12 Productivity Myths Wasting Your Time

• There is currently a movement that emphasizes consistency in achieving results. The idea is to consistently put in small amounts of effort over a long period of time in order to see the desired outcome. However, we must be cautious in applying this approach universally, as it has been given a negative connotation. Intensity, in certain cases, is necessary and should not be overlooked. While there is certainly a culture of overworking oneself to the point of exhaustion, it is important to recognize that achieving certain goals, such as starting a business, making passive income, pursuing side hustles, or succeeding in competitive fields requires hard work. Myth number six states that goals should be SMART, and that goals that are closer in time are better than those that are far in the future. Myth number seven suggests that productivity and self-care should not be separated, as sometimes self-care can be productive and vice versa.

• There is an endless amount of work and hobbies that we could be working on. We want to do all these things, but the list is never ending. Myth number seven is that you can do everything; that if you are just a little bit more productive, if you had a little bit more time, if you were just a little bit more disciplined, you would actually be able to do everything on your to-do list. And this is a myth. I hate it when I hear people say, "I don't have time to do X." I used to tell myself this back in the day when I was in school. But as I started reading productivity books and trying to genuinely be more productive, I realized I'm lying to myself, and I am taking autonomy, control, and power away from myself. Embrace the attitude of finitude. It means you're like, "Cool, I could probably only do like three things today." Productivity equals meaningful output divided by time multiplied by fun. The output needs to be meaningful. There is no point in driving super fast down the road if you are driving the wrong direction. That's like actively counterproductive. Productivity involves a balance of all of these different terms. It's not just about doing more things faster; it's about doing more meaningful things.

• There's a fantastic book by Matthew Dix called Someday is Today that is super inspiring and amazing if you want to boost your productivity but also improve your life in general. Dix says that the way he manages to write all these 10 books is that he does his writing in between random moments in the day. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through Twitter, I've learned to ask myself if it's really something I want to be doing. Sometimes the answer is yes, but with fewer requirements for what I need to be productive, I'm more likely to accomplish what I set out to do. Personally, I found it incredibly valuable to train my typing speed to 150 words per minute. That means everything I do on the computer is twice as fast as someone else. For example, my mom takes about ten times as long to do the same thing, if not longer. This puts a cap on how much work she can get done in a day.