

Even if you miss tasks, considering you complete > 60% tasks, treat the day as a win. Another thing that I’ve found helpful is, to estimate the time required for a task & write it down on your todo list. If a task takes ~5 minutes, do it right away. Then do other tasks in ascending order of time required.

Set a pomodoro timer

I usually set one for 30 minutes + 5 minutes break, and if I’m flowing, then I hit multiple sessions back to back. Always respect the timer and don’t do anything else apart from productive work during this time.

Put on binaural 60 hz augmented gamma beats

or whatever the hell it’s called. I’ve heard it helps with focus. I usually put it on, maybe placebo but helps.