I want to take you on a quest. For the last few years, I felt like I am constantly in a state of reaction. I react to clients, emails, phone calls, YouTube comments, and podcast questions. I have so many things that I want and need to do yet I never get to them. My quest is to be more productive. That is when I found my favorite productivity book.
I Lost Control of My Time
It seems that the business has taken over my life. I am always in a state of reacting. I react to the client’s emails, phone calls, deadlines, YouTube, and podcast listeners. Then add social media to the mix and where does the time go!!! My husband made a comment that people are always reaching out no matter what day of the week or time of the day. In fact, here I was at 10 pm at night talking to a client! My reply to him was “that was the life of a businessperson.” But is it really? There has got to be a better way. I cannot keep up with this pace. Plus, I am semi-retired, I should be finding time to do things with my spouse!!!
Ali Abdaal YouTube Channel
So, I started watching some YouTube videos on productivity. I thought that maybe my foundation was missing something. So, I started researching YouTube for productivity videos. Soon after, I discovered Ali Abdaal’s YouTube Channel. If you are looking for someone that has productivity down to a science, it is Ali. He is a Junior Doctor who lives in the UK. He also is an entrepreneur and has several revenue streams. While in Med School, he created a course to help students prepare for the exam required to get into medical school. Ali also has a couple of Skillshare classes. He has a Masterclass on Productivity that I took. I will put a link to his channel in the description on the screen. Be sure to check out his channel.
Recommend Ali’s Video called “My Favourite Productivity Book”.
One of the videos I discovered on Ali’s Channel called “My Favourite Productivity Book.” I watched his video and immediately bought the book. I bought two copies. A Kindle version to start reading immediately and a paperback to take notes. Call me old school, but electronic messages don’t work for me.
Here is an excerpt from Ali’s video. Thanks, Ali, for allowing me to do this.
“Make Time” Book
The book that Ali mentioned is “Make Time, How To Focus On What Matters Every Day” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. Jake and John talk about two things in the book. The first is the “Busy Bandwagon,” and the second is the “Infinity Pools.” These two things have become our defaults.
Our Defaults Hinder Our Productivity
What do I mean by defaults? Well, defaults refer to how something works when you first get it. Take your cellphone, for instance. When you first get your phone, it has a default ring tone, email, web browser apps. These defaults are not just on our cellphones but in our everyday life. It seems like our defaults are to have a calendar full of meetings, appointments, and our To-Do List grows and grows. We must respond to deadlines, emails, phone calls, and do it now. Busy Bandwagon is known as meetings, appointments, and to-do lists.”
Whereas “Infinity Pools” refers to the apps and other sources that need constant replenishing. For instance, Facebook, Twitter, News feeds are examples of Infinity pools. These are our rewards for dealing with the Busy Bandwagon.
It is a Mindset
Make Time Book is not about productivity. It’s not about getting your To-Do List accomplished or getting more work done in a day. The book is about building a mindset to create more time in the day to achieve what matters most to you. Whether that is to make for time for the family, write a book, or start a YouTube Channel.
Let’s face it; distraction is commonplace. You finish responding to your emails, so you take a minute to look at your social media accounts. You do another task and watch a YouTube video. This process repeats all day long.
Just track your Time
Start by tracking your time. Pretty soon, you will realize how much time you spend each day on social media, YouTube, or other apps. Now I did not do this step. I already had an idea that this was what was happening with my day. Instead of checking my email as it arrives, I now only check it once an hour. I never noticed how annoying those notifications are coming across the top of my screen. Although I do love to watch, new subscribers come across my screen. It motivates me to produce more videos.
Just Four Simple Steps for Better Productivity
The book has just four steps that you need to do each day. You highlight a task that needs completing. If the job is too big for one day, it can be a subset of the job. The be laser-focused on completing the task. The books even offer ways to keep you on task. The third step is to build energy by staying in control of the tas and finally to reflect on the job.
The Productivity Book did well.
What I liked about the book is that you can go as deep as you need to to get things done. But it also talked about the fact that you are not creating more time to get work accomplished but to spend the time doing something that you want to do. So, if you want time to write that book in the evenings, then you now have the time. I agree that I need to unplug sometimes.
Productivity Problem – Pulled in to Many Directions
I come up with a strategy that I don’t work past 6 pm anymore. If I cannot get it done between the hours of 9 am and 6 pm, then it just isn’t getting done till the next day. The only exception to that is if I feel like writing a blog article. I find that when the mood hits me, I need to do it because the spirit will not be back for a few days.
Productivity In Summary
This is something that cannot be accomplished in one week. It takes time and practice to get this down. I just have to remind myself not to that.
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