My Secret to Productivity 🤫

Everyone has a secret move or a special technique they use to keep themselves pumped up to complete a task. Amidst all the distraction from the likes of Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, one may ask how is it possible to stay productive at all?

In my mind, there are many things that need to be my attention. However, I usually have a tendency to delay things as long as possible. People call it many things, but I call it laziness. 😖

It could be writing a Medium article, finishing up a chunk of code, reviewing a technical document, or just replying to an email. When I’m left to my own devices, I would basically imagine all these things in my head and feel the insurmountable amount of work that needs done…

When that grim mood sets in, my hand would instinctively reach into my pocket and pull out my phone.

This had happened to me multiple times in the past, and it still does from time to time.

But something changed. Once I discovered the secret cure to counter this terrible disease, I’ve been able to be 10x more productive than before, and as a direct result, bring much more joy into my life. My steps have springs in them, and my every waking day I feel a sense of mission and accomplishment.

Now, let me share with you my personal secret weapon to increase productivity.

MOMENTUM

That’s it, I said it. Momentum. It’s a simple word, but a powerful force.

Momentum is what picks you up when you’re down, keeps you going when you’re overwhelmed, and maintains your focus when you sense distraction.

Momentum gets rid of triviality, and drives action.

Momentum is the power to produce.

When I sense that my energy level is low, and yet there are heaps of stuff left to be done, I give myself a mental pat on the back and start with one simple goal: do one thing at a time.

Let me give you an example. I started writing this article on a Tuesday evening at 10.10pm after work. I had just worked out, cleaned up the place and felt really tired.

Yet, I promised my editor (Open source portfolio) that I’ll write at least an article this week to demonstrate mindful living in my own life.

After I sat down on my bed, my first thought was, “Hmm, there are other, better things I can do with my time. Let’s see what’s on Facebook before I get started…”

One thing led to another, and 10 minutes later I was still on Facebook. How often has this happened to you?

That’s when I told myself, “OK, let’s try just one paragraph. Let’s see what happens…”

That’s the magic phrase, let’s see what happens.

Once you start doing something, the powerful magic of momentum will carry you forward without you knowing it.

Fast-forward 20 minutes later, and I’ve already written close to 500 words. Much of it will probably be edited out in post-processing, but that’s OK. I have outdone myself, and wrote more than what I set out to do.

In my opinion, the most important thing is to realize that productivity doesn’t mean getting things done to perfection. Productivity, to me, means to execute and follow-through. Getting something out there is much better than nothing at all.

Once you have momentum behind you, it is much easier to follow that flow and drive things to completion.

Tips & Tricks for Building Momentum

Here is a list of tips & tricks I use to build momentum in my daily life:

• I block out a chunk of time on my calendar every day for my own space. For example, on my work calendar, there’s a chunk of time from 3–5pm that is allocated for coding. I have understanding teammates who don’t book meetings on those power-hours because it’s important for me to keep sanity and have time to myself to do things I need to do.
• Fill in mundane tasks with something productive. Reading more books is one of my goals for this year. When I feel overwhelmed and need to get away, I’ll try to pull out a book or listen to an audiobook on Spotify. I have a book in my backpack at all times, and having something to put my mind into is very helpful in those situations. The goal here is to build a productive habit, and you can replace reading with something else like working out or taking out the trash.
• Set a schedule and stick to it. Working out is something I dread, yet it’s important for my overall health. Earlier this year when I sat down and analyzed why I wasn’t working out more, I realized that having to drive to the gym and mentally set myself in work-out mode was time-consuming and counter-productive. What I did, then, was I built my own little home gym. My small gym only has some free weights and a bench, but the effects are tremendous. Every day, I’ll spend 30–40 minutes in the gym either lifting or doing a quick jog. Again, I build momentum here by just showing up. 80% of the battle is already won when you show up, and that’s the beauty of momentum.

Those are just some examples of how I use momentum in my daily life to drive productivity. I’d like to know if you have any productivity tips to share as well!

Credits

Thanks to Open source portfolio for proof-reading and providing valuable feedback!

Zhia Chong is a student of mindful living. While not writing articles like these on Medium, you can find him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you liked this, here are some other articles he has written:

• How I landed offers from Microsoft, Amazon and Twitter without an Ivy-league degree
• How to write a great resume for software engineers
• How I automated my job search by building a web crawler