Thread by @Shane___Martin

Ever had the looming feeling that you should be more productive?

Sucks, doesn’t it.

We’ve become obsessed with optimizing every minute of our day and it’s starting to take a toll.

But it doesn’t have to.

Here are 6 tips to stay sane on your quest to getting more done.

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We’ve all been there.

The idea floating around in your head that there’s something unfinished.

A loose end that needs tying.

A more efficient way to spend your time.

Never able to settle down & enjoy the day.

Welcome to the anxious world of the Productivity Junkie.

It actually makes sense if you think about it.

After all, it feels good to be productive.

Knowing that you’re on top of things.

That you’ve exercised discipline and come out the better for it.

Boy that’s quite high…

Until it’s not.

Somewhere along the road, we started to think of time as something to conquer rather than enjoy.

TIME MANAGEMENT.

If I can just get to inbox zero…
If I can just make it through my to-do list…

Then!

Oh, then I’ll be happy.

But here’s the problem…

That time never actually comes, does it?

It’s a red herring, a fools errand.

The more we achieve and the more successful we become…

The more projects will fill our plate.

It’s the Catch 22 of high achievers.

We will never be finished.

So how can we reconcile these two outcomes?

How can we strive to achieve our goals…

WITHOUT giving ourselves anxiety attacks on a daily basis?

Well, according to Oliver Burkeman, achieving great things doesn’t have to come at the cost of our happiness.

In his book “Time Management for Mortals” Burkeman shows us how to tame our inner Productivity Junkie.

Here are the 6 tips we’ll cover

1. Embrace Procrastination
2. Pay Yourself First
3. Limit WIPs
4. Intentionally Lazy
5. Hobby ≠ Side Hustle
6. Cosmic Insignificance Therapy

//Embrace Procrastination//

First, we need to get more comfortable with procrastination.

Rather than run from it, accept it.

It’s a natural human tendency.

We’ve got to stop beating ourselves up maximizing every minute of our day.

It’s okay to not be fully optimized!

//Pay Yourself First//

There will never be ENOUGH time.

So, we need to carve out more of it for the things that are important to us.

When planning your day, pay yourself first.

Schedule the things that are important to you, and let everything else fill in the cracks.

//Limit Works In Progress//

For high achievers, it can be tempting to start a bunch of projects at once.

We get excited about something and we go.

But we’re creating hundreds of open loops.

All “unfinished.”

All a source of more anxiety.

Keep open loops to a minimum.

//Intentional Laziness//

We junkies tend to even fill free time with “productive acts”.

But where did we get this idea that free time needs to be “spent well?”

It’s free, enjoy it.

Tip: actively schedule Lazy Time blocks into your calendar. Do nothing, enjoy it.

//Hobby ≠ Side Hustle//

At some point, we replaced one with the other.

But they’re not the same.

A hobby is done for the joy of it, nothing else.

So no, you don’t have to turn your obsession with model planes into an Etsy store.

No matter how loud Gary V screams it.

//Cosmic Insignificance Therapy//

We tend to think we’re the center of the universe.

Turns out, we’re not.

Coming to terms with our utter insignificance can actually be quite liberating.

At the end of the day, nobody really cares how you spend your time.

Relax, enjoy.

In short, if you’re a Productivity Junkie, here’s your playbook:

1. Be okay with loose ends.
2. Schedule things that are important to you first.
3. Limit to 1 or 2 projects at a time.
4. Practice being lazy.
5. Stop it with the side hustles.
6. Remember nobody cares.

Working alone is hard.

For tweets on productivity & achievement frameworks for freelancers, indiehackers, and soloprenuers, follow me: @shane___martin

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Thanks for reading