5 Productivity Myths Wasting Your Time

There are a lot of productivity tips out there. Some of them are… let’s say… not that helpful. So in this video I discuss 5 productivity myths. Enjoy.

TIMESTAMPS
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00:00 Myth #1
02:08 Myth #2
03:23 Myth #3
04:51 Myth #4
06:39 Myth #5

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[tspmcfarlane]

Great to hear someone frame productivity as something integral to all aspects of life rather than just a narrow metric of your paid work/business. Really important. Fantastic video.

[meeluanistyn]

There are several managers I’ve worked for over the years who definitely equate productivity with speed and efficiency. This video should be mandatory for all managers!

[DanielGTaylor]

Loved your latest video, Peter. 💝Producitivity can be defined as identifying and working on your priorities and delegating all else. 🎯

[JothamLec]

Regardless of what systems or tools to go for, the bottleneck will always be the execution.
Planning yields the most returns when it’s thinking about what to do rather than how or when to do it.


The fact that task/time management systems are often contradictory is a sign of its subjectiveness.

“Getting Things Done advocates a policy of immediately doing any task of two minutes or less as soon as it comes to mind. Rival bestseller Eat That Frog! advises beginning with the most difficult task and moving toward easier and easier things.

The Now Habit suggests first scheduling one’s social engagements and leisure time and then filling the gaps with work—rather than the other way around, as we so often do. William James, the “father of American psychology, ” asserts that “there’s nothing so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task, ” but Frank Partnoy, in Wait, makes the case for deliberately not doing things right away.”

Excerpt From
Algorithms to Live By
Brian Christian

[carlstevenwilletts]

Being productive and effective in your work allows you to completely switch off from it and truly enjoy your leisure time. There's nothing worse than having free time, and having those niggling thoughts that you haven't done everything your should have done.

[stevewright]

I wonder if there is any information on productivity at work, meaning I’m not self-employed. Every day, the majority of my “goals” are set for me. I understand that a productivity system can be applied to “regular” work, I would like to see more about how to be productive in that space, where my goals are basically my employer’s goals. How do I get through work and tasks that I’m not thrilled about? How do I balance communication interruptions and demands from my manager and coworkers, while still getting through the work I need to today? So many productivity YouTube channels are created by those who are working for themselves with that kind of mindset, and their systems are find for my personal life, but not that great for my work life. (Sorry, I think this is off-topic for this video!)

[heartframesTV]

Solang du nach dem Glücke jagst,
Bist du nicht reif zum Glücklichsein,
Und wäre alles Liebste dein.

Solang du um Verlornes klagst
Und Ziele hast und rastlos bist,
Weißt du noch nicht, was Friede ist.

Erst wenn du jedem Wunsch entsagst,
Nicht Ziel mehr noch Begehren kennst,
Das Glück nicht mehr mit Namen nennst,

Dann reicht dir des Geschehens Flut
Nicht mehr ans Herz - und deine Seele ruht.

Hermann Hesse

As long as you are chasing happiness,
You are not ripe for happiness,
Even if all that is dearest would be yours.

As long as you lament for loss
And have goals and are restless,
You do not yet know what peace is.

Only when you renounce every desire,
No more goal, no more desire,
You no longer call happiness by name,

Then the tide of events
No longer reaches your heart - and your soul rests.

[macpretorians]

I follow the principles of GTD thanks to Omnifocus. Unfortunately, I have one problem. When I go to visit my family everything falls apart. I can't figure it out then. Any advice?

[KasterMinchew]

Debunking what doesn’t actually help.

[none]

I have a good tip for keeping your task management aligned with your goals.

The moment you capture a task, if it is a task that is related to moving one of your life's needles, denote it with this emoji. 🪡

Ex:

Take out the trash
Sign up for pilots license lessons 🪡
Return Amazon item
Try a cold shower

Then, when you're plucking tasks to focus on out of your task list, focus on your needle-moving tasks FIRST. Because why would you be electing to work on anything but the things that are the most impactful to getting you nearer the person you want to be in life?

And, the more your task manager invariably becomes fuller with tasks over time, the more beneficial it becomes to have your needle-moving tasks flagged and jumping out at you.

It becomes one less thing to juggle. You don't end up looking at your tasks going "What's important, or best to work on?" It's right there for you, conveniently marked by your past self.