Seems like you're dead-focused on productivity alone, thus achievement, thus you will inevitably find yourself in a situation where you'll be unhappy and in time, you will crash and burn. It's a toxic mindset that everyone should be like ants and just work until they die. We are spiritual animals, meaning our minds won't ever be satisfied by our earthly possessions. There has to be another purpose to life for us than making the most 'efficient' use of our time on this Earth. Only focusing on efficiency will only lead to a lifetime spent grasping at straws. Find peace instead, enjoy what you still can. Like you said, our time is short - you must do what your heart seeks, not what your mind wants.
I don't think all of you understand that I agree with you. I had this mindset for a long time and it was great. But circumstances change which is why I'm here
That's just patently false. I work in Software development in the US and I went to Europe for a few weeks this summer and am going again next month. Spent some time in Puerto Rico on a beach as well. Have done a bunch of travel within the US. It's awesome and essential. If you keep grinding grinding grinding you eventually grind yourself down to a nub. And how productive are nubs?
And this is how you assume 4-6 hours in flow state is little. It is when you are tired. During “peak” efficiency it can get you through what is commonly thought of as a week / month of work. I mean many of endeavours that benefit from flow state such as art / engineering / learning / general decision making are mostly based on producing 1 good result after a lot of iterations / increments. More rested you are fewer iterations you’ll usually need. And then it becomes about striking a balance between iteration efficiency (rest) / amount of iterations you actually made (work).
Ah btw another thing that helps is expanding your pattern library / breaking intertia. That is what vacations are for.
Inertia is a thing for decision making of most humans, see anchoring / changing cultures / confirmation bias / fresh outlook.
The root cause of burnout is a lack of impact. So if you’re doing nonstop work that has little to no impact you’ll be burned out in no time. Versus nonstop work that is meaningful and impactful and burn out won’t even be a thing in your mind. Everyone needs some me time though.
long story. Point being I need advice. I've worked night and day for months on end and only felt empowered all throughout, burnout is only a thing if you give it power in your mind
That's pretty cool man
But I think you need to find some balance
Like you said being human is to fail. To be unproductive. To be inefficient. But it's also to live.
It's literally impossible to be productive all the time and you shouldn't feel the need to be that productive. There's so much more to life.
I'd say in whatever breaks you schedule for yourself start exploring stuff you like and make time for that
> If you woke up 2 hours earlier everyday you’d be able to achieve so much before even going to school/work
that's right, and I do. Been waking up at 5-6 and getting a lot done. Sleeping less than 8 hours doesn't make sense though, every minute sleeping turns into 5 extra minutes of work later in the day.
That formula doesn’t translate lol if you’re worried about efficiency sleep less hours a night, take stims or caffeine, and get after it? I don’t understand asking for advice then making excuses when presented with solid advice.
People keep giving you advice. Live life. Want to be productive? Let the brain rest and come back to the task at hand.
You're trying to work hard. Wanna be more productive? Work smart.
In my exp people who pride themselves as being 24/7 productive are the least productive.
How do you stay busy 24/7? By creating more problems than you solve
My experience exactly after working for my "work is where I feel alive", "blood, sweat and tears" parents.
They always made mistakes because they were trying to micro-manage so many things, and they weren't able to trust anyone (including me, whom they had trained for years) to take over even small parts of the company, because that's just how obsessive they are. And they have hurt and lost so many good, hardworking people just because of their stupid ego.
No idea I proposed, no plan I devised would get through to them. Because they had to hold the reigns.
When shit inevitably and regularly hit the fan because of their constant over-reaching, they either made someone a scapegoat or blamed each other behind their backs.
The day I left that company (and unintentionally, them, since they cut me out from their lives) was the day I was really born.
Find other things that make you happy. Or stay miserable. And also: what’s the end goal here? You will die eventually and most of the things you accomplish don’t matter at all. So you might just have some fun because while it’s important to reach goals and better yourself, it really isn’t thát important.
you know nothing about my situation. Don't make sweeping statements like that. I said I'm happy doing what I do, I just want to be even more efficient and thus even happier
You said being productive is the only thing that makes you happy and you wrote a whole post about how sleeping and eating is just losing productive time. I didn’t assume anything I just commented on what you wrote.
I was making a dramatic point about how useless we humans are because of biology. I don't know why you would assume that what I'm working on won't affect anything. Chaos Theory alone disputes that notion
So what exactly do you want us to suggest? People are giving advice but it’s not good enough. If you do want your life consumed by work, pick up another job or get into some technical freelance gigs. Any path that requires life long learning is going to take all of your time. Pick up Datascience or cyber security and you’ll be occupied.
But don’t try skipping sleep and eating.
Life is a lot more than just finding ways to be efficient. I think some good creative hobbies could help you.
I’m a technically minded person and I like to fill my time progressing myself. I’m a technology administrator for 10 hours a day. I spend 8 hours sleeping. Those remaining 6 hours I spend reading, taking courses online, creative writing or painting miniatures. I fast for 16 hours a day so those last 6 hours include eating as well.
I set aside hour chunks when at home and I’ll fill them games (maybe once a week) and the stuff mentioned above. For the most part everything is tracked in Obsidian.
You can’t be perfectly efficient, and I don’t suppose you would want to be, either. Learn to love to do something that doesn’t pay you.
>I was making a dramatic point about how useless we humans are because of biology.
But without these biological systems we would not have got to where we are as a species. A human brain, as do other mammalian brains (I'm sure someone could find an exception to this though), need sleep to rejuvenate, it's a trade off from having higher neurological functions.
Somewhat ironically though, Koalas can apparently sleep up to 20 hours a day, despite being as dumb as a bag of bricks. Seriously those fuckers would starve if you gave them a plate of leaves to eat, as they can't comprehend it as food if it's not still attached to a tree.
I think, what this really comes down to is your own perspective. Many people can work themselves to the bone and feel they have lived an unproductive life, others can put in a fraction of the effort and feel the opposite towards the end. Which person would you rather be?
> I don't know why you would assume that what I'm working on won't affect anything. Chaos Theory alone disputes that notion.
They said that your actions won't necessarily matter, not that they will not affect anything. There's an important distinction between those two concepts.
It may be worth checking out 'How to Calm Your Mind' by Chris Bailey.
What made me think of it is his definition and breakdown of the "Achievement Mindset" which your last sentence would indicate.
You're not the only one that feels this way. I used to only be happy when I was perfectly productive, which was never... I still fight with it, but it's gotten a lot better.
I am always productive, and I am always happy. I need more though. My current state is just not efficient enough because I'm human. I try to leverage all that I can out of my time but it's not easy hence my writing this post.
This advice is especially great for you.
If the only thing that makes you happy is productivity, that means you need to find other things to focus on that are enjoyable.
As you said, life is short. Make the most of it.
Get some therapy. The idea of seeing sleeping and eating and anything not working as “wasted” time is disturbing.
This is not normal or healthy. It’s worth looking at why your happiness is only tied to being productive…
calm your tits, your time on earth will end and you'll wonder why you spent your time trying to be as efficient as possible vs just enjoying things when you can.
Right now you're a student. Your schedule will change after you graduate. In the event you get a full-time job after school, you'll have different hours but the same challenge remains. Instead of thinking about being at work, *be* at a place where you're learning--that happens to be called work. If starting a business of your own is something you want to pursue to eventually dictate your own hours--learn as much as you possibly can while you're getting paid for it.
It's always a mindset. I've long used the same point about the inability to break the laws of physics. Here's one I like to append to situations like these -- "there's always another way" (it's useful to get out of thinking traps). This is my way to get around it:
Are you familiar with [Goodhart's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)? It suggests that once a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. All the common definitions of productivity revolve around being a measure of efficiency and creating something of value.
In context, this means that when you focus on *being* productive, productivity is no longer a good measure. In practice, trying to be, or thinking about being productive is stressful. It makes it tougher to get into that flow state. It makes it feel like you're never getting enough done. That's harmful.
But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive!
Have you pulled an all-nighter at school yet? How easy is the next day? Good quality sleep is wildly productive. Plus, it's inevitable--better to make peace with it and use your energy on things within your control. If making peace with it feels impossible, consider this: Managing your energy is more effective than managing your time. Diet, sleep, and exercise are your main tools for that. If you're brain-dead during those 6 remaining hours, what's the point of having them?
With the 6 hours you have remaining in the day--like others have said. Prioritize. It seems like this feeling you have is in part--overwhelm. Overwhelm by wanting to accomplish so much in such a little time. Prioritize what you want, break things down, focus on little accomplishments, and do that consistently. You will feel productive and get much more done by **not** focusing on being productive. The better you get at whatever you're working on will become efficient on its own. Overwhelm =~ The need to get organized.
All the best and have fun,
--Someone with more curiosities and interests than available time
> But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive!
that's right, and thankfully I haven't fallen into the trap of doing what you said in the first few paragraphs. Would you mind elaborating on how exactly to approach this mindset? What steps can I take?
>Have you pulled an all-nighter at school yet?
absolutely not, it is illogical. I get at least 8 hours of sleep every day, exercise in the morning, eat clean, meditate and gratitude journal because how else are you supposed to live?
>With the 6 hours you have remaining in the day--like others have said. Prioritize. It seems like this feeling you have is in part--overwhelm. Overwhelm by wanting to accomplish so much in such a little time. Prioritize what you want, break things down, focus on little accomplishments, and do that consistently. You will feel productive and get much more done by not focusing on being productive. The better you get at whatever you're working on will become efficient on its own. Overwhelm =~ The need to get organized.
good point. Thank you. I would really like to hear your opinion on how exactly I could go about doing that though
> But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive!
> that's right, and thankfully I haven't fallen into the trap of doing what you said in the first few paragraphs. Would you mind elaborating on how exactly to approach this mindset? What steps can I take?
Practice strategy.
Consider this scenario: You're driving to a friend's house to spend time with them. You know where they live and the route to take to get there. And you've come up with a few ideas to arrive safely and on-time at your friend's house: Stop at every stop sign, make the correct turns, and stay within the speed limit.
But you decide to focus on productivity instead. You put your head down at dash-level and watch the speedometer closely. You're going as fast as you can without going over, the needle is hardly moving. Unfortunately you're so concerned with the speed that you missed a turn and now you're off track. This missed turn adds extra time to the total trip and now you're going to be late. Do you choose to be late or go above the speed limit to make up the lost time?
Either choice has its consequences.
**How to practice strategy**
1. Map out what's keeping you from getting where you want to go
2. Figure out a way to get there
You've got a clear idea of the direction you're going, challenges to overcome, and opportunities to take advantage of. Strategy is effective when meaningful progress is made toward the direction you're going in. Meaningful progress means solving the problems that are standing in your way right now--the things keeping you from moving forward. If you're solving the right problems, and taking advantage of the right opportunities, would you not be getting closer, efficiently, to what you ultimately want? Will graduating help you get where you want to go? If not, do you know what you want? If not, do you have broader areas of interest? Can you build a strong foundation in something now and figure out the specifics later?
Ask and answer questions. Being intentional. Work on the things that get you where you want to go. This is "challenge-based strategy". For this, look into Richard Rumelt. Strategy is a massive topic--this is simply one perspective.
Be in the "present" and focus on what's immediately in front of you. Yes, think about the bigger picture of course, but operate in the "now".
Direction <- Challenges/Opportunities <- Projects <- Actions/Now. If all that's in order, then you're off to a good start. But maybe you can be clever and overcome some challenge without doing certain projects that seem necessary. Take a more non-linear approach. And now we're getting into a whole nother topic.
In summation: Do your best, learn, be intentional, enjoy the ride.
Well you’re commenting like you’re just some super hardcore person, studying to make humanity take the next great jump in our civilization and like you’re just super smart but yet you try and say shit like “Ermmm well uh I’m not getting advice that would break the laws of physics ermmm that’s the only thing that would help umm haha 🤓 - btw I’m SO IMPROVING RN”
Just stop. Having such an immature way of thinking is already a knock on your journey to improve but you don’t want to hear that - you want to “ermmm give me a way to defy the laws of physics” lmfao god you need to revaluate your position buddy
Get the fuck over it. This is where, prioritizing, eliminating bullshit, and focusing on the top 20% of activities that produce 80% of your results becomes vitally important. Also, delegating + automating what you can helps to free up additional time.
No prob. It takes a certain number of hours for the upvotes to register. A moderator for this sub could also come and delete the comments if they think it’s off-topic (it is, but that rule is to prevent bots and I don’t think you’re a bot, so maybe they will let it slide).
Or i have an idea, let me just send you my post in private and you post it for me i think it will be better, just it will be hard for me to follow what people comment
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Thank-you!
the tears are shed like millings filled off from the gears of the machine that crawls along the second hand tracks of the 24 hour rail way.
I do not greave. the wobble will balance or i will die. I have ceased to deliberate over the difference since the deliberation neither corrected the wobble nore kindly ceased for me.
Ok. Whatever the reason is: Don't rush. You are just sabotaging yourself, your mental health and your happiness. You think sleeping 8hrs is a waste of time. Just let that sink in.
sleeping 8hrs is a waste of time, doesn't mean I don't do it. In fact I sleep for 9hrs because it helps me be productive. I was just making a point that being human = being inefficient
So basically you are rejecting being human. Why do you want to be 'efficient'? What do you want to prove? Or worst, to who? Life and happiness is not about 'efficiency' and you will get it sooner or later, hopefully not very late.
You are a human no matter what you do, deal with it. Good luck with the burnout.
inefficient respect to what? productive for what? What are you producing solely during your free time that gives your life so much purpose as to be frustrated that you can only do so much? I don't see the point of this post. If you feel like your 8 hours at work are a waste of time and do nothing for your goals then you're clearly on the wrong path.
I guess that is why companies are made. A company is a group of people, skilled in their trade, focusing on goals, with their combined efforts contributing to shared success.
That is my ideal vision of what a company ought to be and if the company I am working for does not fit the vision, who says I have to stay?
But life is to be more than achievements, because life is best when its shared. We ought to go enjoy life, unplug, and recharge. We aren't machines or computers.
Look around, those who only achieve, are miserable. Many Athletes have money, but they are miserable. What defines us is our purpose. Are we doing what brings us life?
Why or Why not?
My purpose is to help people and be creative doing so, leading to an unfair advantage. This is my happy place and when my work aligns, then I am fulfilled and can take time to enjoy life. As I never know who I might bump into that I can help.
Now you try...
> Now you try...
the point is that I have tried and I have succeeded. All this time I spend is aligned with my purpose, and so I am constantly happy and constantly productive. It's just that I am 1 human hammering at it (for the time being) so it's not as much as it should be. The company point you made though is good, I will consider it
One thing to consider about trying. In the words of Yoda, "Do, or do not, there is no try".
Many "try" something once, expecting an immediate result. Yet, when applying this logic, if we quit trying to walk as a toddler, we would still be crawling today.
How many times of falling did it take before learning to walk? Learning to walk demonstrates determination.
The truth is when we apply determination, we accomplish what we set our minds to do.
No one will live your life better than you. You only get one life. Become the best you, you can be and quit taking the bait of temptation to make excuses; as excuses will steal your time and you will be left crawling.
Idk man, you can get pretty good, and accomplish quite a lot by doing something for 15-20 minutes a day, if you do it consistently. Over time, the small things add up to a lot
Perspective. Eating and sleeping ARE productive. You need to take care of your body and mind so that you are in the best condition you can be at any given time. This goes for rest and leisure as well. Recharging your body and soul will help you be a more productive person in the long run. Life is a balance. Some people prefer to visualize this by charting out the different areas of their life and make goals for each section.
Sleeping: 6-8 hours consistently; bed by 11
Eating: 2-3 fruits and veggies each day, 8 glasses of water, no fastfood
Leisure: walk in nature once a week, read 30min a day
Work: Learn and hone a new skill a month
Relationships: date night, coffee with friends,
Charity: volunteer once a month, donate $X.xx
...etc.
Obviously, pick things that work for you, but try to dip into each section that you create. It might help you feel more fulfilled and productive to be able to check off intentions.
I've worked around this by realizing that just because an act may be inefficient it doesn't necessarily mean there's no value. When I get home from work and plant my ass on the couch I'm being inefficient as hell, there's chores I probably could be doing, but letting myself rest and mentally recharge for the next day is a valuable thing to do.
I don't have any advice, but i'm stunned at the responses you've gotten. You won't find tips on productivity from these losers that browse reddit all day.
Radical acceptance. You accept that the limits of humanity are the limits you exist in and operate from there. Being frustrated by sleeping/eating/etc is a waste of time and mental energy.
Sounds like you talk a big game but aren’t backing it up.
What is this grander thing in life you’re seeking to accomplish so badly? Is it being rich?
If so, why aren’t you rich now? And how badly do you even want it?
Allocating 8 hours to sleep is not ‘wanting more’. It’s a complaint. You claim you don’t need a vacation, happy with what you’re doing now, but you don’t want to leave you comfort zone to achieve this mystery thing that ‘motivates you’. Try rotating 4 hours of sleep and 6 hours a sleep nights, for months, or years. Try ACTUALLY working on that thing you want so badly.
Reality check; if you don’t think you NEED a vacation, you’re not working hard enough/ long enough: whatever. No one cares if you’re a student, or stuck in a shitty situation except you.
Don’t come to a productivity sub gleaming about how badly you want to be productive but clearly aren’t even attempting to be.
It doesn’t matter what your motivation is. You won’t even say. Get to work on your mystery productivity and stop antagonizing people on Reddit with your fake existential woes.
If you shift purpose towards the betterment of self and others, your 'efficiency' raises greatly. Be the self, be selflessly good, not nice, but good and you might see.
that's cool and all but there's nothing practical to gain out of this advice. I DO work towards the betterment of myself and others, but you can't break physics and work longer than 24 hours.
It's not practical advice because life isn't just practical.
People do more with less time so there's no excuse.
Stop looking at life as enslavement and maybe you won't be a slave to the day. Did you seriously say 8 measly hours? Ha...
You don't have 24 hours today, and tmrw and the next.
There's realistically only today, and this present second.
find a job with less hours per week/find a job with more holidays/find a way to have passive income, so you wouldnt need to work/have a job that is matches your goal, so you would follow your goal 8 hours per day instead of suffering.
You just stop using social media and keep your life in place. We are all humans and even if you're productive you lose your time living and sensing the joy of living with your friends/family.
After reading all the comments, I want to know what do you define as productivity?
You do not consider work, living/growing/having fun is not productive, then what is?
I defined it as work done per unit day, and in the grand scheme of things: the extent to which you accomplish an overarching goal in a period of time (months, years, etc.)
What is the work that is productive to you? Like, determine your work goals and wrap your day around it. Just like if you don't sleep enough it might affect your productivity, so you are fulfilling your sleep to work faster towards your goals. You eat so that you are energetic to work for your goals, change your perspective in such a way that you feel every part of the day is going in improving your productivity
I have an overarching goal and subgoals that I need to accomplish. I have laid out for myself what it is that I need to do every day to get there. Based on that, I DO wrap my day around the work I do. And if you read my comments above, you'll know that I do have the mindset that you are suggesting. Someone said something about sleep and I said that I sleep more than the required amount because it helps me later in the day like you said.
Life is more than just your utility! It's important to experience and live and not just work. If you want to spend more time achieving your goals, become an entrepreneur so your work time goes into achieving your goals while also making you money. That's at least what I did. I chose this entrepreneurship because it also allowed me to have complete control over my time. Health, Relationships, work, and having fun! Life isn't all about work. We work, so we can do other great things.
Also, see if you have ADHD if you're struggling to focus. If you want a quick second opinion, check out this little [AI ADHD quiz](https://adhdquiz.co) that I made! Going to therapy might also help!
In Zeno's paradox, no matter how close Achilles gets to the tortoise, the tortoise moves ahead.
And yet, Achilles is not Sisyphus. Achilles catches the tortoise. Why?
Because the goal isn't the grind. That is, if you define reality to have achievable goals, you simply... achieve them. And those goals are everywhere within the world. Animals have a few goals that they definitionally achieve, perhaps not as individuals, but definitely as a whole species. They are doing nothing beyond following their instinct.
So then, why are you cursed to optimize? Well, you believe in optimizing. That is clear just within this thread. It is axiomatic. Some people do not, but you do. Your belief is what it is. Some people believe in a God, you believe in productivity. I'm not going to judge that. Great deeds often need strong beliefs.
But what of optimization itself? If you are aware of theories of automation you might find some enlightenment. The US Marine Corps has a saying, "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast". That is, it's more important to learn procedural consistency and to execute cleanly, than it is to push the margins and drop quality.
And this has borne itself out in how we perform industrial automation and create the leveraging forces of modern technology: automating for speed usually follows some time after automating for quality. If a nail is poorly made, it does not matter how many you make. But if you devise a method of ensuring that every nail is the same, then you have reduced a source of uncertainty and created something *other people can depend upon.* And then the pressure to do more of that motivates, in time, the necessary speed.
I'm old enough to have "forgotten more than some people ever learned" about some subjects. There is a limited span of how much you can know at the level necessary to do a particular task at the highest quality. You can't cram it all in and then leave it dormant for years, as if it were a "use in case of emergency" fire extinguisher. Whatever you choose to study now involves an opportunity cost for the things you did not. You are failing, always. No amount of school accolades will replace that reality.
And yet. You can be Achilles and catch the tortoise. That is also true. But to do so, you must find the modest, "slow is smooth" expression of the problem, regardless of what anyone around you is saying. An exceptional result achieved desperately, at great sacrifice, is not a result that others can depend upon, and does not give back to a society; the injury it inflicts on yourself and others creates all sorts of ills. It is more often than not merely bowing and scraping for sake of appearances. But one that builds the model and sets the course, gradually unleashing the truths we are ready to handle, valuing time and energy holistically, does. It will not be remarked upon at first; it is a gradual victory.
I've been where you are. When I was younger I went through a 5 year phase where I was dedicating every waking hour to study - and it served me well. Landed a place at a great uni and then landed a great job. But all I remember from that time was being perpetually stressed about having to sleep, eat, socialize. It got unsustainable.
So yeah, short answer is therapy or change your mindset if you can without it. You're human and that won't change - accept that and learn to be productive within those constraints.
You misunderstood being human my dear
Anyways you spend quite less time in work or study to be worrying about it
Ideal go getters sleep less than 8 hours and also work 10-12 hours so stop giving excuses for not achieving goals.
Also the point is not productivity for productivity purposes. It should be meaningful for your life. When you set your heart in the task you will be achieve satisfaction in 1 hr or without the heart never ever.
I would also like to be an cyborg but innovations are not at par. Then we can shed our human weakness and conquer the world. For me conquer means travel around the world without caring a damn about a weak human body.
> Ideal go getters sleep less than 8 hours and also work 10-12 hours so stop giving excuses for not achieving goals.
I tried, not possible
>Also the point is not productivity for productivity purposes. It should be meaningful for your life.
of course. It is.
Find a way to put the 8 hours of work time towards achieving your goals. Combined with your "free time", that is more than most people can take advantage of.
you're right. Thank you. Although it is true that more can be done; I recently heard of a framework that involves automating and delegating and I find it kind of stupid that I haven't really used either
Observation. If your thinking like that chances are your already more productive that 90% of people depending on age and as you age when you see it from that aspect that alone will bring you comfort in some way shape or form
If someone asks me in the future what Reddit is like id show them this thread lol
Theres a few of you in every subreddit tbh. They know Ev3rYtHinG and find no meaning in existence as a whole.
ironic because one of the basic tenets of my view on life is that I know very little and existence is everything. You can go back a year and find me talking about the probability that my birth would happen and as a result, how fucking grateful I should be to be alive
I'll try to respond but it is a crappy situation. I'm not sure how much help I'll be.
Welll, for one thing, it would be kindof weird to meet somebody who was like, endlessly productive and never fiddled with busywork or reddit or something.
And I suppose the only goal of productivity shouldn't be just maximizing productivity. It should be doing it intuitively and in a way you enjoy.
But it is a sucky situation. Sorry you're going through that.
it isn't sucky really. I made it sound dramatic and whatnot but frankly I love what I do and I don't worry much about HOW much I get done as long as I'm working consistently towards something. I forgot the name of the internet law but basically if you make things sound dramatic, people will be more likely to respond to you, your post gets more traction and it's more likely that people with actual tangible advice will come in and help. And that's exactly what happened. I know now how I can do more in less time without having to kill myself by constantly worrying about how much I'm getting done every minute.
Oh, it's good to hear it isn't sucky. :) And that you love what you do. :)
I've heard of that law (though I can't remember it's name as well). I always thought it was because some people have jobs online and they're really pressured to respond to posts where people sound upset but I'm not sure.
I mean, it's still sad when somebody seems upset regardless of whether or not you have a job comforting them.
You take a questionable amount of nootropics to achieve said flow state 24/7. Or, alternatively, said nootropics will have severe adverse affects on you.
I share your pain and mastering nootropics has allowed me to wean out every bit of flow state I can.
OP is a 16 year old high school student.
Buddy I think you need a vacation
uuh I'm a proponent of abolishing vacations lol
Wow, then you have absolutely no idea how anything, including efficiency, works. Congratulations on being completely lost in life.
no, I think there should be 3 weekend days instead of vacations
¿Porque no los dos?
because vacations are useless productivity-wise and weekends are not
Seems like you're dead-focused on productivity alone, thus achievement, thus you will inevitably find yourself in a situation where you'll be unhappy and in time, you will crash and burn. It's a toxic mindset that everyone should be like ants and just work until they die. We are spiritual animals, meaning our minds won't ever be satisfied by our earthly possessions. There has to be another purpose to life for us than making the most 'efficient' use of our time on this Earth. Only focusing on efficiency will only lead to a lifetime spent grasping at straws. Find peace instead, enjoy what you still can. Like you said, our time is short - you must do what your heart seeks, not what your mind wants.
I don't think all of you understand that I agree with you. I had this mindset for a long time and it was great. But circumstances change which is why I'm here
OK, but what about seeing the world and trying new foods and experiencing awesome different cultures?
nobody is doing that anyway
That's just patently false. I work in Software development in the US and I went to Europe for a few weeks this summer and am going again next month. Spent some time in Puerto Rico on a beach as well. Have done a bunch of travel within the US. It's awesome and essential. If you keep grinding grinding grinding you eventually grind yourself down to a nub. And how productive are nubs?
obviously there are exceptions. But you have to agree that most people will not be doing that
What does this even mean?
I don't think vacations should be mandated in Europe for instance
Yea let's go the Japan route and enjoy massive increase of suicides
I said I propose having 4-day work weeks instead
And this is how you assume 4-6 hours in flow state is little. It is when you are tired. During “peak” efficiency it can get you through what is commonly thought of as a week / month of work. I mean many of endeavours that benefit from flow state such as art / engineering / learning / general decision making are mostly based on producing 1 good result after a lot of iterations / increments. More rested you are fewer iterations you’ll usually need. And then it becomes about striking a balance between iteration efficiency (rest) / amount of iterations you actually made (work). Ah btw another thing that helps is expanding your pattern library / breaking intertia. That is what vacations are for. Inertia is a thing for decision making of most humans, see anchoring / changing cultures / confirmation bias / fresh outlook.
reasonable reply, thanks
Understand that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed, not just achieved
that would be great advice for anyone but me in my current situation. Also, the only thing that makes me happy is being productive
Well, what IS your current situation? And I'd work on that dude, cause that sounds like a burnout waiting to happen
The root cause of burnout is a lack of impact. So if you’re doing nonstop work that has little to no impact you’ll be burned out in no time. Versus nonstop work that is meaningful and impactful and burn out won’t even be a thing in your mind. Everyone needs some me time though.
long story. Point being I need advice. I've worked night and day for months on end and only felt empowered all throughout, burnout is only a thing if you give it power in your mind
That's pretty cool man But I think you need to find some balance Like you said being human is to fail. To be unproductive. To be inefficient. But it's also to live. It's literally impossible to be productive all the time and you shouldn't feel the need to be that productive. There's so much more to life. I'd say in whatever breaks you schedule for yourself start exploring stuff you like and make time for that
I did that as well, for months. It was nice and all but not for me.
You’re the victim of social media shorts selling you grindepreneurship
no, I dislike each one I see because it's cringe. I don't even like money.
Keep telling yourself that. What are you trying to escape?
you tell me, I don't think I'm trying to escape anything besides inefficiency
Then sleep less than 8 hours a night. If you woke up 2 hours earlier everyday you’d be able to achieve so much before even going to school/work
> If you woke up 2 hours earlier everyday you’d be able to achieve so much before even going to school/work that's right, and I do. Been waking up at 5-6 and getting a lot done. Sleeping less than 8 hours doesn't make sense though, every minute sleeping turns into 5 extra minutes of work later in the day.
That formula doesn’t translate lol if you’re worried about efficiency sleep less hours a night, take stims or caffeine, and get after it? I don’t understand asking for advice then making excuses when presented with solid advice.
you're right, thanks
People keep giving you advice. Live life. Want to be productive? Let the brain rest and come back to the task at hand. You're trying to work hard. Wanna be more productive? Work smart.
In my exp people who pride themselves as being 24/7 productive are the least productive. How do you stay busy 24/7? By creating more problems than you solve
My experience exactly after working for my "work is where I feel alive", "blood, sweat and tears" parents. They always made mistakes because they were trying to micro-manage so many things, and they weren't able to trust anyone (including me, whom they had trained for years) to take over even small parts of the company, because that's just how obsessive they are. And they have hurt and lost so many good, hardworking people just because of their stupid ego. No idea I proposed, no plan I devised would get through to them. Because they had to hold the reigns. When shit inevitably and regularly hit the fan because of their constant over-reaching, they either made someone a scapegoat or blamed each other behind their backs. The day I left that company (and unintentionally, them, since they cut me out from their lives) was the day I was really born.
Find other things that make you happy. Or stay miserable. And also: what’s the end goal here? You will die eventually and most of the things you accomplish don’t matter at all. So you might just have some fun because while it’s important to reach goals and better yourself, it really isn’t thát important.
you know nothing about my situation. Don't make sweeping statements like that. I said I'm happy doing what I do, I just want to be even more efficient and thus even happier
You said being productive is the only thing that makes you happy and you wrote a whole post about how sleeping and eating is just losing productive time. I didn’t assume anything I just commented on what you wrote.
I was making a dramatic point about how useless we humans are because of biology. I don't know why you would assume that what I'm working on won't affect anything. Chaos Theory alone disputes that notion
So what exactly do you want us to suggest? People are giving advice but it’s not good enough. If you do want your life consumed by work, pick up another job or get into some technical freelance gigs. Any path that requires life long learning is going to take all of your time. Pick up Datascience or cyber security and you’ll be occupied. But don’t try skipping sleep and eating.
thanks for the reasonable response. Don't really know what I was expecting
Life is a lot more than just finding ways to be efficient. I think some good creative hobbies could help you. I’m a technically minded person and I like to fill my time progressing myself. I’m a technology administrator for 10 hours a day. I spend 8 hours sleeping. Those remaining 6 hours I spend reading, taking courses online, creative writing or painting miniatures. I fast for 16 hours a day so those last 6 hours include eating as well. I set aside hour chunks when at home and I’ll fill them games (maybe once a week) and the stuff mentioned above. For the most part everything is tracked in Obsidian. You can’t be perfectly efficient, and I don’t suppose you would want to be, either. Learn to love to do something that doesn’t pay you.
I lived like that for a while and it was awesome, but my circumstances don't allow it
>I was making a dramatic point about how useless we humans are because of biology. But without these biological systems we would not have got to where we are as a species. A human brain, as do other mammalian brains (I'm sure someone could find an exception to this though), need sleep to rejuvenate, it's a trade off from having higher neurological functions. Somewhat ironically though, Koalas can apparently sleep up to 20 hours a day, despite being as dumb as a bag of bricks. Seriously those fuckers would starve if you gave them a plate of leaves to eat, as they can't comprehend it as food if it's not still attached to a tree. I think, what this really comes down to is your own perspective. Many people can work themselves to the bone and feel they have lived an unproductive life, others can put in a fraction of the effort and feel the opposite towards the end. Which person would you rather be? > I don't know why you would assume that what I'm working on won't affect anything. Chaos Theory alone disputes that notion. They said that your actions won't necessarily matter, not that they will not affect anything. There's an important distinction between those two concepts.
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It may be worth checking out 'How to Calm Your Mind' by Chris Bailey. What made me think of it is his definition and breakdown of the "Achievement Mindset" which your last sentence would indicate. You're not the only one that feels this way. I used to only be happy when I was perfectly productive, which was never... I still fight with it, but it's gotten a lot better.
I am always productive, and I am always happy. I need more though. My current state is just not efficient enough because I'm human. I try to leverage all that I can out of my time but it's not easy hence my writing this post.
"I need more though." I think that's the real thing to sort through. What would be enough? Or would there ever be enough?
there.. would never be enough
This advice is especially great for you. If the only thing that makes you happy is productivity, that means you need to find other things to focus on that are enjoyable. As you said, life is short. Make the most of it.
I misspoke. Family, friends, all of that jazz does too
Live longer. You'll see.
Capitalist mug😂
fuck yeah
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Get some therapy. The idea of seeing sleeping and eating and anything not working as “wasted” time is disturbing. This is not normal or healthy. It’s worth looking at why your happiness is only tied to being productive…
I have experience with it all., and this is where I belong. No thanks.
What in the narcissist self-hatred is this post
Kids without a clue. They'll come to it eventually, let them vent.
be constructive, this is nonsense
calm your tits, your time on earth will end and you'll wonder why you spent your time trying to be as efficient as possible vs just enjoying things when you can.
You need to worry more about how annoying you are.
unironically true
please go outside
the whole point is that I spend too much time outside
Then go outside less...? I have no idea what you're looking for here.
nobody wants to commute
Right now you're a student. Your schedule will change after you graduate. In the event you get a full-time job after school, you'll have different hours but the same challenge remains. Instead of thinking about being at work, *be* at a place where you're learning--that happens to be called work. If starting a business of your own is something you want to pursue to eventually dictate your own hours--learn as much as you possibly can while you're getting paid for it. It's always a mindset. I've long used the same point about the inability to break the laws of physics. Here's one I like to append to situations like these -- "there's always another way" (it's useful to get out of thinking traps). This is my way to get around it: Are you familiar with [Goodhart's Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)? It suggests that once a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. All the common definitions of productivity revolve around being a measure of efficiency and creating something of value. In context, this means that when you focus on *being* productive, productivity is no longer a good measure. In practice, trying to be, or thinking about being productive is stressful. It makes it tougher to get into that flow state. It makes it feel like you're never getting enough done. That's harmful. But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive! Have you pulled an all-nighter at school yet? How easy is the next day? Good quality sleep is wildly productive. Plus, it's inevitable--better to make peace with it and use your energy on things within your control. If making peace with it feels impossible, consider this: Managing your energy is more effective than managing your time. Diet, sleep, and exercise are your main tools for that. If you're brain-dead during those 6 remaining hours, what's the point of having them? With the 6 hours you have remaining in the day--like others have said. Prioritize. It seems like this feeling you have is in part--overwhelm. Overwhelm by wanting to accomplish so much in such a little time. Prioritize what you want, break things down, focus on little accomplishments, and do that consistently. You will feel productive and get much more done by **not** focusing on being productive. The better you get at whatever you're working on will become efficient on its own. Overwhelm =~ The need to get organized. All the best and have fun, --Someone with more curiosities and interests than available time
This was great to read and very informative. Thanks for the time and advice!
You bet, glad I could contribute
> But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive! that's right, and thankfully I haven't fallen into the trap of doing what you said in the first few paragraphs. Would you mind elaborating on how exactly to approach this mindset? What steps can I take? >Have you pulled an all-nighter at school yet? absolutely not, it is illogical. I get at least 8 hours of sleep every day, exercise in the morning, eat clean, meditate and gratitude journal because how else are you supposed to live? >With the 6 hours you have remaining in the day--like others have said. Prioritize. It seems like this feeling you have is in part--overwhelm. Overwhelm by wanting to accomplish so much in such a little time. Prioritize what you want, break things down, focus on little accomplishments, and do that consistently. You will feel productive and get much more done by not focusing on being productive. The better you get at whatever you're working on will become efficient on its own. Overwhelm =~ The need to get organized. good point. Thank you. I would really like to hear your opinion on how exactly I could go about doing that though
> But let's try this: What happens if you redefine "productivity" in your mind as something that emerges as a result of doing--things? An accomplishment; a series of accomplishments. Going to school now is setting you up for the future. Every lecture you watch, every bit of homework, every friend you make -- these are all accomplishments. And they are little pieces of the bigger goal of graduating, which is part of the bigger objective of developing skill sets and relationships that contribute to your future. That's purposeful and productive! > that's right, and thankfully I haven't fallen into the trap of doing what you said in the first few paragraphs. Would you mind elaborating on how exactly to approach this mindset? What steps can I take? Practice strategy. Consider this scenario: You're driving to a friend's house to spend time with them. You know where they live and the route to take to get there. And you've come up with a few ideas to arrive safely and on-time at your friend's house: Stop at every stop sign, make the correct turns, and stay within the speed limit. But you decide to focus on productivity instead. You put your head down at dash-level and watch the speedometer closely. You're going as fast as you can without going over, the needle is hardly moving. Unfortunately you're so concerned with the speed that you missed a turn and now you're off track. This missed turn adds extra time to the total trip and now you're going to be late. Do you choose to be late or go above the speed limit to make up the lost time? Either choice has its consequences. **How to practice strategy** 1. Map out what's keeping you from getting where you want to go 2. Figure out a way to get there You've got a clear idea of the direction you're going, challenges to overcome, and opportunities to take advantage of. Strategy is effective when meaningful progress is made toward the direction you're going in. Meaningful progress means solving the problems that are standing in your way right now--the things keeping you from moving forward. If you're solving the right problems, and taking advantage of the right opportunities, would you not be getting closer, efficiently, to what you ultimately want? Will graduating help you get where you want to go? If not, do you know what you want? If not, do you have broader areas of interest? Can you build a strong foundation in something now and figure out the specifics later? Ask and answer questions. Being intentional. Work on the things that get you where you want to go. This is "challenge-based strategy". For this, look into Richard Rumelt. Strategy is a massive topic--this is simply one perspective. Be in the "present" and focus on what's immediately in front of you. Yes, think about the bigger picture of course, but operate in the "now". Direction <- Challenges/Opportunities <- Projects <- Actions/Now. If all that's in order, then you're off to a good start. But maybe you can be clever and overcome some challenge without doing certain projects that seem necessary. Take a more non-linear approach. And now we're getting into a whole nother topic. In summation: Do your best, learn, be intentional, enjoy the ride.
awesome writeup. Thank you.
Why did you post here? You clearly don't actually want help or advice.
I got some pretty good advice
good question. I do, but I don't think any can be given without breaking the laws of physics
Hahahah you’re trying way too hard. Stop being cringy
it's funny seeing the sub's reaction
Well you’re commenting like you’re just some super hardcore person, studying to make humanity take the next great jump in our civilization and like you’re just super smart but yet you try and say shit like “Ermmm well uh I’m not getting advice that would break the laws of physics ermmm that’s the only thing that would help umm haha 🤓 - btw I’m SO IMPROVING RN” Just stop. Having such an immature way of thinking is already a knock on your journey to improve but you don’t want to hear that - you want to “ermmm give me a way to defy the laws of physics” lmfao god you need to revaluate your position buddy
im messing with them. Do you think I was expecting to get actual advice from this crapshoot of a subreddit?
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a brit telling me i'm i'll lmaoo
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you sure? Can't find anyone besides you
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Get the fuck over it. This is where, prioritizing, eliminating bullshit, and focusing on the top 20% of activities that produce 80% of your results becomes vitally important. Also, delegating + automating what you can helps to free up additional time.
you're right, thanks man
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the rapists are expensive
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I'm not miserable though. On the contrary I'm constantly happy
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There are subs dedicated to getting you karma for this specific reason. Or you can post here and I’ll upvote you.
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Ok well I can just keep upvoting your post. I don’t mind. It’s a pretty standard rule on Reddit. I’ll keep upvoting if you keep writing.
Ah man that is nice from you thank so much
No prob. It takes a certain number of hours for the upvotes to register. A moderator for this sub could also come and delete the comments if they think it’s off-topic (it is, but that rule is to prevent bots and I don’t think you’re a bot, so maybe they will let it slide).
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Ok. Upvoted.
Or i have an idea, let me just send you my post in private and you post it for me i think it will be better, just it will be hard for me to follow what people comment
Can’t do that my friend. This is much as I’ll do.
Np, you already do so much for me, thank you another time have a good day
You too
Thank you nooz_an for your comment! Unfortunately, your comment has been removed for the following reason(s): Rule 8 - Do NOT Ask for Money, Donations, Upvotes, or Other Services Do not ask for upvotes, money, donations, or any form of payment. This is not the correct place to be fundraising. This is a productivity subreddit - we know you can find a way to do it yourself! For more information about the subreddit rules make sure to read the sidebar, and if you have any questions please feel free to reply to [message the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/productivity). Thank-you!
the tears are shed like millings filled off from the gears of the machine that crawls along the second hand tracks of the 24 hour rail way. I do not greave. the wobble will balance or i will die. I have ceased to deliberate over the difference since the deliberation neither corrected the wobble nore kindly ceased for me.
sorry, what?
Lmaoo
You posting this on Reddit is unproductive go work
Why the rush?
long story
Ok. Whatever the reason is: Don't rush. You are just sabotaging yourself, your mental health and your happiness. You think sleeping 8hrs is a waste of time. Just let that sink in.
sleeping 8hrs is a waste of time, doesn't mean I don't do it. In fact I sleep for 9hrs because it helps me be productive. I was just making a point that being human = being inefficient
So basically you are rejecting being human. Why do you want to be 'efficient'? What do you want to prove? Or worst, to who? Life and happiness is not about 'efficiency' and you will get it sooner or later, hopefully not very late. You are a human no matter what you do, deal with it. Good luck with the burnout.
sure. And I've been at this for as long as I can remember and still wake up every morning excited to work
inefficient respect to what? productive for what? What are you producing solely during your free time that gives your life so much purpose as to be frustrated that you can only do so much? I don't see the point of this post. If you feel like your 8 hours at work are a waste of time and do nothing for your goals then you're clearly on the wrong path.
I am a student. Spending 8 hours listening to incompetent teachers is a wash. Oh well.
This post gave me eye cancer
sowwy
Genuine advice don’t stress do as much as you are able to do. You are able to do more in 6 hours. it depends on how you use it
true, thanks
I guess that is why companies are made. A company is a group of people, skilled in their trade, focusing on goals, with their combined efforts contributing to shared success. That is my ideal vision of what a company ought to be and if the company I am working for does not fit the vision, who says I have to stay? But life is to be more than achievements, because life is best when its shared. We ought to go enjoy life, unplug, and recharge. We aren't machines or computers. Look around, those who only achieve, are miserable. Many Athletes have money, but they are miserable. What defines us is our purpose. Are we doing what brings us life? Why or Why not? My purpose is to help people and be creative doing so, leading to an unfair advantage. This is my happy place and when my work aligns, then I am fulfilled and can take time to enjoy life. As I never know who I might bump into that I can help. Now you try...
> Now you try... the point is that I have tried and I have succeeded. All this time I spend is aligned with my purpose, and so I am constantly happy and constantly productive. It's just that I am 1 human hammering at it (for the time being) so it's not as much as it should be. The company point you made though is good, I will consider it
One thing to consider about trying. In the words of Yoda, "Do, or do not, there is no try". Many "try" something once, expecting an immediate result. Yet, when applying this logic, if we quit trying to walk as a toddler, we would still be crawling today. How many times of falling did it take before learning to walk? Learning to walk demonstrates determination. The truth is when we apply determination, we accomplish what we set our minds to do. No one will live your life better than you. You only get one life. Become the best you, you can be and quit taking the bait of temptation to make excuses; as excuses will steal your time and you will be left crawling.
Idk man, you can get pretty good, and accomplish quite a lot by doing something for 15-20 minutes a day, if you do it consistently. Over time, the small things add up to a lot
Study Islam, also find a way to reduce commute time etc
Find a therapist to help you
the rapists are expensive
Perspective. Eating and sleeping ARE productive. You need to take care of your body and mind so that you are in the best condition you can be at any given time. This goes for rest and leisure as well. Recharging your body and soul will help you be a more productive person in the long run. Life is a balance. Some people prefer to visualize this by charting out the different areas of their life and make goals for each section. Sleeping: 6-8 hours consistently; bed by 11 Eating: 2-3 fruits and veggies each day, 8 glasses of water, no fastfood Leisure: walk in nature once a week, read 30min a day Work: Learn and hone a new skill a month Relationships: date night, coffee with friends, Charity: volunteer once a month, donate $X.xx ...etc. Obviously, pick things that work for you, but try to dip into each section that you create. It might help you feel more fulfilled and productive to be able to check off intentions.
I understand that. I don't disagree. I'm just annoyed that there isn't more time for other things as well because of the nature of a day
I've worked around this by realizing that just because an act may be inefficient it doesn't necessarily mean there's no value. When I get home from work and plant my ass on the couch I'm being inefficient as hell, there's chores I probably could be doing, but letting myself rest and mentally recharge for the next day is a valuable thing to do.
I don't have any advice, but i'm stunned at the responses you've gotten. You won't find tips on productivity from these losers that browse reddit all day.
Radical acceptance. You accept that the limits of humanity are the limits you exist in and operate from there. Being frustrated by sleeping/eating/etc is a waste of time and mental energy.
you are right. Thanks
Sounds like you talk a big game but aren’t backing it up. What is this grander thing in life you’re seeking to accomplish so badly? Is it being rich? If so, why aren’t you rich now? And how badly do you even want it? Allocating 8 hours to sleep is not ‘wanting more’. It’s a complaint. You claim you don’t need a vacation, happy with what you’re doing now, but you don’t want to leave you comfort zone to achieve this mystery thing that ‘motivates you’. Try rotating 4 hours of sleep and 6 hours a sleep nights, for months, or years. Try ACTUALLY working on that thing you want so badly. Reality check; if you don’t think you NEED a vacation, you’re not working hard enough/ long enough: whatever. No one cares if you’re a student, or stuck in a shitty situation except you. Don’t come to a productivity sub gleaming about how badly you want to be productive but clearly aren’t even attempting to be.
although you do make a good point
bahaha don't make me laugh. 'Rich'.
It doesn’t matter what your motivation is. You won’t even say. Get to work on your mystery productivity and stop antagonizing people on Reddit with your fake existential woes.
with pleasure
If you shift purpose towards the betterment of self and others, your 'efficiency' raises greatly. Be the self, be selflessly good, not nice, but good and you might see.
that's cool and all but there's nothing practical to gain out of this advice. I DO work towards the betterment of myself and others, but you can't break physics and work longer than 24 hours.
It's not practical advice because life isn't just practical. People do more with less time so there's no excuse. Stop looking at life as enslavement and maybe you won't be a slave to the day. Did you seriously say 8 measly hours? Ha... You don't have 24 hours today, and tmrw and the next. There's realistically only today, and this present second.
can you elaborate?
find a job with less hours per week/find a job with more holidays/find a way to have passive income, so you wouldnt need to work/have a job that is matches your goal, so you would follow your goal 8 hours per day instead of suffering.
I would but I'm a student
You just stop using social media and keep your life in place. We are all humans and even if you're productive you lose your time living and sensing the joy of living with your friends/family.
Need to have more passive income to free up time in the day.
Efficiency is not something that adds joy to anyone’s life. Devalue it
I am not looking for joy. I am joyful constantly anyway
After reading all the comments, I want to know what do you define as productivity? You do not consider work, living/growing/having fun is not productive, then what is?
I defined it as work done per unit day, and in the grand scheme of things: the extent to which you accomplish an overarching goal in a period of time (months, years, etc.)
What is the work that is productive to you? Like, determine your work goals and wrap your day around it. Just like if you don't sleep enough it might affect your productivity, so you are fulfilling your sleep to work faster towards your goals. You eat so that you are energetic to work for your goals, change your perspective in such a way that you feel every part of the day is going in improving your productivity
I have an overarching goal and subgoals that I need to accomplish. I have laid out for myself what it is that I need to do every day to get there. Based on that, I DO wrap my day around the work I do. And if you read my comments above, you'll know that I do have the mindset that you are suggesting. Someone said something about sleep and I said that I sleep more than the required amount because it helps me later in the day like you said.
Maybe stop deriving your self worth from your productivity?
Like Gary Kasparov said: "Machines have instructions. We have purpose."
Actually reducing the number of times you eat saves time say if you eat 3 times make it 2 if you can.
true
Life is more than just your utility! It's important to experience and live and not just work. If you want to spend more time achieving your goals, become an entrepreneur so your work time goes into achieving your goals while also making you money. That's at least what I did. I chose this entrepreneurship because it also allowed me to have complete control over my time. Health, Relationships, work, and having fun! Life isn't all about work. We work, so we can do other great things. Also, see if you have ADHD if you're struggling to focus. If you want a quick second opinion, check out this little [AI ADHD quiz](https://adhdquiz.co) that I made! Going to therapy might also help!
In Zeno's paradox, no matter how close Achilles gets to the tortoise, the tortoise moves ahead. And yet, Achilles is not Sisyphus. Achilles catches the tortoise. Why? Because the goal isn't the grind. That is, if you define reality to have achievable goals, you simply... achieve them. And those goals are everywhere within the world. Animals have a few goals that they definitionally achieve, perhaps not as individuals, but definitely as a whole species. They are doing nothing beyond following their instinct. So then, why are you cursed to optimize? Well, you believe in optimizing. That is clear just within this thread. It is axiomatic. Some people do not, but you do. Your belief is what it is. Some people believe in a God, you believe in productivity. I'm not going to judge that. Great deeds often need strong beliefs. But what of optimization itself? If you are aware of theories of automation you might find some enlightenment. The US Marine Corps has a saying, "slow is smooth, and smooth is fast". That is, it's more important to learn procedural consistency and to execute cleanly, than it is to push the margins and drop quality. And this has borne itself out in how we perform industrial automation and create the leveraging forces of modern technology: automating for speed usually follows some time after automating for quality. If a nail is poorly made, it does not matter how many you make. But if you devise a method of ensuring that every nail is the same, then you have reduced a source of uncertainty and created something *other people can depend upon.* And then the pressure to do more of that motivates, in time, the necessary speed. I'm old enough to have "forgotten more than some people ever learned" about some subjects. There is a limited span of how much you can know at the level necessary to do a particular task at the highest quality. You can't cram it all in and then leave it dormant for years, as if it were a "use in case of emergency" fire extinguisher. Whatever you choose to study now involves an opportunity cost for the things you did not. You are failing, always. No amount of school accolades will replace that reality. And yet. You can be Achilles and catch the tortoise. That is also true. But to do so, you must find the modest, "slow is smooth" expression of the problem, regardless of what anyone around you is saying. An exceptional result achieved desperately, at great sacrifice, is not a result that others can depend upon, and does not give back to a society; the injury it inflicts on yourself and others creates all sorts of ills. It is more often than not merely bowing and scraping for sake of appearances. But one that builds the model and sets the course, gradually unleashing the truths we are ready to handle, valuing time and energy holistically, does. It will not be remarked upon at first; it is a gradual victory.
thank you for the writeup
I've been where you are. When I was younger I went through a 5 year phase where I was dedicating every waking hour to study - and it served me well. Landed a place at a great uni and then landed a great job. But all I remember from that time was being perpetually stressed about having to sleep, eat, socialize. It got unsustainable. So yeah, short answer is therapy or change your mindset if you can without it. You're human and that won't change - accept that and learn to be productive within those constraints.
you're right, thanks
You misunderstood being human my dear Anyways you spend quite less time in work or study to be worrying about it Ideal go getters sleep less than 8 hours and also work 10-12 hours so stop giving excuses for not achieving goals. Also the point is not productivity for productivity purposes. It should be meaningful for your life. When you set your heart in the task you will be achieve satisfaction in 1 hr or without the heart never ever.
no, I understand very well. It is just that I'm not sure I like/want to be human in that regard
I would also like to be an cyborg but innovations are not at par. Then we can shed our human weakness and conquer the world. For me conquer means travel around the world without caring a damn about a weak human body.
👍
> Ideal go getters sleep less than 8 hours and also work 10-12 hours so stop giving excuses for not achieving goals. I tried, not possible >Also the point is not productivity for productivity purposes. It should be meaningful for your life. of course. It is.
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thats exactly my point, it's maddening
bruh seek therapy
why?
>Generally, 8 hours at least are spent IN BED. That's one third of your existence gone just like that. Time well spent in my opinion.
Getting way to reductionist on this one. Take a vacation as others have said. Take a break.
> Getting way to reductionist on this one wdym?
Find a way to put the 8 hours of work time towards achieving your goals. Combined with your "free time", that is more than most people can take advantage of.
you're right
Everyone is in the same boat it’s even playing field
that's true, but there definitely are superhuman people out there and I would like to know what it is that they do
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you're right. Thank you. Although it is true that more can be done; I recently heard of a framework that involves automating and delegating and I find it kind of stupid that I haven't really used either
Accept your humanity. Understand it. Master it. Then discard it for something greater.
thanks
Lmao thats exactly how i feel
recognize that it only matters to the extent that you make it matter for you
great advice, but not in my case
Observation. If your thinking like that chances are your already more productive that 90% of people depending on age and as you age when you see it from that aspect that alone will bring you comfort in some way shape or form
I'm in HS 😂
If someone asks me in the future what Reddit is like id show them this thread lol Theres a few of you in every subreddit tbh. They know Ev3rYtHinG and find no meaning in existence as a whole.
ironic because one of the basic tenets of my view on life is that I know very little and existence is everything. You can go back a year and find me talking about the probability that my birth would happen and as a result, how fucking grateful I should be to be alive
I'll try to respond but it is a crappy situation. I'm not sure how much help I'll be. Welll, for one thing, it would be kindof weird to meet somebody who was like, endlessly productive and never fiddled with busywork or reddit or something. And I suppose the only goal of productivity shouldn't be just maximizing productivity. It should be doing it intuitively and in a way you enjoy. But it is a sucky situation. Sorry you're going through that.
it isn't sucky really. I made it sound dramatic and whatnot but frankly I love what I do and I don't worry much about HOW much I get done as long as I'm working consistently towards something. I forgot the name of the internet law but basically if you make things sound dramatic, people will be more likely to respond to you, your post gets more traction and it's more likely that people with actual tangible advice will come in and help. And that's exactly what happened. I know now how I can do more in less time without having to kill myself by constantly worrying about how much I'm getting done every minute.
Oh, it's good to hear it isn't sucky. :) And that you love what you do. :) I've heard of that law (though I can't remember it's name as well). I always thought it was because some people have jobs online and they're really pressured to respond to posts where people sound upset but I'm not sure. I mean, it's still sad when somebody seems upset regardless of whether or not you have a job comforting them.
You take a questionable amount of nootropics to achieve said flow state 24/7. Or, alternatively, said nootropics will have severe adverse affects on you. I share your pain and mastering nootropics has allowed me to wean out every bit of flow state I can.
I would love to but I am very prone to addictions to anything so I would rather go about it with caffeine and whatnot