To Truly Maximise Productivity, Try Going Easier On Yourself.
Add more by doing less, and prioritise sustainability.
What kind of a personal growth ‘advocate’ would I be if I didn’t take care of myself?
I’m not calling myself a ‘coach’ yet—that’s in the pipeline.
I’m still a white belt at personal growth.
But nowadays I’m a black belt much better at overcoming challenging situations.
I believe I'm reaching the edge of burnout by focusing too much on the perceived quality of my newsletter. And so I’m practising what I preach—I’m finding my Goldilocks Zone (see later), and steadily improving over time.
This post has nothing to do with what I’ve been writing about all week.
I got too bogged down and tied up. I couldn’t make the weekly schedule I set myself at the calibre of material I deemed necessary. I considered skipping a week or changing my posting schedule. I realised I was trying too hard to look good at the expense of my well-being.
Then I made a decision: to release a semi-last-minute, write-it-how-you-speak-it blog about going easier on yourself.
This post itself is me going easier on myself whilst still showing up. It features the tips I legitimately use and those I’m working on.
Have a look at this screenshot of my dashboard:
I’ve been writing on Substack for 12 weeks, I’ve now published 11 posts and I have 34 drafts—mostly essays that I could (and probably will) break up and stitch back together into ≈100 far simpler posts.
I write hundreds of words early every morning in my peak mental clarity zone. I have to get thoughts and ideas out of my head; otherwise, I’d talk to myself and walk around the room in circles.
Substack is a Godsend for me because I can capture these thoughts, hit publish, and 56% of my subscribers read it. I’m told that’s a reasonable proportion.
I publish every Thursday or Friday. That’s my rule. But the weight of piecing it together in a way I’m happy with sometimes takes a toll.
When stretch becomes stress, it’s time to recalibrate.
Let’s get into 7 tips about going easier on yourself.
The Goldilocks Zone.
In a recent post (on personal growth!), I talked about the Goldilocks Zone.
…aim for the "Goldilocks Zone" of actions, which means creating tasks that are neither too challenging nor too easy—they should be just right. You want to push yourself enough to promote growth without becoming overwhelmed.
We’ve heard that working on goals is like a marathon, not a race. We need to take action to move forward but at a sustainable pace. A bit of effort, scheduled every day, multiplied by 365 days per year, is a lot of progress. Find what effort and energy levels work for you.
Take advice, but find your pace.
Imperfect action beats paralysis by analysis. (I’m working on this.)
Have you ever wondered how a new venture with a crappy logo has taken off?
No?
I do.
They’ve got their brand out there, imperfect for now, and they’re making sales.
I sit there and adjust the circle around the ‘Re’ in my logo to the micrometre, and nobody even looks at it. Meanwhile, someone with a shit logo is making a fortune. They’ll come back to the logo later, and pay for a better one with all the cash they made from their sales.
Move forward, make mistakes, and adjust later. Fail forward.
Listen to your body.
I’ve got this one to a T. When the thought ‘Should I battle through this daytime tiredness with a coffee, or just take a nap?’ goes through my head, I default to the nap. Sleep improves cognitive function far better than a tired yet wired brain. You’ll be more effective later.
Take the nap, not the coffee, if you can.
The Eisenhower Box.
The Eisenhower Box helps prioritise tasks and eliminate what you don’t need, helping you to go easier on yourself. Try categorising your to-do list or daily habits into these four quadrants and follow the built-in instructions. The size of the quadrants will vary—some will have more tasks than others.
Use the delete quadrant to its full advantage.
Boundaries.
Set boundaries with yourself and with others for an easier and more productive life.
For example, I will not write after 8:30 p.m. because I need to rest. This helps me unwind and ensures I’m refreshed for the next day. I would only need to revise what I had written after this time anyway.
Setting healthy boundaries with others helps limit them from imposing on your life, both physically and mentally. This allows you to dedicate more quality time to yourself and your tasks. While connecting with the right people is essential, connecting with negative energy people wastes your time.
Grant yourself space and use your time wisely for yourself.
Just show up with the minimum viable product: yourself.
Take this newsletter as an example. Rather than not posting anything and risking a loss of momentum in my Goldilocks Zone, I showed up.
Similarly, when I’m feeling physically suboptimal, I still go to the gym even if I can only give a maximum of 50% effort. It’s not about giving 100% all the time; it’s about maintaining momentum.
Minimum output is better than none. It’s up to you how you define what ‘minimum’ means for you.
Sometimes, just showing up is all that’s necessary to keep moving forward.
The P/PC balance
In 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', Stephen Covey introduces the P/PC balance.
P stands for the production of the results you want.
PC stands for the production capability—the means of achieving those results.
You must take care of the means of achieving those results: yourself.
We know the story of the goose that laid the golden eggs. The goose produced one golden egg each day, making the farmer wealthy. However, the farmer's greed led him to kill the goose, hoping to find more golden eggs inside. There were none. He messed up. The goose needed to be alive and well to lay the eggs.
You need to be alive and well to lay the eggs.
Thank you for reading.
Take it easy,
Adam.
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I’d love to hear your feedback on this week’s candid post.
Love the honesty in this. An important message about recognising something and going with the change of direction. Trust the process.
I also realized early on in social media and entrepreneurship years ago, that people rarely know your schedule or care if you stick a certain day. They're too busy to remember or know it by heart. They're just happy when they see your posts if they are following along with you. Hope that alleviates some pressure if you still had any!