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1-Page Summary of The Productivity Project
Overview
It’s been a while since you’ve focused on one task for several hours without picking up your phone or checking social media, right? That’s probably because constant notifications and social media have turned the dopamine and serotonin centers of your brain into neurological amusement parks. These are fun at first but eventually exhausting. Overcoming procrastination involves closing down these amusement parks and forcing other parts of your brain to work smarter instead of harder.
Chris Bailey spent a year researching productivity and came up with some useful tips for being more productive. In this book, he shares those tips in an easy-to-understand way.
Laying the Groundwork
Productivity is often seen as a superpower, because it can make you more successful and help you do things that other people find difficult. However, anyone can become productive if they’re willing to make some lifestyle changes.
You may want to make changes in your life, such as healthier eating or a more active lifestyle. However, before you do that, consider why you want to change and what the consequences will be. It’s also important to measure whether these changes are having an effect on your energy levels throughout the day. In addition, pay attention to how much time it takes for each task and try not to spend too much time on less essential tasks.
When you’re trying to get more done in a day, it’s important to find your most productive time of the day. This is when you have the most energy and can focus on tasks that require more mental effort. If you wake up early and feel like doing creative work first thing in the morning, then do so because this will help kickstart your productivity for the rest of the day. However, if you feel like working later at night or aren’t sure what your biological prime time is, keep a log for several days about how energetic you are every half hour throughout the day. Then look back at this log and see which times of day had higher levels of energy than others so that way you know when to start getting things done each day.
Wasting Time
It’s easy to blame procrastination on something else. However, you have to admit that everyone does it in some way. Even people who appear successful or productive do procrastinate sometimes; they simply use better methods of avoiding it than others. To develop your own techniques for maintaining focus, you must first understand why you procrastinate and how to train your brain not to do so.
Procrastination is the result of two parts of your brain battling with each other. The prefrontal cortex, which controls logical thinking and long-term planning, often gives in to the limbic system, which controls emotions and urges you to do what feels good right now. By strengthening the prefrontal cortex through willpower training, you can overcome procrastination.
There are several ways to get your prefrontal cortex to take over and tell your limbic system to wait its turn. Here are a few ideas: If you have something that needs doing, but don’t want to do it right away, make a list of the most important tasks first. Then chip away at them in 15-30 minute increments. Think about the consequences of putting things off, like missing deadlines or losing money because you weren’t productive enough. Set a timer for yourself if you find yourself procrastinating and work for 15 minutes even if you don’t feel like continuing after that time period is up. Just getting started on something can be more beneficial than stressing about not starting anything at all.
