being productive is easy, actually

Summary

The video script discusses the intense study habits of South Korean teenagers and their desire to join esports teams, debunking myths about extreme discipline and productivity hacks. Instead, it highlights the importance of enjoying work to avoid burnout and the benefits of taking breaks. The speaker shares insights from productivity books available on Shortform, emphasizing the cycle of motivation and work completion that fuels productivity. Tips for maintaining this cycle include setting goals, challenging oneself, and integrating work into daily routines. The script also addresses common productivity obstacles like tiredness, confusion, boredom, and distractions, offering practical solutions like taking walks, having clear plans, and minimizing interruptions.

Takeaways

• 😴 South Korean teenagers often spend more hours on schoolwork than awake, but their motivation is not necessarily high discipline or advanced productivity hacks.
• 🧊 The most popular 'hack' among them is to drink an iced Americano between subjects to stay productive.
• 📚 The speaker discovered productivity tips by reading guides on Shortform, a platform that summarizes books, including popular ones on productivity and business.
• 🔄 Productivity is described as a cycle: motivation leads to work, which leads to feeling good, and that in turn leads to more motivation and work.
• 🛑 Taking breaks is not unproductive; it can actually boost productivity by refreshing the mind.
• 📈 Shortform releases new book guides and articles weekly, and subscribers can vote on which books to cover.
• 🎯 To start the productivity cycle, even without motivation, begin with a small task, which can trigger the cycle and lead to more work.
• 🏅 The most productive people often have detailed to-do lists, which provide a clear path and a sense of accomplishment as tasks are completed.
• 🤔 To overcome a lack of motivation, use self-motivation tricks such as reminding oneself of the end goal, enjoying the work, challenging oneself, and making work a habit.
• 🚶‍♂️ Taking a walk can help tackle issues like tiredness, confusion, and anxiety by providing a change of scenery and allowing the mind to wander.
• 📵 To combat distractions, the best strategy is to put the phone on silent and hide it away, which helps in achieving a state of flow and deep work.

Q & A

What is the common misconception about South Korean students' productivity?

The common misconception is that South Korean students have an exceptionally high level of discipline, motivation, and focus, and that they use advanced productivity hacks to be productive. In reality, many just want to finish school and join an Esports team, and their most popular 'hack' is drinking iced Americanos between subjects.

How does the speaker suggest finding motivation to be productive?

The speaker suggests finding enjoyment in the work instead of always forcing oneself to work. They mention that simply grinding through work can lead to burnout, and taking breaks can actually make one more productive.

What is Shortform and how does it help with productivity?

Shortform is a platform that provides full guides to a wide range of books, including popular titles in genres like money and finance, productivity, and business. It helps with productivity by condensing information from productivity books into a few hours of reading, even offering exercises to apply the information.

What is the speaker's personal productivity cycle?

The speaker's productivity cycle involves motivation leading to work, which in turn makes one feel good and leads to more motivation to complete more work. The cycle continues with increased motivation leading to more work done.

Why does the speaker upload videos only once a month?

The speaker uploads videos only once a month because they believe in the productivity cycle where taking breaks is not a waste of time but actually makes one more productive.

How does having a to-do list contribute to productivity?

Having a to-do list contributes to productivity because each task crossed off provides a sense of accomplishment, which boosts motivation to tackle the next task, thus continuing the productivity cycle.

What are some self-motivation tricks mentioned in the script?

The self-motivation tricks mentioned include reminding oneself of what drives them and the end goal, enjoying the work, challenging oneself to complete a certain amount of work within a set time, and making work a habit by integrating it into daily routines.

Why is it beneficial to start working even when feeling unmotivated?

Starting to work even when unmotivated can be beneficial because completing even a small task can provide enough motivation to continue working, thus kick-starting the productivity cycle.

How do students at Oxford University manage to study for long hours even without initial motivation?

Students at Oxford University manage to study for long hours by not focusing on the enormity of the task but by starting with the mindset of 'I'll just crack a bit of work right now,' which leads to a significant amount of work being done over time.

What are some strategies to overcome common productivity obstacles like tiredness, confusion, boredom, anxiety, and distractions?

Strategies to overcome these obstacles include taking a break and going for a walk, ensuring adequate sleep, having a clear to-do list or plan, changing work locations or facing a different direction, asking oneself reflective questions to alleviate anxiety, and putting away distractions like phones.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Secret to South Korean Students' Productivity

This paragraph discusses the intense study habits of South Korean teenagers who spend an extraordinary amount of time on schoolwork. Contrary to assumptions about their discipline and motivation, the reality is that many desire to join esports teams and have unconventional productivity methods, such as drinking iced Americanos. The speaker reveals that they discovered the secret to productivity not through weeks of reading but through short-form summaries on platforms like Shortform. The key takeaway is that productivity is cyclical: motivation leads to work, work leads to satisfaction, and satisfaction fuels further motivation. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of enjoying work to avoid burnout and the benefits of taking breaks to maintain productivity, before promoting a Shortform trial for more insights.

05:00

🚶‍♂️ Overcoming Obstacles to Stay Productive

The second paragraph delves into strategies for maintaining productivity despite common obstacles like lack of motivation, tiredness, confusion, boredom, anxiety, and distractions. It highlights the effectiveness of starting work immediately rather than waiting for motivation to strike, as exemplified by Oxford University students who commit to substantial weekly study hours. The paragraph suggests taking breaks, particularly going for walks, to address these issues holistically. It also provides specific advice for tackling each obstacle, such as using an Americano for tiredness, creating to-do lists for confusion, changing work locations for boredom, self-questioning for anxiety, and silencing phones for distractions. The speaker humorously ends with a call for subscriptions, indicating the next video will continue exploring these themes.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency with which an individual or system performs tasks or produces goods and services. In the context of the video, it is the central theme as the speaker discusses the misconceptions about the high levels of discipline and motivation among South Korean students and then explores the concept of productivity as a cycle. The video suggests that productivity is not just about working hard but also about finding enjoyment in work and taking breaks to avoid burnout.

💡Motivation

Motivation is the psychological drive that compels an individual to engage in certain behaviors to achieve a goal. The video emphasizes the importance of motivation in the productivity cycle, stating that it initiates the desire to work. The script illustrates this by explaining how finishing work leads to a feeling of accomplishment, which in turn fuels further motivation to complete more tasks.

💡Discipline

Discipline is the practice of training oneself to follow a pattern of behavior or a specific way of acting, often associated with self-control and orderliness. The video initially challenges the stereotype that South Korean students possess an extraordinary amount of discipline, suggesting that their productivity may not be solely due to self-discipline but also due to other factors such as enjoying the work and taking breaks.

💡Esports

Esports is a form of competition using video games, where players form teams and compete against each other. In the script, the speaker mentions that many South Korean teenagers aspire to join Esports teams rather than focusing solely on academic achievement. This highlights a cultural aspect of motivation and productivity, where the desire to pursue a passion can be a significant driving force.

💡Breaks

Breaks refer to periods of rest or pause from work or activity. The video script refutes the idea that taking breaks is unproductive, arguing instead that breaks are essential for maintaining productivity levels and preventing burnout. The speaker suggests that breaks can actually enhance productivity by providing mental rest and rejuvenation.

💡To-Do List

A to-do list is a record of tasks that need to be completed, often prioritized by order of importance or urgency. The video emphasizes the effectiveness of to-do lists in boosting productivity, as crossing off completed tasks provides a sense of accomplishment and motivation to tackle the next task. This concept is integral to the productivity cycle discussed in the script.

💡Self-Motivation Tricks

Self-motivation tricks are strategies that individuals use to inspire themselves to take action or maintain focus on a task. The video provides examples of such tricks, such as reminding oneself of the end goal, enjoying aspects of the work, challenging oneself to complete a set amount of work within a time limit, and creating a routine. These tricks are presented as techniques to initiate the productivity cycle when motivation is low.

💡Routine

A routine is a sequence of actions regularly followed; it is a customary way of doing things that becomes a habit. The script suggests incorporating work sessions into existing morning or evening routines to make work feel like a natural part of the day. This approach is used to create a habit of productivity, making it easier to maintain over time.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often caused by excessive and prolonged stress. The video warns against the dangers of burnout, suggesting that relentless work without breaks can lead to this state. It implies that managing burnout is crucial for maintaining long-term productivity.

💡Flow

Flow is a mental state in which a person is fully immersed in an activity, experiencing a sense of energized focus and complete involvement. The script mentions that distractions can prevent one from reaching a state of flow, which is considered an optimal state for deep and productive work. The video suggests strategies to minimize distractions, such as silencing phones and creating a conducive work environment.

💡Distractions

Distractions are anything that diverts attention away from a task or goal. The video discusses the negative impact of distractions on productivity and the importance of minimizing them to achieve a state of flow. It provides practical advice on how to reduce distractions, such as putting away one's phone or changing the work environment.

Highlights

South Korean teenagers spend more hours on schoolwork than being awake.

Popular belief is that these students have high discipline, motivation, and focus.

Many students aspire to join an Esports team rather than academic excellence.

A common productivity hack among them is drinking iced Americano between subjects.

Short Form provides full guides to books, including popular genres like productivity.

The guide to 'Aliab Dolls Feel Good Productivity' offers practical exercises.

Productivity is a cycle: motivation leads to work, which in turn leads to more motivation.

High motivation before a deadline can drastically increase productivity.

Using a to-do list can boost productivity by providing clear tasks and a sense of achievement.

Motivation can be initiated by starting a task, even if it's just for a minute.

Oxford University students study for 40 hours a week, even without initial motivation.

Taking a break and going for a walk can refresh and increase productivity.

Dealing with tiredness, confusion, boredom, anxiety, and distractions can improve the productivity cycle.

Switching up the work location or facing a different direction can alleviate boredom.

Asking oneself questions can help manage anxiety and maintain focus.

To avoid distractions, keep the phone in another room or on silent.

Making work a habit by integrating it into daily routines can increase productivity.

Transcripts

so if you don't know this already in

South Korea there are thousands of

teenagers who wake up every day and

spend more hours doing schoolwork than

you spend being awake literally and many

people look at these students and think

wow they must have a crazy high amount

of discipline and motivation and focus

they must really care about school I bet

they take cold showers to get

disciplined and I bet they use a bunch

of super Advanced productivity hacks but

in reality most of them just want to get

out of school and join an Esports team a

good portion of them don't even shower

at all and the most popular productivity

hack is to drink an entire iced

Americano in between each subject so how

do they do it what's their hidden secret

to being so productive all the time it's

actually very easy and I was about to

spend weeks reading these productivity

books to find the answer but luckily

thanks to short form I was able to read

all of them in just a few hours that's

because short Forum gives you full

guides to pretty much any book you could

ever want including the most popular

books in genres like money and finance

productivity and business for example I

read the guide to aliab dolls feel good

productivity and short form even gave me

exercises to actually apply the

information at the end and here's three

things I learned instead of always

forcing yourself to work find a way to

enjoy it simply grinding way of work

will cause you to burn out and taking

breaks is not a waste of time it

actually makes you more productive and

that's why I only upload once a month

but unlike me short form drops new book

guides and articles every single week

and subscribers get to vote on what

books are covered so if you want to get

a 5-day free trial join shortform

through my special link short.com

actually or click the link in the

description so in the end what I found

is that productivity is basically just a

cycle and this is what it looks like

first let's say you get motivated

motivation makes you want to do work

finishing some work makes you feel good

and that gives you motiv a to then

finish more work around and around it

goes the more motivated you are the more

work you do and the more work you do the

more motivation you get so every time

you think of productivity just think of

this cycle because even though it

simplifies a lot of stuff it's easy to

remember just this image whenever you

wake up and don't feel like doing

anything and it explains pretty much

everything for example how can you spend

3 weeks not writing an essay but somehow

30 minutes before it's due you turn into

Prime Shakespeare it's because when the

due dat is in 30 minutes your motivation

goes Skyhigh and therefore the cycle

goes much faster and no amount of

distractions sleepiness or boredom will

be enough to stop you the cycle also

explains why you can get so much more

work done when you have a to-do list

because each time you cross something

off the list you're very obviously

telling your brain I finished something

I did a task and that makes you feel

good and now that you feel motivated

guess what here's another task that's

going to give you an even better feeling

once you cross it off and that's why the

most productive people almost always

have a detailed to-do list cuz if you

split up a big task like homework into

each individual subject and even better

you split it into each individual task

then not only is there less confusion

about what you have to do but you get to

have that boost of motivation after

Crossing off every little task and it's

important to know that if you don't have

a lot of motivation you can still start

up the cycle and get it running by using

some self motivation tricks and here's a

few first remind yourself what drives

you why you're doing this and what the

end goal is next remind yourself what

you enjoy about your work third

challenge yourself to see how much work

you can do in the next hour and race

against the clock as if you have an

essay that's doing 1 hour and you

haven't started cuz you know what they

say procrastination is the best

motivation so why not just give yourself

your own time limit and finally make

work into a habit by doing it every day

around the same time and by making

making it part of a bigger routine for

example a lot of people have a morning

routine of wake up shower breakfast gym

or they have an evening routine of come

home change clothes eat food and if you

just stick a work session into these

built-in routines then eventually it'll

feel weird not to do work and what

better motivator is there than not

wanting to feel weird but having said

all this you also don't have to start

with motivation to get the cycle going

for example if you wake up one day and

you feel really unmotivated like you

don't want to do anything just start

working anyway it can even be just 1

minute of work literally 1 minute maybe

it's writing one sentence maybe it's

reading one paragraph or cleaning one

piece of furniture whatever it is once

you finish that bit of work you're done

and you can go back to lying in bed and

doing nothing but chances are you

probably won't want to go back to doing

nothing because finishing that one task

will almost always give you enough

motivation to do the next task and that

motivates you more and before you know

it the cycle is running at full speed

and this is the secret don't wait for

motivation start working now and get

motivated as you work it's said that

students at Oxford University in England

spend at least 40 hours a week studying

which means that even on those days with

no motivation they still have to wake up

and go study for 6 to 8 hours and

they're not sitting in bed telling

themselves come on locking mate you got

to do 7 hours of revision today cuz

that's a huge task they don't have the

motivation for

instead what they actually do is wake up

and think your army I reckon I'll have a

cracked a bit of work right now in it

and 12 hours later somehow they finished

two textbooks written four essays and

colonized 78 countries cuz getting stuff

done is what motivates you when nothing

else will but of course the cycle can't

go on forever things like tiredness

confusion boredom anxiety and

distractions are all things that make

the cycle less and less efficient but

the good news is that that you can deal

with all of these and one way to tackle

them all at the same time is to just

take a break and go for a walk

especially if you go outside a walk will

give you some extra energy a walk helps

you collect your thoughts and plan out

your next move it gives you something to

do that's not work it calms you down

when you're anxious and during a walk

you can take in all your surroundings

and allow your mind to wander now so

that you don't need distractions later

but besides walking here's how you can

deal with each problem tiredness I

ideally sleep but nice to Americana will

do confusion have a to-do list or at

least come up with the plan of what

you're going to do and how you're going

to do it boredom background music can

help but one thing that works way too

well and pretty much never fails is

switching up the location you work from

or even just facing a different

direction you can honestly work from

even the most nonsensical of locations

but be warned that people might look at

you weird doesn't matter though cuz it's

fun anxiety the best you can do is ask

yourself some question questions what am

I most worried about is it reasonable

will this thing I'm worried about matter

in the long run and what can I control

for example if you have a biology test

coming up you might feel too anxious to

study why because you're worried you

might fail anyway is this reasonable no

cuz studying always helps will this

matter in the long run no cuz the two

hours you spend studying now is not that

much time in the grand scheme of things

and what can you control obviously you

can study and even if you do fail you

can always just draw over your grade and

change it to an A and lastly

distractions according to many books

distractions are the enemy to deep

productive work and they also stop you

from reaching a state of flow and the

best way to stop this is to Simply take

your phone put it on silent and put it

in another room or just hide it

somewhere this is way better than just

turning off your notifications and I

personally don't even miss anything cuz

no one calls me in the first place

anyway I'm collecting donations in the

form of subscribes to fun the next video

[Music]