Dead Simple Personal Productivity

Today I’m going to introduce you to a new section of this newsletter. Over the years, I’ve been rewriting and learning from my experiences about certain topics that really interest me, like productivity, health, building products, relationships, among others.

I’ve always wanted to have a place where I could store this information in an organized way for others to consume, but most importantly, to help my future self remember the lessons I’ve gathered over time.

So here we are; welcome to the first Dead Simple [insert topic]. This time, the main topic is personal productivity.

Productivity is a topic you have probably searched for on Google. There are thousands of gurus trying to sell you the idea of the ultimate system when, in reality, it is simpler than that.

Don’t be fooled; productivity is not about complex systems or automating everything. Productivity is about knowing when to push and when to stop, understanding what to do and what not to do. Above all, it’s about thinking long-term and pursuing things that genuinely interest you.

• Every year, try to implement a maximum of 1-2 changes in your life. Trying to do too many new things at once is a recipe for failure. Always think in the long term. Things that are worthwhile take time.
• Have no long-term goals. Focus entirely on the process of working. Decide as you act. Once you have an idea, try to make it as simple as possible. Cut out 99% of the noise around it.
• Don’t overcomplicate your organization. Productivity gurus need your money to keep creating irrelevant content. Focus on execution. If you cannot remember the task you need to work on, it’s probably because it’s not that important.
• Many people spend too much time thinking about how to optimize their systems to perfection and not nearly enough time asking if they’re working on the right problems.
• Don’t keep a schedule. Work on whatever is most important or interesting at any given time.
• You don’t have time for everything. Not having time for something is another way of saying it’s not important. And that’s OK. Limited time means limited possibilities. That’s the way it is.
• Say no to most things; say yes to the things your gut says yes to. Only agree to new commitments when both your head and your heart say yes.
• Self-improvement should be a by-product, not the focus. You improve because you do the work, not because you focus on improving.
• Picking the right thing to work on is the most important element of productivity and is often overlooked.
• Sleep and exercise are key to your productivity. You cannot produce well enough if your body is not well-rested and energized.
• If you’re unproductive, it’s not because your system is down or your software needs replacing. It’s because you’re tired, bored, or unhappy. You cannot do things you love all the time, but try to spend most of your time doing things that you enjoy or find very interesting.
• Thinking happens outside your laptop. If you are creative, spending time in front of your computer is not the way to generate new ideas. Make sure you leave enough time in your schedule to think about what you are working on. The best ways to do this are to read books, hang out with interesting people, and spend time in nature.
• Never walk into a room without knowing why you are there. “I need to write a newsletter” isn’t knowing why you are there; “I know exactly what to write” is. Problems are rarely solved and executed in the same room.
• Working more hours makes you less productive. The countries that work the most hours are the least productive. Enjoying life more and working fewer hours makes you better at your job. This has been proven, even if your boss doesn’t like it.
• Limit your options. If you try to pursue 100 paths, you will run out of strength and will not be able to finish any of them.
• Life is about making decisions where we have no control over what is going to happen. Maybe we go down one road and end up in paradise, or maybe we end up in a wasteland. But we can’t stop trying.

This is all I have been able to summarize on this topic for the moment. The peculiarity of this section is that at some point this content you are reading will have its own section on my website, which I will expand as I learn new things about the subject.

Today's recommendations

• Four Thousand Weeks. Speaking about productivity this week, I can’t recommend anything else but this book. I think its approach to managing time is very insightful, and it also emphasizes that our time is limited. It’s not about getting more things done; it’s about doing less and enjoying it.
• What I have lived for. Speaking of enjoying life, this is a must read. The prologue to the biography of Bertrand Russell begins: “Three passions, simple but overpowering, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and an unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.”.

• This quote from Nikos Kazantzakis:

  This is true happiness: to have no ambition and to work like a horse, as if you had every ambition. To live far from people, not needing them and yet loving them. To have the stars above you, the land to your left and the sea to your right, and to suddenly realize that in your heart life has performed its last miracle: it has become a fairy tale.

Photography calls me, again

For those of you who don’t know, one of my hobbies is photography. A few months ago, one of my photos was selected to be exhibited in a small gallery in Athens. If you are curious, this is the photo.

I have always loved photography and I think it was something very natural for me. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t taking pictures, and I can’t remember not using my camera or cell phone almost everywhere I went. I even wrote an article about it.

But it was always very casual, and I never took it seriously to improve in that area, although it is obvious that I have improved over the years. There is nothing better than taking a lot of bad photos to make better photos.

This week I received an email from the same gallery telling me that I’ve been selected to exhibit my photos in another gallery next year, but this time in London. And this time not 1 photo, but 11 photos (1 printed + 10 digital). I was surprised because it’s not something I’m used to.

So, after almost a lifetime of taking pictures, I think it’s time to get serious about it. I don’t intend to make a living out of it, but it would be interesting to see how far I could go.

As always, I’m going to follow my curiosity and see where it takes me.

P.S: I’m not the biggest Instagram fan you’ll find, but I’ve created a photography section on my website where you can see some of the photos I’m taking.

If you like any of them, tell me, I’d love to hear.