8 Productivity hacks that will supercharge your efficiency

Summary

In this video, Junior shares his top eight productivity hacks designed to enhance efficiency and make every second count. From combating procrastination with techniques like the Pomodoro and the 5-Minute Rule to identifying peak productivity windows and leveraging batching, each hack aims to streamline work and life. Junior also emphasizes the importance of sleep, using a 'second brain' for information management, focusing on micro wins, time blocking, and the power of delegation to optimize time and increase overall productivity.

Takeaways

• 🚀 **Pomodoro Technique**: Commit to 25-minute work intervals followed by short breaks to reduce the initial friction of starting a task.
• 🕒 **Five-Minute Rule**: Commit to just five minutes of work initially to overcome the daunting nature of starting a task.
• 🔢 **3-2-1 Method**: Use a countdown to jumpstart actions and bypass hesitation, forming a habit that reduces procrastination.
• 🌞 **Identify Peak Productivity Window**: Recognize the time of day when you're most energetic and focused, and schedule demanding tasks for this period.
• 📚 **Batching**: Group similar tasks together to increase efficiency and maintain flow, avoiding the context-switching that detracts from productivity.
• 🛌 **Night Alarms**: Use alarms to signal bedtime and ensure adequate sleep, recognizing the importance of rest for productivity and health.
• 🧠 **Second Brain**: Utilize digital tools to offload information from your brain, creating a system to organize and retrieve ideas and tasks efficiently.
• 🏆 **Micro Wins**: Focus on making small, consistent improvements daily, recognizing that these can accumulate to significant progress over time.
• ⏰ **Time Blocking**: Schedule specific blocks of time for tasks, including rest and play, to manage your time effectively and reduce decision fatigue.
• 🤝 **Delegating**: Delegate tasks that are not your strong suit or do not require your personal attention to free up time for what you do best or enjoy most.

Q & A

What are the main topics discussed in the video?

The video discusses eight productivity hacks that can help viewers improve their efficiency and make better use of their time.

What is the first set of productivity hacks mentioned in the video?

The first set of productivity hacks mentioned are 'Procrastination Fighters', which are techniques to reduce procrastination.

Can you explain the Pomodoro Technique mentioned in the video?

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method where you commit to 25-minute intervals of focused work, called 'pomodoros', followed by short breaks, and longer breaks after completing a set number of these intervals.

What is the 'Five Minute Rule' and how does it help with productivity?

The 'Five Minute Rule' suggests committing to just five minutes of work on a task before deciding whether to continue or not. This makes the initial task less daunting and helps to start working with minimal resistance.

What is the '321 Method' and how does it work?

The '321 Method' is a technique where you count down from three before starting a task. This helps to shift focus away from hesitation and encourages immediate action, reducing the initial friction point of starting a task.

Why is identifying your peak productivity window important?

Identifying your peak productivity window helps you to understand when you are most energetic and focused, allowing you to schedule your most demanding tasks during this time for maximum efficiency.

What is the concept of 'batching' tasks and how can it improve productivity?

Batching tasks involves grouping similar tasks together and completing them in a dedicated time block. This reduces the cognitive effort of switching between tasks and can lead to greater consistency and efficiency.

Why are night alarms considered important for productivity?

Night alarms are important for ensuring that you end your day at a reasonable time, which helps protect the quality and duration of your sleep. Adequate sleep is crucial for maintaining high levels of productivity.

What is the 'Second Brain' concept and how can it help with managing information overload?

The 'Second Brain' concept involves using digital tools to store and organize information externally. This helps to reduce cognitive load by offloading information from your brain, allowing you to focus on tasks more effectively.

What are 'micro wins' and how can they contribute to daily productivity?

Micro wins are small, achievable goals or tasks that you aim to complete each day. Focusing on these can help to build momentum and maintain a sense of progress, even when tackling larger, more complex tasks.

Why is time blocking considered essential for productivity?

Time blocking is essential for productivity as it helps to manage time effectively by scheduling specific periods for different activities, including rest and play. This reduces decision fatigue and helps maintain a balance between work and leisure.

What is the significance of delegation in the context of productivity?

Delegation is significant in productivity as it allows you to focus on tasks where your skills are most valuable, while assigning other tasks to others. This can free up time for more important or enjoyable activities, enhancing overall efficiency and satisfaction.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to Productivity Hacks

The video script begins with an introduction to eight productivity hacks presented by Junior, aimed at boosting efficiency and making the most out of every second. Junior emphasizes the importance of these hacks in reducing procrastination and their ease of integration into daily routines. The video is designed to provide viewers with actionable strategies that can be implemented immediately for noticeable benefits.

05:02

🛠 Procrastination Fighters: Techniques to Tackle Delay

Junior discusses the first set of productivity hacks, which he calls 'Procrastination Fighters,' designed to reduce the tendency to procrastinate. He explains that procrastination often stems from overthinking and creating artificial complexities around tasks. Junior introduces three techniques to combat this: the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working in 25-minute intervals followed by breaks; the Five-Minute Rule, committing to just five minutes of work to overcome the initial reluctance; and the 3-2-1 Method, which involves counting down to immediately start a task, thus bypassing hesitation.

10:03

🌞 Identifying Your Peak Productivity Window

The third paragraph delves into the concept of identifying one's peak productivity window, the time of day when an individual feels most energetic and focused. Junior suggests that recognizing this window and reserving it for the most demanding tasks can significantly increase productivity. He also highlights the importance of setting up an optimal environment during this time to minimize distractions and maximize focus.

15:05

📚 Batching Tasks for Streamlined Efficiency

Batching is the fourth productivity hack introduced by Junior, where similar tasks are grouped together and performed in dedicated time blocks. This method is contrasted with multitasking and is shown to increase efficiency by reducing the cognitive load of constantly switching between tasks. Junior provides personal examples of batching content creation and errands, illustrating how this approach can lead to consistency and a more manageable workload.

20:06

🛌 The Importance of Night Alarms for Quality Sleep

In the fifth paragraph, Junior discusses the role of night alarms in maintaining a healthy sleep schedule, which is crucial for overall productivity. He explains that setting a night alarm can prevent overindulgence in late-night activities, ensuring adequate rest. The paragraph underscores the significance of sleep for cognitive function and the potential negative impacts of sleep deprivation on productivity.

25:07

🧠 Developing a Second Brain for Information Management

Junior introduces the concept of a 'second brain,' an external system for managing the vast amount of information one encounters daily. This system can include digital platforms that allow for the organization and retrieval of ideas, tasks, and inspirations. The paragraph highlights how a second brain can reduce cognitive overload and improve the efficiency of information recall and idea generation.

30:09

🏆 Focusing on Micro Wins for Daily Progress

The sixth paragraph emphasizes the power of 'micro wins,' or small, daily achievements that contribute to long-term progress. Junior suggests that focusing on incremental improvements in physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of life can lead to significant growth over time. He encourages viewers to establish and celebrate these micro wins as a way to maintain motivation and a sense of accomplishment.

⏰ Time Blocking as a Key to Productivity

Time blocking is the seventh hack presented by Junior, a scheduling technique where time is allocated for specific activities, including rest and play. He argues that time blocking reduces the cognitive effort spent on decision-making and helps in managing time more effectively. Junior stresses the importance of including rest in schedules to avoid burnout and to ensure that work is balanced with rejuvenation.

🤝 The Art of Delegation for Optimal Use of Time

The final paragraph introduces delegation as a productivity hack, highlighting the importance of leveraging one's skills and time efficiently. Junior explains that delegating tasks that are not within one's area of expertise or that do not require significant skill can free up time for more valuable activities. He provides examples of how delegation can be applied in both professional and personal contexts to enhance productivity and create opportunities.

Keywords

💡Productivity Hacks

Productivity hacks refer to strategies or techniques that individuals use to increase their efficiency and make better use of their time. In the video, Junior discusses eight specific hacks that have been beneficial for him, aiming to provide viewers with actionable methods to enhance their own productivity. Examples include the Pomodoro Technique and the five-minute rule, which are introduced as ways to combat procrastination and initiate tasks with less perceived effort.

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks or actions, often due to a perceived lack of urgency or importance. In the context of the video, Junior identifies procrastination as a common barrier to productivity and suggests that it often stems from overthinking and creating artificial complexities around tasks. The video aims to provide solutions to reduce procrastination, such as the Pomodoro Technique, which breaks work into manageable intervals.

💡Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, known as 'Pomodoros', followed by a short break. The technique is highlighted in the video as an effective way to reduce the initial friction of starting a task and to build momentum by making the task seem less daunting. Junior mentions that he has adapted the technique to suit his personal workflow by extending the work intervals to 40 minutes.

💡Five-Minute Rule

The five-minute rule is a productivity strategy that suggests committing to work on a task for just five minutes as a way to overcome inertia and get started. In the video, Junior describes this rule as a game-changer that simplifies the initial task to a manageable duration, making it easier to begin and potentially continue working beyond the initial five minutes.

💡3-2-1 Method

The 3-2-1 method is a motivational technique where one counts down from three as a signal to immediately start a task or action, bypassing hesitation. The method is discussed in the video as a way to create a subconscious habit that reduces the friction of beginning tasks and helps to initiate actions without delay. Junior shares his personal experience using this method to get out of bed in the morning and to push through when he doesn't feel like doing another set at the gym.

💡Peak Productivity Window

The peak productivity window refers to the time of day when an individual is most energetic and focused. Junior emphasizes the importance of identifying one's own peak productivity window and scheduling the most demanding tasks during this time to maximize efficiency. He provides his personal example of being most productive in the early morning hours and suggests that others reflect on their own energy fluctuations to optimize their work schedule.

💡Batching

Batching is the practice of grouping similar tasks together to be performed in dedicated time blocks, which can increase efficiency by reducing the cognitive load of task-switching. In the video, Junior explains how he used to multitask but found batching to be more effective, using the example of content creation where he dedicates specific days to filming multiple videos in a row to maintain the flow state.

💡Night Alarms

Night alarms are reminders set to indicate it's time to wind down and prepare for sleep, helping to establish a consistent sleep schedule. Junior discusses the importance of sleep for productivity and how night alarms can prevent overindulgence in late-night activities that might disrupt sleep, suggesting that they are a simple tool to integrate into one's routine to protect sleep quality.

💡Second Brain

A 'second brain' is a concept where one uses external tools, such as note-taking apps or digital organizers, to offload information from their mind and keep track of ideas, tasks, and inspirations. In the video, Junior describes the second brain as a way to manage the overwhelming amount of daily inputs and to create a personal knowledge repository that can be referred to for efficiency and creativity.

💡Micro Wins

Micro wins refer to small, achievable victories or accomplishments that contribute to overall progress when accumulated over time. Junior introduces the idea of focusing on micro wins as a way to prevent feeling overwhelmed by large tasks and to maintain a positive sense of achievement. He shares his personal practice of establishing three micro wins each day in the areas of physical, mental, and spiritual improvement.

💡Time Blocking

Time blocking is a scheduling technique where one allocates specific time slots for different activities throughout the day. Junior discusses the importance of time blocking for productivity, emphasizing the need to include rest and play as well as work to avoid burnout. He explains that time blocking helps to manage cognitive effort by reducing the decision fatigue associated with task-switching and procrastination.

💡Delegating

Delegating is the act of assigning tasks or responsibilities to others to improve efficiency and make better use of one's time. In the video, Junior argues that understanding the value of one's time and delegating tasks that are not a good use of it can open up opportunities for focusing on areas where one excels. He provides examples of how delegation can be used in both business and personal contexts to free up time for more important or enjoyable activities.

Highlights

Introduction to the top eight productivity hacks by Junior.

The Pomodoro Technique to reduce procrastination by breaking tasks into 25-minute intervals.

The five-minute Rule to start tasks with a minimal time commitment to overcome initial resistance.

The 3-2-1 method to jumpstart actions and avoid hesitation.

Identifying personal peak productivity windows for scheduling the most demanding tasks.

Batching similar tasks to increase efficiency and reduce cognitive switching costs.

The importance of using night alarms to ensure adequate sleep and prepare for the next day's productivity.

Implementing a 'second brain' system to offload cognitive tasks and improve information retention.

Focusing on micro wins or daily highlights to build momentum and make consistent progress.

The concept of time blocking to manage time effectively and reduce decision fatigue.

The benefits of delegation to free up time for tasks that align with personal strengths and passions.

Procrastination often stems from overthinking and creating artificial complexities.

Using a sand timer for the five-minute Rule to avoid digital distractions.

Strategic preparation before peak productivity windows to set the stage for focused work.

Balancing external factors with internal energy fluctuations to optimize productivity.

The role of a second brain in capturing inspiration and creating novel solutions.

Establishing three micro wins daily in physical, mental, and spiritual areas for holistic improvement.

Incorporating rest and play into time blocking to prevent burnout and maintain energy levels.

Delegating non-core tasks to maximize personal efficiency and focus on high-value activities.

Transcripts

get ready to supercharge your efficiency

and make every second count with these

top eight productivity hacks my name is

Junior if you are new to the channel

welcome if you are returning welcome

back in this video I'll be talking about

eight productivity hacks and of course

the list isn't limited to these but I

found these eight to be ones that were

really beneficial to me and also the

ability to integrate them is not as

difficult so in other words you should

be able to watch this video and come out

of it being exposed to some new

productivity hacks to be able to

implement them right away so that you're

able to make use of them you're able to

receive and reap the benefits of them

hopefully immediately if you get any

value out of this video please make sure

you like make sure that you comment your

thoughts about it and of course

subscribe with that being said sit back

relax and enjoy the video I will group

the first set of productivity hacks

underneath them umbrella let's call

procrastination Fighters the idea is

these hacks have helped me reduce the

amount of procrastination in my life now

procrastination why does it happen a lot

of times well for me if I was to break

down

all the layers

and understand the reasoning behind my

procrastination maybe it will help me

reduce it so what I found

is that procrastination doesn't happen

for me because the task in and of itself

is this extremely complex

overwhelming thing in and of itself

instead us as humans we have a natural

tendency to overthink human hands up if

you're not for thinker because I am and

whenever I'm introduced to a new task I

overthink and I start to create these

artificial complexities if I overthink

for long enough artificial SN they're

not actually there I just make them up

and that makes it that much harder for

me to start the task and then it's this

vicious cycle I'll continue to delay it

I'll continue to create even more

artificial complexities and then I'll

just never do it and that's the problem

right when it comes to procrastination

so any technique that can reduce the

initial friction point it can make the

initial task a lot less daunting I have

found Works in extremely well so there

are three that I will talk about the

first one is probably the most popular

technique across students the Pomodoro

Technique and why this is incredible

it's that it does

just that basically if you're unfamiliar

with the Pomodoro Technique you can find

a ton of videos about this but you

commit to 25 minute intervals called

pomodoros and after a few of them you

take a longer break and so basically

after Pomodoro you might have a five

minute break before the subsequent

Pomodoro and then after four or five

pumped or else you'll take a 30 minute

break and think about how that sounds

instead of me saying I'm going to study

four hours

that's a long time nobody wants to do

that but I could do 25 minutes

I do that right it makes the initial

task a lot less daunting and it

increases the likelihood that you'll

actually start and what happens is that

after you do the first pomodoro

you start to break down a lot of those

perceived complexities you dismantled

them and you're thinking oh it's not

that bad I'll do another one and so you

build really two things moving forward

you build positive momentum into the

subsequent Pomodoro until you build

confidence because you're actually able

to follow through with what you

committed to which was that first 25

minutes great solution I would highly

recommend it I personally don't use 25

minutes

I've been able to let's say graduate to

a higher time interval so around 40

minutes but it's the same idea for me 25

minutes is not enough to get into a good

Flow State 45 minutes is preferable I

would recommend it now the second

technique underneath this cohort of

procrastination Fighters is the five

minute Rule and this was a big game

changer for me and actually a very

consistently integrated method

throughout the first three years of

college and what it suggests is it makes

the initial task even less daunting it

says five minutes I will commit to five

minutes of work before deciding whether

to continue or not five minutes that's

like scrolling a few videos five minutes

is nothing and that has tremendously

made the initial task La Santi so it

works really well for me I actually

brought around with me a sand timer that

was for 5 five minutes and I would keep

it in my bag and use it for that reason

so every time that would go to the

library I would just pop it out and this

was really helpful for me because it was

accessible but more than anything it

didn't require me to use the internet

for a timer didn't require me to use my

phone for a timer so there was a lot

less chance of distraction and every

time that I found myself getting

distracted not wanting to do it I would

just split the timer so that sand would

go the other way and I would just stare

at it because looking at that would at

least keep my focus within my stationary

versus me like looking elsewhere and

being further distracted and then

quickly enough looking at a stand timer

gets boring and that means the next best

thing to do for me would be to go back

to work and so it works really well for

me the five minute rule is great this

next one it's called the three two one

method and this really requires you to

practice this habitually and it almost

becomes a subconscious habit and once it

becomes a subconscious habit then the

power is really unlocked so the 321

method is basically anytime you don't

want to be doing things you count down

from 3 three so for example when I wake

up in the morning I don't set multiple

alarms I just have one but once the

alarm goes off I count I roll over and

say three two one and then I get up why

does this work for a few reasons one it

changes your focus Point instead of

considering how much you don't want to

be doing the task and focusing on

creating artificial complexities you're

counting down from three and that isn't

a passive technique that's active you

have to actually count down from three

so it brings your attention away from

creating any further complexities but

more than anything else it

doesn't allow you to hesitate you know

because the more you hesitate the more

you're not going to want to do it when

you count down from three subconsciously

after doing it you just immediately do

the action and you start to recognize oh

my goodness the initial friction point

was the hardest part actually getting up

out of my bed everything after that is

pretty easy I can go about my morning

routine without a problem it was just

getting out of bed onto the cold floor

that made it really difficult I highly

recommend that as well but that again is

more of a powerful tool once you can

practice it so much it just becomes a

habit if you were to think about doing

the 3-2-1 rule then I think it loses a

little bit of utility but the moment

something happens right like even in the

gym when I don't want to do another set

I just think

three two one and I just pick it up and

start going I'm like okay that's great I

can continue going but it was that

initial friction point so this first

cohort uh procrastination Fighters Falls

underneath the umbrella of how can you

make the initial task a lot less

daunting those are just three

quote-unquote hacks that I would

recommend and I would urge you to try

number two identify your Peak

productivity window what does this mean

well all of us have natural fluctuations

of energy my Peak productivity window

doesn't mean it has to be yours in other

words I am the most energetic and

focused in the mornings about 6 a.m to 9

A.M that's a perfect three-hour bout for

me I'll take a break in between I'm

solid other people might be more

energetic after eating breakfast so

perhaps around 10 o'clock maybe you're

more energetic after lunch so around 2PM

maybe you're more energetic at night

those night owls you see it's not about

exactly when it is it's about identity

defying it and then optimizing it and

leveraging it for your Peak productivity

window and so what you should do in your

Peak productivity window is you should

Reserve that time for your most

demanding task so when I wake up I know

exactly what I'll be doing within that

three hour bout it'll be the most

intensive work that I have that day and

then the remaining time throughout the

day is focused on less intensive less

energy requiring tasks and so I can

still get a lot done and you would be

surprised how much you can get done and

focus to our balance if you've never

been truly focused for two to three

hours and try to get work done I bet

you're underestimating what you can get

done so now it's about how do you

optimize that time block great question

all the work is proactive right if you

are going into that bout with your phone

with your notifications on with multiple

tabs opened with your stationary being

messy you're setting yourself up for

failure with your door open and it's

loud you're setting yourself off a

failure what you want to do is

proactively put yourself in a position

where you won't be distracted right so

mental focus usually follows visual

focus in other words if your visual is

going to other things it's likely you'll

get distracted a great example of this

is when I was writing the guide to

academic success

for me that was a very challenging task

writing isn't a forte of mine it's not

something that I've practiced for years

writing was a huge challenge for me and

with that being said I would allocate

the first three hours and I would

already have an outline of what I was

going to write that three hours in other

words to create an outline doesn't

require as much energy actually writing

it requires a lot of energy so during

the night prior I would allocate time to

create an outline moreover I wouldn't

even bring my phone into my room I would

close my door I remove everything from

my stationary I would close out

unnecessary tabs and Bam Prime Focus and

I was able to get a lot done within that

three hours I would write multiple

sections and then later in the day after

the 9 A.M marker started to come I would

close everything I would stop and then I

would go into the gym I would eat I

would do a lot less energy requiring

tasks and then by the end of the day I

got a lot done so

figuring out your Peak productivity

window if you've never done this before

you have to actually reflect and be

mindful of when these fluctuations

happen because you gotta understand that

it's not just internal it's external too

you have a lot of these factors that

could be distracting to you so a big

reason why I do it in the morning is

because my day while I'm a student while

I have to run a business Etc my day

becomes pretty hectic and there can be a

lot of distractions there so that's an

external factor that is influencing my

energy and focus and so that's not my

Peak productivity window for you you

might have a lot of things going on in

the morning you might have a job that

requires you to be up 5 a.m et cetera so

you wouldn't necessarily do it in the

morning you might do it in the afternoon

or at night again doesn't matter when it

is but be mindful when you're in this

evaluation stage of not just your

internal factors but also the external

factors that are influencing you give

this a shot I really do believe that

leveraging this pea productivity window

will do a lot of good number three

batching this was

a hack that took me some time to really

integrate consistently but it's made a

World's difference in the sense where I

used to be a big multi-tasker because I

felt more productive because I was more

busy but it actually decreased my

efficiency let's use content creation as

an example if I was to spend every

single day filming and editing and

brainstorming and planning and scripting

that's hard and we know how important

consistency is so imagine right in the

slap that middle of the week my dad got

sick he recently got sick right and if

that happened in the slap that middle of

the week and I know how important

consistency is think about how many days

I'm going to be missing a posting

because it's going to take me probably a

good amount of time an hour at the

minimum to come up with an idea of film

edit and then post where as if I batched

it doesn't even have to be a full week's

worth but maybe twice a week I have a

Saturday and I have a Tuesday because I

have the most amount of time there I

just wake up a little bit earlier those

days and I will batch three videos each

day because you're already in that flow

state in other words I don't have to

bring my brain away from a different

task which takes cognitive effort if I'm

here and I'm doing it and I'm already

efficient at it why not continue doing

it that's allowed me to be really

consistent creating content

but bashing happens with a lot of

different parts of my life not

everything

but a lot of it and another example is

I have to run a lot of errands because I

am maybe a lot of you guys in terms of

immigrants will relate to this but I am

the main English speaker of my family

right my whole family wasn't born here

my sister and my brother also speak

really good English but they're not

around a lot so anytime my parents have

any type of doctor appointment or my dad

has a client and he's an English speaker

I'm always communicating with these

individuals for them in other words

there's a lot of errands that I have to

run and

they happen spontaneously throughout the

week but if I was to dress them as they

come think about how inefficient that

would be

I would have to go to the grocery shop I

would go ahead and I would buy some

groceries great for me to get into my

car go to the grocery shop buy groceries

and then come back that commute time is

a lot and then imagine the next day my

dad needs me to go to one of his clients

house and speak to the homeowner and

talk about remodeling because my dad

works as a contractor that's also a lot

right then I would have to go back into

my car arrive there and come back

what if I was able to batch all of those

in one day which I do now right so I

tell my dad and I tell my stepmom hey in

case

unless it's emergencies right in case

you need me I will be available on

Thursday nights from 4 P.M to around 7

30. I can do all of your tasks every

single week during that block and by

delegating that time to batch all of the

different errands it's a lot more

efficient versus me doing them on

separate days as they become

spontaneously exposed to me so batching

is really helpful it doesn't mean that

you it has to be applied to every little

thing we know that studying requires

spaced repetition so I'm not talking

about necessarily how you study because

I don't want you to think cramming is

the way to go but I think that's well

understood so

try to batch as much as you can for very

repetitive tasks use a night alarm now I

know most people are familiar with the

morning alarms and hopefully you use

those

but night alarms are I found just as

important in terms of my productivity

without me going into all of the nuances

hopefully by now everyone knows how

important sleep is if you don't all I'll

say is as a biomedical engineer

I take some really high level classes

for my Master's program

and all of these professors that are the

best at what they do

the one connection between a lot of

these classes is the importance of sleep

so hopefully that says something sleep

is so important now it's great to wake

up on time but how can we ensure that

we're sleeping the right amount and I

thought night alarms are great you only

need one to start and basically what the

night alarm is telling you to do is wrap

up because there's so many times we get

so involved with late night

conversations or Netflix marathons or

just your work even and we forget what

time it is and we think oh but just a

little bit longer just a little bit more

and what happens is your sleep suffers

and then you have a hard time waking up

the next day right and maybe a lot of

the good progress you've made will be

hindered or hopefully not

completely destroyed but you get the

point sleep is essential you should be

protecting that to the best of your

ability

and night alarms do a really good job of

doing this so once that night alarm goes

off you know to put away whatever it is

you're doing to wrap up and to go start

your night routine and you can have a

second alarm which I do that tells me to

turn off any screens or devices because

we know how distracting that can be and

it can be hard to go to bed and have a

good quality sleep if you're distracted

by all of these screens and it's very

easy to integrate night alarms you can

literally start today I think that it's

probably

so essential if you are looking to

protect both the duration of your sleep

and the quality of your sleep get night

alarms a try number five one of my

favorites second brain and you can find

a lot of videos online about how to do a

second frame but basically I would

describe it in a very high level and

then hopefully the YouTube videos and

other resources online can fill in the

gaps in terms of the Practical

standpoint think about how much

information your brain is exposed to on

a daily basis especially with our phones

nowadays just really take a second right

now to think about all the inputs I'm an

engineer so I like to think about in

terms of input system and outputs right

but if you think about the inputs the

visual stimuli the auditory stimuli how

much are you exposing your brain to if

your brain was to try and hold on to

every piece of information it would

explode not actually but you understand

it would overload right and you would

start to feel burnt out and that's what

happens a lot of times so I will paint

you a picture you know that there's

something you're supposed to be doing

you know there was something important

you're doing work and just thinking

about it what was that again

oh man I can't think about it but

I know there's something you continue

working

oh man I know that there was something

really really important

maybe it'll come to me you keep on

working the next day goes by and you

either missed an important appointment

you missed an important deadline or

maybe you do remember it but think about

how much cognitive effort it took to

recall that now we know cognitive effort

in terms of desirable difficulty is a

good thing in terms of learning but

these are not things that you need to be

learning right these are just tasks that

you need to be getting done efficiently

and when you try to store that much

information in your brain it's really

hard to organize it and then trying to

retrieve it the second brain is an

external resource that you allocate a

lot of that information to and a lot of

these digital platforms really allow for

a seamless process in doing this so

there's a lot of ecosystems where you

can have a mobile device you can have an

app on your computer you can also have

an iPad to be connected and you might

even be able to get one of those smart

watches and have that be interconnected

with an app and the great part is you'll

in your daily life run into things it's

not just to Do's it's not just tasks or

anything like that but literally any

type of inspiration or it could be a

song that you really liked but you like

the certain part of the song and you

want to ensure that you save that for

another day because it'll be perfect for

a certain event it might be an outfit

inspiration maybe you saw someone

walking by and you love of the shirt

that they were wearing you love the

color combination maybe it was this dark

brown with cream colors and you just

love the way that it complemented each

other maybe it's a news article and you

want to get a clipping of certain texts

maybe it's just a thought that randomly

came to you maybe it's a quote and all

of these things can be taken down in

real time within this ecosystem you can

figure out how to organize it with

appropriate tabs modules

and what happens is you have metadata or

you have different tags and hyperlinks

that allows you to connect information

together and you start to create novel

solutions by cross-pollinating already

formed ideas

let me give you another example

or another situation that I'll paid for

you writer Spock

you are starting a new task and man this

is hard it's frustrating you're not

creative and you just can't figure out a

new idea it's hard it's hard we just

talked about how hard the initial tasks

are already but you're just making it

even harder because just earning from

scratch imagine you had your own

knowledge of repository almost

like your own personal Library Bank

and in that Library Bank you can always

go to to find previously established

ideas when maybe starts to ideas or

other inspirations

that you can work off of and everyone

knows this too when you are in Industry

right if you've ever worked at a

professional setting in most cases since

efficiency is the goal they won't

encourage you to start from scratch

actually they'll say hey Julie Ben

already wrote that protocol you should

ask Ben for his protocol and start off

with that and then just add your twists

and your numbers and your data too and

you'll be fine

why

to take

to take a ready established structure

and then to add your own unique

information to make it yours that's a

lot more efficient imagine being able to

do that for daily Endeavors I think it's

important I think it's helpful it wasn't

until recently I started to take that

more seriously in terms of a second

brain concept and again I've been

watching a lot of YouTube videos to help

me and I think that that would be a

really good start for you and I can

certainly take you on my journey with

second brain in the future if that's of

Interest try and find a way to allocate

and streamline a lot of this information

and processes so that you are using

cognitive effort for where it matters

not where it doesn't number six focus on

micro wins I've heard this be called a

daily highlight too and it rarely

centers around the same idea and it's

that so many times we have all of these

big tasks and many of them

simultaneously that we get overwhelmed

and as we fail to accomplish one that

bleeds into failing to accomplish

another and then your entire time

blocking structure goes out the window

because you're starting to delay a lot

you don't want that but the app actual

reality of the matter is if you were to

get better in just one way just one way

every single day for a year think about

how much progress you would make

actually in fact think about it this way

I believe that people would be

tremendously successful and I can't even

imagine to the extent if we didn't make

things worse on a daily basis I believe

that we do that more often than make

things better because of the fact that

we are hyper critical of ourselves

because we're naturally lazy a lot of

times we do a lot more harm than good in

terms of productivity standpoint if you

were to just stay even killed sometimes

that could even be better but imagine

doing one thing to push you forward in

the right direction every single day

that's your daily highlight that's the

one thing that you know you're

definitely going to get done if you get

it done then it's a success I have my

own version of this and it's called my

three micro wins right and basically I

like to get better in these three ways

every single day of my life and that's

physical mental and spiritual I'm gonna

go through these physical

training sleeping eating right it

doesn't have to be anything

extraordinary right actually it'll be

probably very basic things that I do

consistently mentally learning something

this is pretty easy as a student but I

learn new things every single day but I

like to continue push my boundaries I'm

recently picking up boxing that's

pushing it into a whole new world where

I feel like a baby giraffe that has

never learned to walk before I am just

such an uncoordinated person because

it's been forever since I've done

competitive Sports and moreover

there's a lot of functionality that that

I'm not necessarily good at learning

that's new spiritual this doesn't

necessarily mean that the way that I do

it is the way that you do it spiritual

can make its form differently for each

person so for you it may just be

identifying a purpose it may be

meditating it may be being more

connected to your internal dialogue

spiritual maybe you meditating it

doesn't necessarily have to be anything

extraordinary again for me it's

can I learn about my faith more right am

I able to further develop my knowledge

of what I believe in because I believe

that deepens the relationship how can

you have a relationship when you don't

know what it is right so I love to just

do that every single morning in my

reflection journals I literally just do

those three things how can I establish

three micro wins today if I could do

that it's a success you do that for long

enough

the amount of success you can have is

tremendous try that out okay establish

micro wins number seven time blocking

and I've talked about time blocking so

many times across my pages and I feel

that I've already made this point pretty

clear but I have to mention it if we're

talking about productivity enhancers and

really again there's these polarizing

views of schedules there's a group of

people that think that nobody should

schedule that you should have all the

freedom in the world and that scheduling

is very strict and then the other group

thinks I should schedule every single

period of my day and it should be all

involving work no no more in the middle

right time blocking is essential but the

way that you do it matters okay always

this is a non-negotiable insert blocks

for rest and play those are supposed to

be energy providers they're supposed to

rejuvenate you they're not supposed to

make you feel guilty which happens a lot

if you just spontaneously go ahead and

do something right because your mind

will be focused on the outstanding tasks

that you probably could have done and

maybe you're thinking you should have

done they're supposed to be energy

providers so don't feel guilty doing

that allow yourself to really appreciate

the moment because they're important

time blocking allows you to do that

while also being able to proactively

manage your time we all know about this

internal struggle that happens when we

are making decisions we make thousands

of decisions a day if you are making a

decision you're wasting cognitive effort

between decisions and the longer you do

that the longer you procrastinate and

the more unlikely you will be to doing

that task time blocking allows you to do

the scheduling away from that internal

battle because in that internal battle

your mind is doing everything to get you

to do it or at least feel guilty about

not doing it your body wants you to stay

stagnant and not do anything

when you create that time blocking

schedule away from that internal

struggle all you do is follow that to a

t because you know that you made that

schedule before having all these second

thoughts and making these excuses you

know that's the best method this time

blocking schedule you created for

yourself which has rest and play

inserted into them so you're not being

overworked or overwhelmed or burnt out

it makes it very very easy especially

for those procrastinator's time blocking

is essential number eight and I saved

this one for last specifically because I

don't think it necessarily applies to

everyone in their current stage of their

lives but I believe that it will be

helpful and even necessary to most

eventually and that is delegating you

have to understand that your time is the

most valued asset that you could

possibly have and you want to be sure

that you will be using that openly

because you're not getting it back right

and so for example you will have a

subset of skills that you are better at

and in most cases it makes a lot of

sense for you to leverage those skills

for certain areas of a project whereas

other areas in which you are lacking the

experience in it probably makes sense to

delegate it to another individual or

maybe tasks that just in general doesn't

require that much skill at all and you

can always have that be delegated as

well so that you have open up time to do

what you're good at so that you're able

to be as efficient as possible we

understand that these windows of

opportunities are short and if you are

delaying the progress simply because

you're not making good use of your time

that's a bad idea so delegating really

really works well

for example let's think about social

media right if a Creator is really great

at making content and they love that

aspect right they figured out a way to

gain a lot of exposure while sending the

message that they want they absolutely

love it but at the same time a creator

has to make money if they're trying to

do that full time and provide value to

his or her or Their audience members on

a consistent basis but it probably

doesn't make much sense for the Creator

themselves to create all these pitch

decks to talk to a lot of these

companies to enter these meetings when

they could always bring on an individual

that is really good at doing that and

they can take that responsibility off of

their plate but think about it bringing

someone home probably means they can

actually cold email more companies

meaning that there's more opportunity

and hopefully more money coming in and

the Creator can focus on creating

content so Their audience continues to

grow they're able to stay interactive

With Their audience members because

their attention to focus is there and so

they're creating really good videos for

these companies and that even opens up

more windows so more money is coming in

so that they are able to compensate the

person that they brought on to do their

job while still making more money that

is appropriate delegation but it doesn't

even have to be from a money standpoint

right it doesn't have to necessarily be

profitable but think about it maybe I

really enjoy spending time with my

family right maybe one day I am

successful enough that I can just bring

on people to handle the day in and day

out tasks that again don't require much

expertise and it's not that good use of

a time for me so instead I bring on

people and yeah maybe it's not

necessarily profitable but it opens up

time which is again the most valued

commodity it's the most valuable asset

and I can spend that with my family

that's another great way of delegating

it doesn't necessarily have to be

profitable but you understand that

delegation opens up a lot of freedom and

it opens up a lot of resources and opens

up a lot of opportunities to do what you

love to do that was eight productivity

hacks that have worked tremendously well

for me and I hope that you were able to

get some value out of it I encourage you

to try some of these maybe all of them

or culmination of some of them and let

me know how it works for you in the

comments I hope that you enjoyed it

oh