Its 833 A.M. Do You Know Where Your Productivity Is

Its 833 A.M. Do You Know Where Your Productivity Is Its 8:33 a.m. and daylight is peeking through the windows.  So far this morning I wrote for three hours, read for half an hour, and exercised a bit: stretches, push-ups, pull-ups, and squatsâ€"my usual exercise regimen. In other words,  Ive already done a lot today, and yet theres still an entire day ahead of me. My secret? I dont do much. Seriously.  Sure, it  seems  like I do a lot of things, but I dont. To put is simply, people can be more productive by doing less. Rather than the normal productivity tropes of planning and scheduling, attempting to force production, we can get more things done by focusing on only the the important stuff first, working through the tasks that truly matter, embracing Real Priorities instead of engaging in fluid inactivity. Usually that means doing things thatre more difficult than wed like. For me, writing is difficult, exercise is hard, even reading is not passive. Virtually everything thats meaningfulâ€"everything worth doingâ€"requires a good amount of effort. But of course thats where all the reward is. Likewise, the passive tasksâ€"Facebook, email, television, etc.â€"are easy. And they are fine in small doses (Ill likely check my email for 30 minutes today or tomorrow, and Ill certainly spend a few minutes on Twitter ). But theres no long-term reward for passivity, just a beer gut and an empty existence. Later today Ill walk five or ten miles, wandering the streets of Missoula. And Ill spend time with friends, correspond with my writing students, and even squeeze in some more writing and reading time tonightâ€"all active tasks that require more from me than the boob tube, with an exponentially higher payoff. Feel free to do likewise. Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.