Like many other people, especially in Silicon Valley, I've been socialized in many ways to equate productivity with "amount of stuff you are doing". But in thinking about what it takes to become hyperproductive, I've realized that staying busy and doing more actually degrades our long-term productivity. Spending time on ourselves (napping, walking, meditating...) is often seen as a cost, not an investment. Without investing in ourselves, our real productivity will go down....and being busy is not being productive!
A truly hyper-productive person spends a lot of time on maintaining physical, mental and spiritual health. Hyper-productivity can take years to achieve (building your reputation and network momentums) but can last for a lifetime...so consider spans of 60-80 years.
Maintaining peak hyper-productivity requires a healthy mind...and thus a healthy body and spirit, because any degradation of one will degrade the others.
By mental health, I don't mean lack of psychological disorders...but "mental hygiene", an uncluttered, happy brain. Stress, overwork (a form of stress), distractions, clutter, angst, anxiety...all these issues degrade mental productivity.
Over very short periods of time (up to a few days or weeks?), adrenaline caused by new kinds of pressure can boost productivity and help make new leaps of intuition, but this kind of stress (and it is stress) isn't sustainable, and eventually burns you out. It's like redlining a race car - it might get you to the end of the race, but the engine will be shot after that.
Stress is the true long-term killer, manifesting in all kinds of physical diseases that appear to be coming from other sources (diet, smoking, lack of exercise)...but in reality, it's mental/spiritual/physical imbalances that lead to the stress and then stress-coping behaviors that in turn create these diseases/symptoms (heart disease, etc).
Staying hyper-productive over long periods of time requires sustainable mental, physical and spiritual health. Each one depends on the other, so if one degrades...it will stress and degrade the other two.
What happened to me Sept 19
I'd been redlining for about 6 months, give or take, before I hit a wall on Wednesday morning, September 19th. I remember waking up dead tired, physically and mentally. I wasn't worried, since I'd felt this before, when I was doing Ironman training. But this time it was mental exhaustion, not physical.
I was mentally tired from being excited and on adrenaline for so long, and from having so many thoughts and experiences (I'm one of those people that thinks so hard that it literally makes my brain tired). I'd been working so intensely for so long because I was so excited about everything I'm doing! It was addicting - and many of you heard me use the term 'brain crack'. Also, I knew I my nutritition wasn't what it should be, which was lowering my mental endurance :)
That morning is when I wrote this post.
Serendipitously, I had already booked a morning appointment to speak with a ayurvedic nutritionist, Dr. Tom Yarmena (www.eattasteheal.com). He's a pro, and he made a lot of sense. Also, a couple days later I talkied with Scott Krajca (http://theadingroup.com), who also helped confirm some things I'd been thinking about or had discussed previously with the amazing Carol Dirck around what I needed to do to create a sustainable lifestyle.
To sum up some of the advice:
- Take mental breaks: I need to take mental breaks during the day. Your brain literally needs to heal itself and let physiological changes happen. Meditation is one great way to do this, but even just stopping to reflect is another.
- Exercise: more frequently and less intensely.
- Nutrition: I'm a "fire" type in ayurveda, so need to avoid any outside stimulation. No coffee or alchohol, avoid spicy foods, etc. And there are some teas I should drink. (You can test for your dosha here: http://store.chopra.com/dosha-survey.asp or http://www.whatsyourdosha.com/quiz/)
- Integration/whole person: I'll be much more successful over the long term if I can leave behind the craving to cram as much as I can in per day and o carve out time to reflect and process. This is critical to integrating my work/body/spirit and thus to maintaining the idea of sustainable, healthy hyper-productivity. Amount of work <> Success or Productivity!!!
Examples of my current daily practice:
Mental hygiene:
- Meditate 2x per day (at 8:47a and 4:47pm)
- Favorite spiritual book: The 4 Agreements
- Take breaks between intense spurts of productivity. The mind needs rest to heal (including make changes in its physiology).
- Accept that I can only be truly productive (not busy) for a few hours a day, so it's up to me to choose how to apply myself.
- Let go of time. Focus on being productive rather than fast.
Physical health:
- Exercise for 45min 5x per week
- Get enough sleep! (Hopefully 7 hours)
- Current nutrition book (Ayurvedic): http://www.eattasteheal.com/
- Following Ayurvedic practice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurveda
And in late October, I'm very excited to go on the beta test weekend of:
http://www.pureandtotalhealth.blogspot.com
(update: it was AWESOME)
October 5th - Back fixin'
I, like every other computer user, have always had back muscle issues. Those muscles in between my shoulder blades are perpetually cramped. Although it's not painful, it can be irritating and distracting. Other than improving my ergonomics, I've pretty much ignored it for years, again, probably like most people.
A couple of months ago though, I did something that tweaked one side, and it became just irritating enough, when I realized after a few weeks, for me decide SCREW THIS - I'm going to fix this. It's worth the investment of my time and focus to get rid of this distraction.
A friend recommended me to a Dr. Curtis Turchin, who was great. He's a chiropractor who doesn't crack you, here in Menlo Park. He said that some of my back muscles had been so tight for so long that they needed to be broken up to allow themselves to heal. His prescription:
- See him twice
- See a deep-tissue masseuse here and there
- Do 3-4 quick stretching exercises in the morning and evening (takes 2min)
- Be patient...it should take a month to get the healing process going
- Use a "Theracane" to break up the bigger cramps. it's like a plastic question mark, which lets you massage points on your own back.
I'm more and more convinced that there are no quick fixes in life or business.
How I make yoga and meditation enjoyable
* If I watch the clock and think about "time" (how long do I have to do this for?)...then yoga and meditation feel like a chore, and I don't enjoy them
* If I don't watch the clock and focus solely on enjoying the process of yoga and meditation, of enjoying the investment in myself, then they feel great!
* For example, next time you want to relax your brain...
- Try a few deep breaths (breathing is the fastest way to create physiological changes that reduce tension and stress). Breathe in through your nose naturally (not too slow, not too fast...do it over 4 or 5 counts), but deeper than you normally would. Pause. Let your breath escape through your mouth...again, not too slow or fast (say, 4 or 5 counts)
- Now do it again, but pay attention to how it feels. Don't think too much about the action, just consider the feeling. When you let your breath out, can you also feel your system relaxing?
- When you can feel that (which feels great!)...instead of thinking about time, just keep breathing for as long as it feels good.
- This is a great way to begin a meditation.
The "Ultimate Meal" breakfast I'm now addicted to, and have every morning:
Where I buy it...from vitaminshoppe - pretty cheap. They sell the Ultimate Meal at whole foods, but it's pretty expensive there. Link:
The perfect single-serving blender for this:
What I put into it:
- Ultimate Meal
- 1 large fuji apple (or 1.5 small ones)
- Some flaxseed (for texture)
- Some almond butter
Dec 8:
As I've stopped the numbing influences (coffee, alcohol, lack of sleep) and also have been paying more attention to myself, I'm definitely more in tune with my body and health. I've been noticing in the past couple of weeks that sugar is now messing me up. If I have some with a meal, it's not too bad...but if I have it alone, I feel just bad. On Thursday afternoon I had some toffee popcorn - because I was hungry, it looked good and there wasn't much else around. I felt like crap afterwards.
That morning, I'd actually skipped my regular 'greenshake' to get to work, and instead had a protein shake mix (metrx). It's all processed stuff. Normally I don't have any problem with it, but I also normally have it with some other food or just half a packet. This time it was most of a packet, alone, and my stomach REALLY hurt. Gas? I don't know, but I was literally wincing and in serious pain.
Body's trying to tell me something - no "dead" food! Friday: new intention added to the list. Avoid dead food. Yep, that inludes sugar.
ZenHabits:
"15 Can't-Miss Ways To De-Clutter Your Mind"
http://zenhabits.net/2007/12/15-cant-miss-ways-to-declutter-your-mind/
Monday March 10:
Call w/Dr. Yarema...I'm testing positive for allergies to wheat/egg/milk/soy...so I'm supposed to cut those out completely for 3-4 months...that will be tough! Not that I'd miss foods with those ingredients...I mean it'll be hard to find food I can actually eat. Everything has wheat/etc these days.
This is a great excuse to cut all the crap out of what I eat.
Wheat allergy - burden or liberation?
@ dinner with Raina in LA: "i could never give food up, i enjoy it too much. i think people should just relax"
I realize how muh of a blessing the wheat allergy's been. It's totally liberated me from the tyranny of sugar and white flour cravings! Now i can look at a donut/bread/cookie and not only not have it, i actually have no interest in having it. There's no deprivation - more like a detachment from those past cravings. The wheat allergy flipped some kind of switch in my head (along with being ready for it, and talking w/Dr Yarema)...and the cravings were gone.
Progress on my Meditation Practice
Apr 8 -
I've worked to make it easier for me to meditate 2x a day. First of all, the kinds of meditation that work for me:
* (On my ipod) Buddhist chanting (from the CD I found in Bhutan, Om Mani Padme Hum)
* (On my ipod) Using the free Meditation Station guided Meditation podcasts from iTunes
* Breathing practice - very slowly (I read about in The Diamond Cutter)
- I start with an out breath, taking ~10 seconds "one"...and another 10 seconds to breathe in "one"...
- ...taking about 4 minutes to count to 10 (out and in is one count)
- I focus both on th number "onnnnnnnneeeee" and in letting myself sink into the breath, relaxing
- 15min passes quickly!
(late april update - i've tried doing this with longer breaths - up to 20 or 30 seconds in and 20-30 secs out....1-2 breathes per minute...not sure yet if it's better or worse)
I also love using my Bose Quiet Comfort 3 noise-cancelling headphones. Those + my ipod shuffle = instant meditation anywhere I have them!
In Outlook, I have reminders to meditate set for 8a, 10a, 8p, 10p...because I'll always miss one of them. For the max benefit, I need to meditate at about the same time every day (+/- 15min), 2x/day. Trying to experiment to see what times work best.
Interesting article on email productivity. You should check email just twice per day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/technology/20digi.html
April 22
I'm noticing that as i work pretty much full-time at one job for a few weeks, i'm losing my sense of super-'self', my aaron-ness. i started to be shaped by the 'job' and my environment, rather than shaping the job and environment. Stress increases. Perspective decreases. I feel like i'm climbing a hill quickly, but that i have no idea if it's the right hill to climb. The volume of new ideas has gone way done. My attention for pebblestorming, writing and networking have gone way down. I'm sacrificing long-term productivity for short-term activity. For short bursts this is ok, but it's a perfect example of why I can't go back to a full-time single job and be happy or totally fulfilled. The harder I work, the less I accomplish (except in very short bursts)
April 28 - saw an applied chiropractor today. interesting - suggested taking baking soda/sodium bicarbonate daily to de-acidify my system. Suggested the book "Alkalinize or Die".
May 2 - Meditation update. I've gotten better at my consistency and quality, gradually, over the past six months. I've been meditating 2x per day for a couple of weeks now. I'll do it before I go to sleep - and my SleepTracker (www.sleeptracker.com) says I'm sleeping for an hour between 'almost waking moments' at night, rather than every 20-30 min. I actually had one night with an 1:24 interval!
A few productivity suggestions from Tim Ferriss
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/04/25/fireside-chat-google-and-tim-ferriss/
the more time you spend in the inbox the more email you'll send
company: set email sends to 2x per day
use IM if its urgent
then phone/walk
if it takes more than 2 emails to solve a problem, use the phone
Eliminating distractions
like having no email come into my blackberry...that I have to open gmail app to get it. It removes it from my attention, reducing distractions.
Paul graham uses separate work/internet computers:
http://www.paulgraham.com/distraction.html
My ideas...
* Set outlook to check email just twice per day.
* 3 goals per day
* "urgent v important' matrixx
May 28, 08
Ran across an interesting article on Attention Training
May 29 - talked with Rachel Landry. I've been frustrated with my email organizational system. I've tried the four quadrant thing with gmail (importance v urgency) - nope. She gave me the idea of one folder per day.
Few days later - i'm really liking the one folder per day method!
June 4: 2nd circle day. meditated for 30 min today, no problem. 20 min counting to 10 (slooow breaths), 10min "may i be ___"
next step - rethink my contacts organization...
Great idea: stress diary
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_01.htm
Call with Anita:
Play/laugh every day! What did you enjoy as a kid? (Drawing in black and white, legos...). I still like building things - but mental models... I still like drawing pictures, they're all over my notebooks.
Bought some sketchbook materials.
NYT: "Vacations are good for you, medically speaking"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/business/yourmoney/07shortcuts.html?em&ex=1213675200&en=4b9a5777ea1fe3f3&ei=5087%0A
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productivity is a practice, a state of mind, not a specific list of strategies that we implement
needs to be a daily practice
stop reacting to things coming at you. proactively control your day (3 Goals, not having blackberry beep at you with every message...)
activity vs productivity - we can get a lot done each day, but did that stuff matter?? are you spending time on things that matter to your life purposes/health/true priorities?
productivity is more about what we avoid doing rather than what we do. we're so easily distracted! how can you reduce the distractions?
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June 27
Last week in SF, worked too hard and went to dinner every night, was getting sick every day (headache, swollen throat, earache...). After sleeping I'd be fine and would do it again. My body was saying SLOW DOWN! I finally started listening once I got back to LA... and took it easy the next week. It takes longer than we think to recover from this sort of taxation though (as I learned from Ironman)...so I'm not going to ramp it up anytime soon.
September -
Landmark Forum - awesome! Their sales methods are crappy though. Use guilt and peer pressure.
Landmark Commitment seminar - great stuff, good regular reminders.
Oct -
Landmark Advanced Course
Didn't get as much out of this as the Forum, but some people loved it. They turn the guilt and peer pressure up 1000% here, a huge turnoff. Yuck. Too bad, since it taints the great content that they have.
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November 2
Recent ideas from the past few months:
* kristine castro: - schedule just as much "space creating time" as i've had "mental funkiness time" (that's a few hours per day)
Space creating activities include:
* yoga nidra is fantastic! (thanks hong-anh)
* "just be" with the low energy sometimes, if it's recovery energy
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