Changing yourself changes everything — Bryant Mcgill

On a regular morning, you’d find Nayeem Hossain riding his bike— zooming past pedestrians & the morning crowd. Nayeem wakes up early to exercise, read & pray. He then goes to work. But unlike most people, Nayeem’s job is not about just one company — he owns and runs 16!

An entrepreneur as busy as Nayeem can get occupied with work for hours. But he doesn’t do that either. Nayeem usually wraps up work by 6 AM and spends the evening networking & with his family.

And guess what, throughout the rather hectic day, you’d find him cracking jokes and smiling. He works like a machine and truly loves it.

How can he be so productive when most people happen to struggle with one job or goal?

And the main question is, how can you be more productive (if that’s what you want to do) to achieve more in life?

“Ordinary people think merely of spending time, great people think of using it.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

How to be more Productive — Which way is Right for You?

Before you try & reinvent the wheel, try to sort through the existing productivity techniques to find what fits you. Check them out with an open mind to shortlist the solutions that work for you.

1. Learn Five productivity hacks including the POMODORO technique & Habit Stacking
2. Multitask like a boss (like Jack Dorsey) by creating themed days & task batching
3. Own your time with time blocking
4. Use the “Rule of Three” by JD Meier or the “Two-minute rule” by David Allen
5. Know & utilize your biological prime time
6. Get a productivity planner
7. Try other techniques like the Cynefin

However, it’s possible that despite using all the right techniques, you’d still be struggling to get things done. The answer to that lies in understanding how your motivation works.

This is where most people make the mistake. The techniques would make you more productive, but you’d need to have compelling reasons to do the work.

The Ultimate Secret — Balance Your Fire & Ice

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” — Stephen Covey

As Tony Robbins rightly suggests, we are motivated by two things — the allure of pleasure and the potential of pain. All of your life decisions can be traced back to these two emotions.

Maybe you are finding yourself stuck in your comfort zone at work. You know you should strive for more as that’d be better for your career. But the pleasure of comfort zone is too much to ignore.

Or you find yourself working on your side hustle from 5 to 9 because you hate the pain of being stuck & not building a great future. You sacrifice your time & rest to avoid that potential pain.

How you can use this principle to your advantage

Being productive starts with the simple act of getting motivated to do those things. Motivation can keep your mind interested in the task. You can’t be productive if you find the task uninspiring & painful.

• Find the reason you are looking to do the task. You might be pushing a new project at work to increase your company’s revenue.
• List five reasons why doing that project will be pleasurable for you. For the example above, the project will give you a sense of accomplishment, may earn you a reward (raise/bonus/promotion), will make you acquainted with more people in the company, help you feel that you are utilizing your time properly, and will increase company’s revenue.
• Write down five potential pains you’d have if you don’t do the project. In the case of the work project, it’d mean your company losing an opportunity, you might not get enough traction in your career without the project, etc.
• Use both lists to understand what good things you’ll get and what you will avoid by doing the project. This exercise will help you get going.

Final Thoughts & Next Steps on How to be More Productive

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” — Pablo Picasso

The more you do something, the better your chances of succeeding will be. But to get to the routine of repeating a task, you’d need a goal you like. Form that by finding pleasure & pains in that goal to achieve ultimate success.

This article was first published in Illumination publication.