5 Surprisingly Productive Things to Do When You’re Bored

Ali Abdaal
28 May 202418:38

Summary

TLDR在这段视频中,Ali分享了五种出人意料的高效方法来利用你的闲暇时间。她首先建议表达感激之情,通过发送感谢信息给那些对你生活产生积极影响的人。接着,她提倡每周进行自我反思,以提高生产力和生活满意度。Ali还推荐使用冥想应用Headspace来建立日常冥想习惯,并通过个人CRM系统来维护人际关系。此外,她建议尝试与朋友或家人录制播客,以加深联系并自我反思。最后,Ali强调整理空间和写日记的重要性,认为这些习惯有助于清晰思维和个人成长。

Takeaways

  • 😄 利用闲暇时间做有意义的事情,比如表达感激、反思和冥想,可以提高生产力。
  • 📝 通过给对你有影响的人发送感谢信息,可以增强人际关系并提升个人情绪。
  • 🤔 每周花20分钟进行周反思,可以帮助你更好地规划和回顾,提高生活和工作效率。
  • 🧘 冥想是提高生产力的有效方式,Headspace等冥想应用可以帮助建立日常冥想习惯。
  • 👥 维护朋友关系的重要性,使用个人CRM来记录朋友信息和交流历史,有助于深化关系。
  • 🎙️ 尝试与朋友或家人录制播客,即使是非正式的对话,也能加深彼此的了解和联系。
  • 📹 录制视频日记是一种自我反思和记录生活的方式,有助于自我了解和记忆。
  • 🧹 整理空间可以减少心理杂乱,为工作和休闲创造一个更宁静的环境。
  • ✍️ 写日记是自我探索和实现个人成长的强大工具,即使是简短的记录也能带来深刻洞察。
  • 🔗 环境对我们的思维和行为有巨大影响,一个整洁的环境有助于提高生产力和专注度。

Q & A

  • 视频中提到的五个高效利用业余时间的方法是什么?

    -视频中提到的五个方法包括:1) 表达感激之情;2) 进行每周反思;3) 冥想;4) 使用个人CRM维护人际关系;5) 录制播客或视频日记。

  • 为什么表达感激之情会改变人们的生活?

    -表达感激之情能够加深人与人之间的联系,让人们感受到被重视和珍视,从而提升幸福感和生活满意度。

  • 什么是每周反思,它为什么对提高生产力有帮助?

    -每周反思是指花时间回顾过去一周的成就和挑战,并为下一周做计划。这有助于人们保持目标清晰,提高时间管理能力,从而提高生产力。

  • 视频中提到的'Feelgood productivity'是什么?

    -“Feelgood productivity”是Ali在他的书中提出的概念,强调在感觉良好的状态下提高生产力,即通过享受工作来自然提升效率。

  • 为什么说录制播客可以加深与他人的关系?

    -录制播客的过程鼓励人们开放思想,分享更深层次的想法和感受,这有助于增进相互理解和亲密度。

  • 个人CRM在维护人际关系中扮演什么角色?

    -个人CRM帮助用户跟踪和管理与朋友、家人和同事的关系,记录重要信息和交流历史,提醒用户保持联系,从而维护和加强这些关系。

  • 冥想如何帮助提高生产力?

    -冥想有助于减少压力,提高专注力,让人以更清晰的头脑和更平静的心态面对工作和生活中的挑战。

  • 为什么整理空间可以提高生产力?

    -一个整洁的空间可以减少心理和视觉上的干扰,帮助人们集中注意力,提高工作效率和生活质量。

  • 视频中提到的'headspace'是什么?

    -Headspace是一个冥想应用程序,提供指导性的冥想课程,帮助用户建立日常冥想习惯,提高生活和工作效率。

  • 为什么说写日记是提高生产力的一种方式?

    -写日记有助于自我反思,提高自我意识,让人更清楚自己的目标和需求,从而更有目的地行动,提高生产力。

  • 如何开始录制自己的播客或视频日记?

    -可以从简单的方式开始,比如使用手机的录音或视频功能,找一个安静的环境,准备一些想要讨论的话题,然后开始录制。

Outlines

00:00

📝 表达感激之情

视频一开始,Ali提出了一个互动性的建议,鼓励观众闭上眼睛,想象一个他们感激的人,并思考如果有机会,他们会如何表达这份感激。接着,Ali建议观众通过手机发送一条感谢信息给那个人,即使不发送,仅仅写下这条信息也是有益的。Ali分享了在演讲和活动中这样做的经历,许多人因此感动落泪,甚至改变了生活。他强调,发送感谢信息是一种简单却非常有意义的行为,可以在闲暇时间中尝试。

05:00

🤔 每周自我反思

Ali介绍了他在生产力实验室中与学生们每周进行的一项活动——每周反思。这项活动大约需要20分钟,通过回答一系列问题来回顾过去一周并为下一周做计划。这些问题包括年度目标和季度任务的进展、上周的成就、面临的挑战以及下周的行动计划。Ali强调,这种反思不仅能提高工作效率,还能改善生活、健康和人际关系。

10:01

🧘‍♂️ 冥想与Headspace应用

Ali提到了冥想作为一种提高生产力的方法,并介绍了Headspace这个冥想应用。Headspace赞助了这个视频,它提供了一个介绍性课程,帮助用户建立日常冥想习惯。Ali分享了自己使用Headspace的经验,并推荐了一个特别的“Feelgood productivity collection”,这个系列可以帮助用户通过玩耍来提高工作效率。他还提供了一个60天免费的Headspace试用链接。

15:02

💻 建立个人CRM

Ali分享了一个成功企业家朋友的建议,即使用个人CRM(客户关系管理)软件来维护与朋友的关系。他解释了CRM的概念,并分享了自己如何使用Apple Notes来记录与朋友的交流。Ali推荐了一个名为Dex的应用程序,它可以帮助用户跟踪与联系人的联系频率,并在需要联系时提醒用户。他认为,维护关系是随着年龄增长越来越难的事情,而个人CRM是一个有用的工具。

🎙️ 录制播客

Ali讲述了他与兄弟共同开始录制播客的经历,并提出了录制播客作为一种提高生产力的方法。他建议即使是与朋友或家人录制单集播客也是有益的,因为播客格式鼓励人们开放思想,分享深入的观点。Ali分享了他在等待播客嘉宾时与团队成员即兴录制播客的经历,并强调了录制播客可以加深与他人的联系。

🗑️ 整理空间

Ali讨论了环境对我们思考、感受和行为的影响,指出混乱的空间会降低生产力。他建议,与其开始工作或浏览社交媒体,不如花几分钟时间整理空间。通过清理桌面、整理电线和其他杂物,可以创造一个更有序、更少混乱的环境,这有助于提高专注力和生产力。

✍️ 日记的力量

视频的最后,Ali提到了日记作为一种提高生产力的工具。他提到了一个包含10个强有力的日记提示的视频,这些提示可以帮助人们发现关于自己的新见解。Ali认为,即使只是用笔和纸或数字笔记应用写几分钟日记,也能带来深刻的自我认识,是一种非常有益的自我提高活动。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡生产力

生产力在视频中被定义为有意识、有效和愉悦地使用我们的时间。它不仅限于工作,而是涉及到生活中的各个方面,如感恩、反思、冥想等,都是提升个人生产力的方式。例如,视频中提到通过写感谢信或进行周反思来提高生产力。

💡感恩

感恩是视频中提到的一种提升个人能量和情绪的方式。Ali建议闭上眼睛想象一个感激的人,然后通过信息表达这份感激之情。这种做法不仅能够增进人际关系,还能提升个人的幸福感,如视频中所述,大约80%的人发送感激信息后,都获得了积极的反馈。

💡周反思

周反思是视频中提到的一种提高生产力的方法,它要求人们花20分钟回顾上周并为下一周做计划。这个过程包括对年度目标和季度目标的审视,以及对上周的成就和挑战的反思。视频中提到,这种习惯对于提高工作和生活的效率极为有效。

💡冥想

冥想在视频中被提到作为一种提高生产力的活动。Ali推荐使用Headspace应用程序来建立日常冥想习惯,这有助于人们在面对生活事件或日常压力时保持冷静和专注。例如,Ali本人就在使用Headspace的介绍性冥想课程来提高自己的生活质量。

💡个人CRM

个人CRM在视频中被提及作为一种维护人际关系的工具。它源自于工作场景中用于管理客户关系的软件,但在这里被应用于个人生活,帮助人们记住朋友的生日、更新联系信息和记录重要的个人信息。视频中提到,使用个人CRM可以帮助人们系统化地成为更周到的朋友。

💡播客

播客在视频中被提出作为一种与朋友或家人加深联系的方式。Ali分享了他与兄弟共同主持播客的经验,并建议即使不是为了公开发布,录制播客也能促使人们更深入地交流和分享思想。例如,Ali提到即使在等待采访对象时,也可以与团队成员即兴录制播客,以此加深彼此的了解。

💡视频日记

视频日记是视频中提到的一种自我反思和记录生活的方式。通过录制自己谈论特定话题,可以帮助个人更好地理解自己的想法和感受。Ali建议,即使没有听众,录制视频日记也能作为一种个人成长的有效工具。

💡环境

环境在视频中被强调为影响我们思考、感受和行动的重要因素。一个整洁的环境可以减少心理的杂乱和压力,使人们更容易集中精力进行生产性的活动。例如,Ali提到,当周围环境整洁时,他更愿意进行工作、阅读或与家人通话。

💡整理

整理在视频中被提到作为一种快速提高生产力的方法。通过花费几分钟时间整理工作空间,可以创造出一个更有利于专注和效率的环境。Ali建议,即使是简单的清理桌面或整理电线,也能显著改善工作氛围和心情。

💡日记

日记在视频中被推荐为一种自我发现和个人成长的工具。Ali提到,通过写作可以揭示新的见解和自我认识。他甚至提供了一个包含10个强有力的日记提示的视频,以帮助观众通过日记提高生产力。

Highlights

利用闲暇时间做五件令人惊讶的高效事情,提升个人生产力。

生产力不仅是工作,而是有意识、有效和愉快的使用时间。

表达感激之情:闭上眼睛想象一个感激的人,写下想对他们说的话。

发送感激信息给某人,可以显著提升情绪和人际关系。

写感谢信或通过即时消息发送感谢,是高效利用时间的方法之一。

每周进行20分钟的周反思,回顾上周并计划下周。

周反思包括对年度目标和季度任务的检查,以及上周的成就和挑战。

使用个人CRM软件维护和加强人际关系。

个人CRM帮助记录朋友的生日、重要事件和对话笔记。

与朋友或家人录制播客,增进关系并留下美好回忆。

播客格式鼓励人们开放思想,分享更深层次的想法和感受。

录制视频日记是自我反思和自我连接的有效方式。

整理空间可以减少心理杂乱,提高工作效率和生活质量。

环境对我们的思维、情绪和行为有深远的影响。

推荐观看关于10个改变生活的强有力的日记提示的视频。

日记是自我发现和实现个人生产力的有力工具。

Transcripts

play00:00

okay so in this video we're going to

play00:01

talk through five surprisingly

play00:02

productive things that you can do with

play00:04

your spare time hey friends welcome back

play00:05

to the channel if you're new here my

play00:06

name is Ali I'm a doctor turned

play00:08

entrepreneur and I'm the author of The

play00:10

New York Times bestseller Feelgood

play00:11

productivity which is about how to do

play00:13

more of what matters to you now when we

play00:14

think of being more productive it's very

play00:16

easy for us to think that that's just

play00:17

work rated but the way that I would

play00:19

personally Define productivity is that

play00:20

productivity is about using our time in

play00:22

a way that's intentional effective and

play00:24

enjoyable so if like me you often find

play00:26

yourself with some spare time here and

play00:28

there in between things you want to be

play00:30

productive in that time but you don't

play00:31

necessarily want to do work then here

play00:33

are five ideas five ideas for

play00:35

experiments that you can try out in your

play00:36

life I find these five things to be

play00:38

needle moving for my own energy levels

play00:41

they help me feel more refreshed and

play00:42

recharged and these are generally

play00:44

productive things that I find really

play00:45

helpful to do when I've got spare time

play00:47

okay so the first thing on the list is a

play00:49

little bit Rogue but this is something

play00:50

that I often get people to do when I do

play00:51

talks and events and it takes just a few

play00:53

minutes but people have cried as a

play00:56

result of doing this people have said

play00:57

that it's changed their life in various

play00:59

ways maybe it's a little bit hyperbolic

play01:00

but

play01:02

basically try this right now this is

play01:04

going to be a bit a bit interactive I

play01:06

want you to close your eyes and I want

play01:08

you to imagine someone that you feel a

play01:09

sense of gratitude towards if you could

play01:11

say something to them what is the thing

play01:13

that you would say to that person as an

play01:14

expression of your gratitude towards

play01:16

them or towards how they've helped you

play01:18

in your life then what I ask people to

play01:20

do at these events is I say okay

play01:21

everyone now get out your phone and open

play01:24

up WhatsApp or iMessage or whatever and

play01:27

put in that person's thing and just type

play01:28

out the message to that person and type

play01:30

out what you would say to them and you

play01:31

don't have to send it but it's just you

play01:33

know it's just nice to type it out and

play01:34

then once they've all done that I say

play01:36

okay everyone once you've done that

play01:37

could you please sit down cuz I get

play01:38

people stand up while doing this blah

play01:39

blah blah and then I say and now feel

play01:41

free to send the message I'm not saying

play01:43

you have to I can't tell you what to do

play01:45

but feel free to send that message of

play01:46

gratitude and about 80% of people in the

play01:49

room will send that message and I will

play01:52

look around and people will come up to

play01:54

me afterwards and they'll be like oh my

play01:55

God I'm so I'm so grateful sometimes the

play01:58

friend will reply there and then being

play02:00

like OMG this this message brought me to

play02:01

tears thank you so much blah blah blah

play02:03

blah blah blah not once has anyone ever

play02:06

received a negative response as a result

play02:08

of this message of gratitude and message

play02:09

of thanks and it's something that is so

play02:13

easy to do it takes two 3 minutes out of

play02:15

your time when you're bored when you're

play02:17

instead of scrolling to just go through

play02:18

your contacts and send a nice thank you

play02:20

message to someone I like doing thank

play02:22

you notes as well I have like a little

play02:24

thank you note stationary thing which is

play02:26

currently downstairs with some stamps

play02:27

where I had a birthday party the other

play02:29

day I recently turned 30 and so people

play02:30

gave me a bunch of gifts and people came

play02:32

to the party so one of these days

play02:33

hopefully I'm just going to go around

play02:34

and just write a small little

play02:36

handwritten thank you notes but it

play02:38

doesn't have to be as high friction as

play02:40

mailing snail mail to someone it can

play02:41

just be sending someone a thank you

play02:43

message and that is one of the most

play02:44

productive things you can do with your

play02:45

time all right productive thing number

play02:47

two that you can do with your spare time

play02:48

is something that I actually do with

play02:49

students of productivity lab which is my

play02:51

community for people who want to double

play02:53

their productivity and we do this every

play02:54

single week and the people who attend

play02:56

this event and do this thing it takes 20

play02:58

minutes to do but but people have said

play03:00

oh like oh my God this has been the most

play03:02

productive thing I've done all week this

play03:03

has been the most productive thing I've

play03:04

done all year we get a lot of very

play03:06

hyperbolic comments about this specific

play03:08

thing and this thing is a weekly

play03:11

reflection where you spend 20 minutes

play03:13

reflecting on how your last week has

play03:15

gone and making a little bit of a plan

play03:17

for the following week so there are a

play03:18

handful of questions that I do in my

play03:20

personal weekly reflection these are the

play03:21

questions we take students through in

play03:23

productivity lab if you're interested in

play03:24

productivity lab you can find a link

play03:25

down below but the questions are as

play03:27

follows number one align so the first

play03:29

one is what are our annual goals and how

play03:31

are they going and the second one is

play03:33

what are our quarterly quests and how

play03:35

are they going so annual goals are like

play03:36

what are my goals for the year and

play03:37

quarterly quests are basically what are

play03:38

my goals for the quarter but I call them

play03:40

quarterly quests because the whole

play03:42

philosophy of feeli good productivity

play03:43

which is my book about how to be more

play03:45

productive in a way that feels good in

play03:46

case you haven't read it the whole idea

play03:47

is that if you can find a way to make

play03:49

your work feel good then productivity

play03:51

takes care of itself so instead of qu

play03:53

calling them quarterly goals or

play03:54

quarterly objectives I call them

play03:55

quarterly quests cuz it just makes it a

play03:57

little bit more fun but what are our

play03:58

annual goals and what our quests and how

play04:00

are they going secondly we are

play04:02

reflecting what were the good and great

play04:04

things that happened last week now this

play04:06

is really nice this is where I just

play04:07

spent 3 minutes going through my

play04:08

calendar from the week before racking my

play04:10

memory and thinking what were the wins

play04:12

what can I celebrate especially you know

play04:13

if you watch this channel you're

play04:14

probably kind of like me you're probably

play04:17

an overachiever you're probably very

play04:18

good-looking as well and you know it's

play04:20

easy for us to just keep on marching on

play04:22

and on and on especially if you're

play04:23

interested in productivity like I am and

play04:25

it's easy for us to keep marching on and

play04:26

forget to celebrate the wins which is

play04:28

why asking this question every week week

play04:30

what were the good and great things that

play04:31

happened last week it's a really nice

play04:32

way of reminding ourselves about how far

play04:34

we've come the next question is what

play04:35

were last week's challenges in what ways

play04:37

did we not act in line with our

play04:38

intentions for the week and what would

play04:40

we like to change if anything next week

play04:42

this is a bit of a mishmash of one

play04:43

question but it's essentially getting at

play04:44

challenges and then action points next

play04:46

we have organize look ahead to the next

play04:48

2 weeks does anything need scheduling in

play04:49

the calendar or any tasks need adding to

play04:51

our to-do list and this is where I look

play04:53

ahead and I see okay cool I don't have a

play04:55

gym session there or there or let me

play04:57

actually do a date night over there or

play04:58

maybe next Wednesday let go visit my mom

play05:00

and have dinner with her and just

play05:01

looking forward two weeks and just doing

play05:03

a little bit of a plan for your work but

play05:05

also for your life maybe even more

play05:06

importantly is a super productive thing

play05:08

you can do and then the final question

play05:09

is what are our top three outcomes for

play05:12

the upcoming week if the week ahead was

play05:14

going to be a great week what would be

play05:15

the top three things we'd accomplish

play05:17

let's make sure those are in the

play05:18

calendar and again this is just useful

play05:21

to align to what are the most important

play05:23

things you want to be working on the

play05:24

following week and then just making sure

play05:26

they're in the calendar because if it's

play05:27

not in the calendar it's unlikely to get

play05:28

done this weekly refle is just an

play05:30

absolutely gamechanging thing to do

play05:32

every week if you forget you know

play05:33

sometimes I forget to do it which is why

play05:35

we've create a productivity lab where we

play05:36

do it with people together and

play05:38

facilitated session but you can do it on

play05:40

your own it takes about 20 minutes you

play05:41

can put some nice background music on

play05:43

and I guarantee if you do a weekly

play05:45

reflection you will not regret that use

play05:46

of 20 minutes of your time and it's way

play05:48

more productive for your work but also

play05:50

for your life and your health and your

play05:51

general well-being and also for your

play05:52

relationships If instead of spending 20

play05:54

minutes scrolling Instagram you instead

play05:56

spend 20 minutes on a weekend or on a

play05:58

Friday reflecting on on your week and

play06:00

making a plan for the following week now

play06:01

one very productive thing that you can

play06:02

do with your spare time is in fact

play06:04

meditation and that brings us on to

play06:06

headspace who are very kindly sponsoring

play06:07

this video headspace is an absolutely

play06:09

amazing meditation app that can help you

play06:10

build a daily meditation practice

play06:12

whether you need support as you navigate

play06:14

life events or handle daily life or just

play06:16

become the best version of yourself

play06:17

headspace can help you out and I've

play06:19

personally been working my way through

play06:20

the introductory course in meditation

play06:22

which has been a really great

play06:23

introduction to the value and the point

play06:25

of meditation so I personally like to do

play06:27

just a 5 minute meditation first thing

play06:29

in the morning before I do my journaling

play06:30

and before I get my coffee but I've also

play06:32

now collaborated with headspace and

play06:33

there is now a feel-good productivity

play06:35

collection on headspace which can help

play06:37

you on the path to building healthy

play06:39

habits to boost your productivity and

play06:40

efficiency in particular I think you'll

play06:42

really enjoy the stuff around the value

play06:44

of play play as it relates to

play06:46

productivity like finding ways to enjoy

play06:48

the work that we're doing in that heads

play06:49

space content collection we've got a lot

play06:51

of good stuff around specifically how

play06:53

you can apply play to your work and to

play06:55

your life to help you be more productive

play06:56

but in a way that's actually fulfilling

play06:57

and enjoyable and so if you want to see

play06:59

how head space might be helpful for you

play07:00

and you want to check out the Feelgood

play07:01

productivity collection you can try it

play07:03

out completely for free for 60 days all

play07:05

you have to do is sign up with the link

play07:06

in the video description or scan the QR

play07:09

code that should hopefully be on screen

play07:10

right now so thank you so much to headp

play07:12

space for sponsoring this video and

play07:13

let's get back to it all right let's

play07:14

move on to point number three now and

play07:16

there is a friend who is in his 40s um

play07:20

he's like 40 something he's married he's

play07:21

got kids he's an entrepreneur super

play07:23

successful guy and I was chatting to him

play07:24

the other day and I was asking him for

play07:26

some life advice cuz I've just turned 30

play07:27

and so I'm going around asking all of my

play07:29

friends who are older than me and who

play07:30

are who seem to be happily married um

play07:33

with like you know thriving businesses

play07:34

and stuff uh for Life advice and I asked

play07:37

him you know what's one piece of advice

play07:38

you would give me like what becomes

play07:40

harder to do as you get into your 30s

play07:42

and one thing he said was the older you

play07:44

get the harder it is to maintain strong

play07:47

relationships with your friends in

play07:49

particular because everyone's life get

play07:51

gets busy people get married people have

play07:53

kids you maybe move to different

play07:54

countries it's hard to see people and

play07:56

this guy seemed to have a really strong

play07:58

Network I guess of friends and also

play08:00

family and also like work colleagues and

play08:02

stuff and he said that there's one habit

play08:04

that he's been doing for over a decade

play08:07

that's been incredibly helpful and that

play08:09

is using a personal CRM if you

play08:11

unfamiliar a CRM is usually a work rated

play08:15

piece of software it's a customer

play08:16

relationship management piece of

play08:18

software basically if you have a

play08:20

business and let's say You're A

play08:22

salesperson you would use a CRM to keep

play08:24

track of all of the potential prospects

play08:27

uh that are coming into your business

play08:29

and then you have a sales call with them

play08:31

and you try and sell them your thing and

play08:32

then you update the CRM with like the

play08:34

details of the customer and where they

play08:35

work and what they want from it

play08:37

professionals will use crms to keep

play08:39

track of their professional contacts so

play08:40

that they can then know more about them

play08:42

it's it's almost like when I was working

play08:44

as a doctor um we would we would have

play08:45

these electronic patient record systems

play08:48

so you see a patient you know they're in

play08:49

bed number three you can double click on

play08:51

them and you can see a record of all of

play08:53

their previous hospital visits so you

play08:54

get at a glance a summary of what the

play08:56

deal with this patient is what

play08:57

conditions they have what medications

play08:59

they're on what they're allergic to

play09:00

which means you sort of prep by by

play09:02

seeing these details about the patient

play09:04

before you then talk to the patient now

play09:06

this idea of crms and electronic patient

play09:08

records can also be applied to our

play09:10

personal lives and this sounds a bit

play09:12

Rogue but bear with me because this is

play09:14

actually gamechanging so for example

play09:17

let's say keeping track of people's

play09:19

birthdays you probably don't remember

play09:21

the birthdays of all the people that you

play09:22

would like to remember I certainly don't

play09:24

remember the birthdays of all the people

play09:25

I'd like to remember I remember my mom

play09:26

my grandma my brother's birthday and

play09:28

maybe a couple of friends but beyond

play09:29

that I don't really know what what

play09:31

anyone's birthday is partly this is

play09:32

thanks to Facebook back in the day when

play09:34

people actually used to use Facebook you

play09:35

would see people's birthdays coming up

play09:37

but since the beginning of time people

play09:39

have been writing down in in a little

play09:40

diary the birthdays of people who are

play09:43

close to them a personal CRM is

play09:45

basically like that and on a very basic

play09:47

level it's kind of software or like a

play09:50

system that you can use to keep track of

play09:52

the people you want to stay in touchway

play09:53

and you can write down their birthdays

play09:55

that's one use of a personal CRM but the

play09:57

other use of a personal CRM is that you

play09:59

can use it to take notes on your friends

play10:01

so the very basic version of this is

play10:02

that back in

play10:04

2021 I created an Apple notes folder

play10:07

called people and this was during the

play10:08

pandemic and whenever I would have a

play10:10

call with a friend or a catch up with a

play10:12

friend socially distanced of course I

play10:14

would create a note for them in my Apple

play10:16

notes folder and the title of that note

play10:18

would be their name for example I've got

play10:20

one here Danny lowney who is a friend of

play10:22

mine who runs a company called 16th and

play10:23

then I would put today's date and I

play10:24

would just write a few notes about what

play10:26

we talked about this was incredibly

play10:28

helpful because I see Danny maybe once

play10:30

every 6 to 9 months and so I I often

play10:32

forget like what was his life update

play10:34

back in the day and so I'll just look

play10:35

through my notes thing and be like oh

play10:36

yeah last time we spoke was 9 months ago

play10:38

or 6 months ago he was just about to go

play10:40

to La at the time he was just starting

play10:41

this new company and was looking for

play10:42

investment on that thing so I invested

play10:44

in that company and he was struggling

play10:45

with things X Y and Z and at the time I

play10:47

talked to him about my struggle with

play10:48

identity and blah blah blah blah blah

play10:49

blah and this is what we talked about

play10:51

this is super super helpful this means

play10:52

the next time I talk to Danny I can say

play10:54

hey so last time we spoke I remember you

play10:55

you know you were talking about that

play10:56

move to LA how did that go and nny then

play10:59

feels like I'm a very thoughtful friend

play11:01

because I remembered the fact he was

play11:02

moving to LA and the whole business and

play11:03

stuff and maybe I remembered some of it

play11:05

but the fact that I had the details in

play11:07

my personal CRM in a very simple note

play11:09

entitled Danny means that I can sort of

play11:12

systemize being thoughtful if that makes

play11:15

sense now people find this weird

play11:16

people are like oh but you should just

play11:18

remember it's like should you should you

play11:19

just remember all your friends'

play11:20

birthdays if you're keeping track of

play11:22

multiple people in your network people

play11:24

that you don't necessarily see very

play11:25

often do you expect to you know do you

play11:27

know the names of all of your co-work CU

play11:29

kids probably not I have all of my team

play11:32

members' kids names written down so that

play11:34

next time I see Dan I can be like you

play11:36

know how's Alex doing you know that kind

play11:38

of thing rather than thinking oh

play11:39

what a Dan's kids names again you know

play11:41

that that sort of general idea and so

play11:43

the productive thing you can do if your

play11:45

board is create or update a personal CRM

play11:49

it can be a super simple thing it can be

play11:51

a notes folder that just has names for

play11:52

people you want to stay in touch with

play11:53

and just writes a few details about them

play11:55

or you can do something that I've been

play11:57

starting doing recently on the advice of

play11:58

this friend there's an app called Dex

play12:01

get.com there'll be an affiliate Link

play12:03

Link down below it's not sponsored but

play12:04

we did reach out to them and they were

play12:05

like oh sick like here's a discount code

play12:07

there's a discount code down below if

play12:08

you want to check it out but Dex is

play12:09

basically software that lets you import

play12:11

your phone contacts the ones that you

play12:13

want and you can set a frequency of how

play12:15

often you want to stay in touch with

play12:16

them and you can also add notes and it

play12:17

will give you reminders like oh you

play12:19

intended to stay in touch with this

play12:20

person every 3 months it's been 3 months

play12:22

since the last time you contacted them

play12:24

uh would you like to reach out and it's

play12:25

just a very very helpful way of keeping

play12:27

in touch with relationships especially

play12:29

as you age especially as we become

play12:31

busier especially as that becomes harder

play12:32

and it's a way of kind of having a

play12:34

system to help you be more thoughtful

play12:36

cuz we all want to be more thoughtful we

play12:37

all want to maintain these relationships

play12:39

and these connections but it can be

play12:40

really hard in the midst of all the

play12:41

things that we're doing so a very

play12:42

productive thing you can do is take a

play12:44

few minutes every now and then to update

play12:46

your personal CRM all right let's move

play12:47

on now to tip number four now one of the

play12:49

things that I most glad I've done in my

play12:51

life is that back in 2019 my brother and

play12:54

I decided to start a podcast together

play12:57

you probably haven't heard of it because

play12:58

it's very small it's very Niche we don't

play13:00

really publicize it we don't monetize it

play13:02

it's just a thing that we started doing

play13:03

for fun and for the last 5 years and

play13:06

we've been a bit inconsistent with it

play13:07

for the last two but for the first 3

play13:08

years of it definitely every single week

play13:10

we were my brother and I were just

play13:11

sitting down either in person or over

play13:13

zoom and we were just recording a

play13:14

podcast together and there was no agenda

play13:17

here the point wasn't to monetize the

play13:18

point wasn't to get views it was just

play13:20

because we wanted to have a bit of a

play13:21

chat and so it's a bit Rogue but one

play13:24

surprisingly productive thing that I'd

play13:25

recommend you at least consider as an

play13:27

experiment is what would it look like to

play13:29

to record a podcast with a friend or

play13:31

family member it doesn't even have to be

play13:32

a whole podcast series it can just be a

play13:34

single episode of a podcast it doesn't

play13:36

have to be high friction it can be very

play13:37

low friction you can just turn on the

play13:39

voice memos thing on your phone you can

play13:41

sit across from your friend and you can

play13:43

just have a conversation or if you

play13:45

really want to you can set up your phone

play13:47

like prop it up Landscape or something

play13:49

to record both of you while you're

play13:50

having that conversation if you have

play13:52

camera gear and stuff sure you can do it

play13:54

if it's remote you can do it on

play13:55

Riverside Riverside is a great platform

play13:57

I actually I happen to be an investor in

play13:58

the platform it's fantastic that's how

play14:00

we record all of our podcasts remotely

play14:02

but you can just record a podcast with a

play14:03

friend now this is something that I

play14:05

actually do like yesterday for example I

play14:07

was doing I was about to do a podcast

play14:09

with Cal Newport but he was running a

play14:11

few minutes late like half an hour late

play14:12

cuz he had a talk so I had this half an

play14:14

hour window of time where kin one of my

play14:16

new team members was in the house and

play14:18

instead of just sort of sitting around I

play14:19

said to kayin hey kayin should we just

play14:21

record a podcast just like a casual chat

play14:23

between the two of us and she was like

play14:24

sure and we had the cameras and the

play14:26

microphones and stuff set up and so

play14:27

kayin and I just had a chat over over

play14:29

the podcast and the weird thing is the

play14:31

nice thing about podcast formats is I I

play14:33

suspect if you're watching this you

play14:34

haven't tried doing a podcast or being

play14:35

on a podcast but it really encourages

play14:39

people to open up not necessarily their

play14:41

de deep as darker Secrets but when

play14:43

someone is being interviewed on a

play14:44

podcast interviewed on a podcast it's

play14:47

like it becomes so much easier to expand

play14:49

on your thoughts and you kind of ask

play14:51

questions to people that you know that

play14:52

you may not have ever asked them before

play14:53

when I talk to my brother and on our

play14:55

podcast we go almost way deeper on

play14:58

nonperson personal topics than we would

play15:00

when we're just chatting by ourselves

play15:02

when I'm interviewing one of my friends

play15:03

or one of my team members even if we're

play15:04

never going to publish it even if it's

play15:06

just a thing that stays in my Apple in

play15:08

my Apple photos or that stays as an

play15:10

unlisted video on YouTube just cuz it's

play15:11

easy to to access then even then it

play15:14

deepens the connection between us to

play15:16

just sit down to sit across from each

play15:17

other and just record a podcast so I

play15:19

think one thing that you can really try

play15:21

is very productive it does require

play15:22

another person to be there is to Simply

play15:25

record a podcast with a

play15:26

friend if you don't have any friends to

play15:28

record podcast with and you would like

play15:30

to do this this technique solo another

play15:32

thing you can try is doing a video diary

play15:34

of yourself you can literally just open

play15:36

up the the phone recording app on your

play15:39

phone the video recording app on your

play15:40

phone put it on selfie mode prop it up

play15:42

somewhere I don't know in front of you

play15:44

and just say hey this is going to be a

play15:45

bit of a video diary and I'm going to

play15:47

talk about blah blah blah blah blah blah

play15:48

like there's something about recording a

play15:50

video diary and recording a podcast

play15:51

there's something about being recorded

play15:52

that you know initially once you get

play15:54

past the H feels weird because you know

play15:56

this is never going to be published it's

play15:58

purely private there's something about

play15:59

talking to yourself or talking to

play16:01

someone else in a recording that you

play16:03

know is going to be there for a while

play16:04

that functions as a memory that really

play16:07

helps get out things that you might not

play16:09

have thought about otherwise often when

play16:10

I'm being interviewed on a podcast I

play16:11

come out with like really good wisdom

play16:13

where I'm like whoa where did that come

play16:14

from like I couldn't have I couldn't

play16:15

have come up with that if I was just

play16:16

sort of sitting on my computer typing

play16:18

there's something about recording

play16:19

yourself that's really nice in terms of

play16:21

memories and also really nice in terms

play16:22

of deepening connection with yourself

play16:23

and with your friends all right now we

play16:25

move on to experiment number five and

play16:27

you know when I was doing research for

play16:28

my book F productivity which you can

play16:30

check out if you haven't already

play16:31

Shameless plug when I was doing research

play16:32

for the book there was a lot of stuff

play16:34

that came up about the importance of

play16:35

environment in shaping how we think how

play16:38

we feel how we act and how productive

play16:40

and intentional and stuff we are the

play16:42

power of the environment around us

play16:43

essentially when the space around me is

play16:45

a total mess uh like it sort of is now

play16:48

but we're in the filming day with the

play16:50

podcast like when the space around me is

play16:52

a bit of a mess there is it adds a level

play16:55

of uh to sitting down and doing

play16:59

something productive it adds a level of

play17:01

a like I don't like sitting down to work

play17:02

I don't like sitting down to read I

play17:04

don't like sitting down to call my

play17:05

grandma or even to play video games

play17:07

which can be very productive if you're

play17:08

doing it intentionally I don't like

play17:09

doing those things when the space around

play17:11

me feels a bit meh and so what I've

play17:14

realized over the years is one of the

play17:15

most productive things that I can do

play17:16

with a few minutes of spare time is

play17:18

instead of trying to start any work task

play17:20

or scrolling social media or whatever is

play17:22

literally just take 3 to 10 minutes to

play17:25

just tidy my space like you know take

play17:27

the mugs that are gathering on the desk

play17:30

downstairs take the tissues that have

play17:32

sort of fallen out of the bin and put

play17:33

them in the bin empty out the trash take

play17:35

the wires that like you know the phone

play17:37

charger that's over there and the laptop

play17:39

charger that's over there and just sort

play17:40

of Tidy them up take stuff that's on on

play17:42

top of countertops like this thing and

play17:45

this thing and this freaking cable

play17:46

management thing and this little thing

play17:48

for SD cards and just put it somewhere

play17:50

out of sight and just doing that for a

play17:53

few minutes every now and then maybe

play17:55

even every few days really helps our

play17:57

spaces become more organized Iz to

play17:59

become less less cluttered and if you

play18:01

have a less cluttered space you have a

play18:03

less cluttered and chaotic mind and it

play18:05

just makes every action that you take in

play18:07

that space just feel a little bit more

play18:09

calm now the final productive thing you

play18:11

can do with your time that we're going

play18:12

to talk about in this video is

play18:13

journaling and this video has gotten

play18:15

long enough so I'm going to leave you

play18:16

with that video over there which is 10

play18:18

powerful journaling prompts that have

play18:20

most changed my life if you do any one

play18:22

of these even just for a few minutes

play18:23

just with a pen and paper journal or

play18:25

even with an apple Note file or whatever

play18:26

I guarantee it's going to help you

play18:29

discover new insights and realizations

play18:30

about yourself and can genuinely be one

play18:32

of the most productive things you ever

play18:33

do so check out my journaling prompts

play18:34

video over there thank you so much for

play18:36

watching and I'll see you in the next

play18:37

one bye-bye

Rate This

5.0 / 5 (0 votes)

Related Tags
生产力感恩周反思冥想人际关系CRM播客视频日记环境整理日志写作
Do you need a summary in English?