10 Easy, Weird, Proven-Effective Productivity Mindtricks
There are all sorts of hacks to be productive and avoid procrastination. If you are reading this article, you’re probably aware of a few. Most of them are long-term strategies. This is as it should be. After all, what ultimately matters is our long term productivity, not short term progress.
That said, sometimes we don’t have the time to sit down and Google that strategy or Cmd+F our notes. Sometimes we need something quick and easy.
Here are 10 mindhacks I use semi-regularly. Each has proven effective:
I: Compete with yourself
If some physicists are right, there are parallel universes right now where versions of yourself are being more productive than you.
Aim to be better than them.
You don’t want to be the least accomplished of the bunch, do you?
II: Ally with yourself
You can also use the existence of the “other versions” of yourself as an ally.
When I’m trying to decide which path to take, which paragraph to delete, which idea to pursue, I inevitably get into “But what about?” mode.
This leads to analysis paralysis in which I spend all my time debating between X and Y when, really, it doesn’t matter.
By recognizing there are infinite versions of myself out there, I can imagine them taking up the alternatives. If I do X, they’ll do Y.
In a weird way, I’m doing it all.
III: Don’t check off your task after you complete it. Instead, wait until right before you start your next task
The dopamine hit is more useful after a break than during it. Ride the wave when you’re being productive, not when you’re checking Twitter or watching Netflix.
IV: Save your darlings and kill your enemies
Say you’re editing a document down, trying to make it as succinct as possible, and there are some spots you love — but that are unnecessary — and some spots you hate — hard to revise, sloppy, out-of-place, whatever.
Copy the stuff you love to another file for use some other time. Don’t try to fit the square peg in a round hole. Save it for a square hole; it will come.
And delete the stuff that you hate. Don’t waste your time. If the whole document falls apart because of this one section, you’ll realize it and replace it with something you hate less.
The same applies to all sorts of things. There are usually enough options at our disposal that we needn’t take the path we dread. We just have to look for them and trust ourselves.
V: “I should have” is a dumb thing to say
The above is almost always true. This is why:
A. You can’t do anything about it now.
B. There’s probably something you could do now that will prevent a future “I should have” moment.
C. In all likelihood, a future situation will allow you to apply a lesson you learned. So, in some ways, the wrong decision was inevitable. You’re just getting it over with now.
D. There’s nothing like regret to remind you that you’re alive.
VI: Accept limitations
Have you ever watched a Disney show, or other kids’ show, during which they have the characters sing a pretty-bad song?
It’s actually brilliant that the writers or producers or whoever include such bad songs.
Good songs would eat up more resources. And music isn’t the point of the show. Disney, Nickelodeon, etc. are not selling music.
There are limitations to every project. Find them and embrace them.
VII: Start ridiculously small then call it quits
Jog for one minute. Shoot ten baskets. Read ten pages.
On the next day, add 10%: jog for 1:06, shoot eleven baskets, read eleven pages.
Compound it, rounding up or down, doesn’t matter. The point is to minimize the Resistance.
So on day 3: jog for 1:12 or :13, shoot twelve or thirteen baskets, read twelve or thirteen pages.
It’s nothing, but it’s everything.
VIII: Do the little annoying thing then call it quits
Often I find there’s some minor task that I really don’t want to do for an inexplicable reason. It doesn’t take long, is easy, uses few resources… yet I still procrastinate.
In these situations, allow yourself to quit your productive day after you do that one little annoying thing. Or at least give yourself a disproportionately long break. You deserve it for exercising grit and getting it done.
(You’ll find that the dopamine boost often keeps you going onto other bigger, less annoying things.)
IX: Procrastinate productively
An alternative to the above is to use the little annoying thing to your advantage. Purposely do everything but that task. Purposely let that ball drop in order to keep other balls in the air.
X: My favorite: Use Music
You probably know this one. Everyone has some song or album that pumps them up. (For me, it’s songs from The Rocky Soundtrack, always has been.)
But do you listen strategically?
Take 10 minutes to make a Spotify playlist of songs you love, songs that motivate and inspire, songs that make you tap your feet and bop your head.
Listen to it when you really need a pick-me-up. The rest of the time, listen to something second-best.
Or game it. Force yourself to work for one song, then relax for the next. Rinse, repeat.
There are other ways to be sure.
In Sum
Some of these may work for you. Others, maybe not. But the important takeaway is to give in to your tendencies and idiosyncrasies. You know how your mind works. You know your moment-to-moment thought train better than anyone else. How can you keep it on the tracks quickly and easily?
