Happy New Year everyone! It's the self-improvement season and popular YouTuber Ali Abdaal has recently released his first book, Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You. In it, he suggest ways to increase your productivity without relying on discipline or motivation, and sprinkles lots of small experiments throughout.

As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM FEEL-GOOD PRODUCTIVITY

• Feeling good makes us more productive.
  • There’s a limit to discipline and working harder.
  • Negative emotions may motivate us in the short-term, but take a toll in the long run.
  • By contrast, positive emotions boost our creativity and build up our emotional and mental resources in the long-term.
• Incorporate Energisers into your life:
  • Play. Finding ways to make things fun and less stressful will make you more productive.
  • Power. When you feel empowered and confident, your performance increases.
  • People. People can fill us with energy and motivate us to perform better.
• Overcome procrastination by Unblocking the root cause:
  • Clarity. We often procrastinate when we feel uncertain about at ask. Overcome this by clarifying: why you are doing a project, what your tasks are, and when you will do them.
  • Courage. Fear can also block us, triggering our brains’ ‘flight’ response. Overcome fear by labelling them, gaining perspective, and lowering the stakes.
  • Get started. It’s often much harder to get started than to keep going. Overcome inertia by reducing friction, taking just a small step, and tracking your progress.
• Burnout can occur due to overexertion (too much work), depletion (not enough breaks), or misalignment (doing the wrong things). Make your efforts Sustainable by:
  • Conserving. Don’t overcommit. It may be tempting to say yes to things in the future, but weigh up the opportunity costs.
  • Recharging. Take quality breaks. Do creative activities that make you feel CALM (Competent, Autonomous, Liberty and Mellow). Go for a walk, maybe incorporate nature. It’s also fine to recharge mindlessly sometimes, doing whatever you want guilt-free.
  • Aligning. When our behaviour is driven by external forces, instead of our values, we can burn out. Reflect on what matters most to you and experiment with ways to incorporate them into your daily life.

As usual, you can find the full detailed summary and my thoughts on the book on the website. If you found this summary useful, consider forwarding to a friend you think might enjoy it.

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​To Summarise​