Feel-Good Productivity

1. Feel-good productivity: The key to sustainable success

Success doesn't lead to feeling good. Feeling good leads to success.

The core principle. Feel-good productivity is about doing more of what matters to you by focusing on activities that generate positive emotions. This approach challenges the conventional wisdom that success comes from discipline and hard work alone. Instead, it emphasizes that when we feel good, we become more creative, resilient, and productive.

Scientific basis. Research in positive psychology, particularly Barbara Fredrickson's "broaden-and-build" theory, supports this idea. Positive emotions broaden our awareness and build cognitive resources, creating an upward spiral of positivity and success. This is facilitated by the release of "feel-good hormones" like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin, which enhance our capacity to focus, connect with others, and tackle challenges.

Practical application. To implement feel-good productivity:

• Identify activities that genuinely make you feel good
• Integrate these activities into your work and daily life
• Pay attention to how your mood affects your performance
• Cultivate a positive mindset towards your tasks and goals

2. Play: Harness the power of adventure and fun

Life is stressful. Play makes it fun.

Rediscovering playfulness. Incorporating a sense of play into work and daily life can significantly boost productivity and wellbeing. This doesn't mean being frivolous, but rather approaching tasks with curiosity, creativity, and enjoyment.

Strategies for playful productivity:

• Create an adventure: Treat your work as a game or quest
• Embrace your curiosity: Ask "what if" questions and explore new approaches
• Find the fun: Ask yourself, "What would this look like if it were fun?"
• Lower the stakes: Reframe failures as learning experiences
• Don't be serious, be sincere: Approach tasks with genuine interest rather than grim determination

By infusing play into your work, you can transform daunting tasks into engaging challenges, leading to increased motivation and better results.

3. Power: Boost confidence and take ownership

Believing you can is the first step to making sure you actually can.

Building self-efficacy. Power in this context refers to a sense of personal empowerment and control over one's life and work. This feeling of power is closely tied to self-efficacy, or the belief in one's ability to succeed.

Techniques to increase power:

• Use positive self-talk: Practice affirmations and encouraging internal dialogue
• Visualize success: Imagine yourself confidently completing tasks
• Learn from role models: Observe and emulate successful people in your field
• Take ownership: Focus on what you can control, even in challenging situations
• Embrace a growth mindset: View challenges as opportunities for learning and improvement

By boosting your sense of power and control, you can overcome self-doubt, take on bigger challenges, and achieve more.

4. People: Leverage social connections for energy

Teamwork is as much a psychological state as a way of dividing up tasks.

The power of social connections. Positive interactions with others can significantly boost our energy and productivity. This concept, known as "relational energy," emphasizes the importance of cultivating supportive relationships in both personal and professional settings.

Ways to harness relational energy:

• Adopt a "comrade mindset": View colleagues as teammates rather than competitors
• Find synchronicity: Work alongside others, even if on different tasks
• Embrace the helper's high: Look for opportunities to assist others
• Ask for help: Allow others to experience the joy of helping you
• Overcommunicate: Share both positive and negative information openly
• Create a culture of appreciation: Celebrate others' successes and contributions

By focusing on building positive relationships and fostering a supportive environment, you can create a network that energizes and motivates you.

5. Clarity: Overcome uncertainty through planning

If you don't know when you're doing something, chances are you won't do it.

Combating the fog of uncertainty. Uncertainty can lead to procrastination and decreased productivity. Gaining clarity about your goals and actions is crucial for overcoming this obstacle.

Methods to achieve clarity:

• Use Commander's Intent: Define the overall purpose of your project or task
• Apply the Five Whys: Dig deeper to understand the root purpose of your actions
• Set NICE goals: Near-term, Input-based, Controllable, and Energising objectives
• Define the Next Action Step: Break down large tasks into specific, actionable steps
• Implement intentions: Create "if-then" statements to trigger desired behaviors
• Time-block your schedule: Allocate specific time slots for important tasks

By reducing uncertainty and creating a clear plan of action, you can overcome procrastination and increase your productivity.

6. Courage: Face fears to unlock productivity

Make a start. You won't need to get perfect for a long time yet.

Overcoming fear-based procrastination. Fear, often manifesting as self-doubt or anxiety about failure, can be a significant barrier to productivity. Developing courage involves acknowledging these fears and moving forward despite them.

Strategies to build courage:

• Label your emotions: Identify and name your fears to reduce their power
• Reframe your identity: Adopt labels that empower rather than limit you
• Use the 10/10/10 rule: Consider how a decision will impact you in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years
• Adjust the confidence equation: Focus on taking action rather than feeling confident
• Stop spotlighting: Remember that others are less focused on your actions than you think
• Employ the Batman effect: Adopt the persona of a confident alter ego when needed

By developing courage, you can push through fear-based procrastination and take on challenging tasks with greater ease.

7. Action: Break inertia and start moving

When you're doing nothing, it's easy to carry on doing nothing. And when you're working, it's much easier to carry on working.

Overcoming inertia. The tendency to remain in our current state, whether active or inactive, can be a significant barrier to productivity. Breaking this inertia is crucial for initiating and maintaining productive behavior.

Techniques to get moving:

• Reduce environmental friction: Make it easier to start desired behaviors
• Apply the five-minute rule: Commit to working on a task for just five minutes
• Define the next action step: Break down large tasks into small, specific actions
• Track your progress: Monitor your advancement to maintain motivation
• Find an accountability buddy: Partner with someone to hold each other responsible
• Practice self-forgiveness: Don't let setbacks derail your entire day

By focusing on taking that first step and maintaining momentum, you can overcome inertia and build productive habits.

8. Conservation: Do less to achieve more

Do less, so that you can unlock more.

The power of selective focus. Attempting to do too much can lead to burnout and decreased productivity. Conservation involves strategically limiting your commitments to focus on what truly matters.

Strategies for conservation:

• Create an energy investment portfolio: List your dreams and active investments
• Practice saying no: Use the "hell yeah or no" rule for new commitments
• Consider opportunity costs: Recognize what you're giving up by saying yes
• Add friction to distractions: Make it harder to engage in unproductive activities
• Correct course instead of failing with abandon: Get back on track after distractions
• Schedule regular breaks: Plan periods of rest throughout your day

By conserving your energy and focusing on your most important tasks, you can achieve more while avoiding burnout.

9. Recharge: Find effective ways to rest and recover

Breaks aren't a special treat. They're an absolute necessity.

The importance of intentional rest. Effective recharging is crucial for sustaining productivity and avoiding burnout. This involves finding activities that truly rejuvenate you, rather than those that merely feel like rest but don't actually recharge your energy.

Methods for effective recharging:

• Engage in CALM activities: Competence-building, Autonomous, Liberating, and Mellow pursuits
• Connect with nature: Spend time outdoors or bring natural elements into your environment
• Practice mindful recharging: Engage in hobbies or creative projects that align with your values
• Allow for mind-wandering: Give your brain time to process information and generate new ideas
• Apply the Reitoff principle: Give yourself permission to occasionally write off a day for rest

By prioritizing effective recharging, you can maintain high levels of energy and productivity over the long term.

10. Alignment: Connect daily actions with long-term values

Values affirmations make our most abstract ideals real. And they boost our confidence along the way.

Living authentically. Aligning your daily actions with your long-term values and goals is crucial for sustained motivation and fulfillment. This alignment helps prevent burnout and ensures that your efforts are directed towards what truly matters to you.

Techniques for alignment:

• Use the eulogy method: Imagine what you'd want said about you at your funeral
• Create an odyssey plan: Envision multiple possible futures for yourself
• Complete the wheel of life: Assess your satisfaction in various life domains
• Conduct a 12-month celebration: Imagine celebrating your progress in a year
• Set three daily alignment quests: Choose actions that move you towards your goals
• Run alignment experiments: Test small changes to see how they affect your fulfillment

By consistently aligning your actions with your values, you can create a sense of purpose and meaning in your work and life, leading to sustained productivity and satisfaction.

Last updated: January 22, 2025