Ali Abdaal’s Productivity Masterclass — My Learnings
88, 626 people(as of today) have attended the internet’s productivity guru — Ali Abdaal’s Productivity masterclass on Skillshare.
One of them is me.
All of us strive to manage our time effectively and find time for work, leisure, and hobbies. This course introduces various tools and principles of productivity that may help us achieve that balance.
I will be sharing all that I learned in each lesson of the 2-hour masterclass in this blog shortly and crisply within 7 minutes.
The Productivity Equation
Productivity is equal to Useful Output divided by Time multiplied by Fun Factor.
To take care of these three components, our day is divided into three parts — Pilot, Plane, and Engineer.
10% of our time in a day must be spent on Pilot mode which means setting course and planning for the day ahead.
80% of our time should be spent on Plane mode. This means most of our time should go into following the routine and direction set by the pilot.
And the remaining 5-10% of the time should be as an Engineer which makes sure we are efficient in the plane mode. They include various productivity apps and assistance.
Prompt #1: Which mode do I struggle with the most? the pilot, plane, or engineer? In what (specific) ways?
The Myth Of “I Don’t Have Time”
Eliminate the phrase “I don’t have time” from your life. Rephrase it as “I am actively choosing not to make time”
Choose wisely what you want to do according to your priorities.
Prompt #2: What am I avoiding with the phrase “I don’t have time”?
The Myth Of Motivation
Motivation is just a feeling. It is fleeting. Eliminate it.
Instead, incorporate discipline along with the ‘fun factor’.
Two aspects for making work disciplined:
- ACTION
- Make the action more pleasurable. For example: Listen to music while studying, play a game with yourself, post about it, etc.
- Make Inaction more painful. For example: Put money on the line.
- OUTCOME
- Shorten the feedback loop. Reward yourself now for the accomplishment.
- Make the outcome more salient. For example: watching what six looks like and wanting it.
Make the outcome clear in your mind.
“We all need to treat our own interests with as much professionalism as we treat the interests of other people”
Prompt #3: What is the goal I want to achieve? How can I make the process more pleasurable? Can I increase my odds of hitting the goal by putting money on the line? Can I make the outcomes more tangible and desirable?
The Myth Of Multitasking
Instead of trying to do many things at once, focus on one thing and aim for a ‘Flow’ state.
The flow state is the optimum state of best performance. You get so engrossed in the work that you lose track of everything around. Avoid distractions completely in this stage.
Prompt #4: What is one (or more) situation when I was in my flow state? What circumstances and mindset led to that? Can I manufacture these conditions for other stuff I need/want to do?
Parkinson’s Law
‘The amount of work done expands itself to fill the time allocated to it’
Give artificial deadlines and have a consequence for it. When you allocate less time for a task, it will get done within that time.
Think about how a 10-year plan can be achieved in the next 6 months. Even if you fail, you will get a lot done.
Prompt #5: Make a list of 3–4 long-term tasks you want to do. What would you do if you only had half as long to do them? What about if you had to do them in the next 24 hours?
Pareto Principle
80% of the results come from 20% of work.
Think about what your goal is and then think about what are the 20% efforts required to get there.
They are like the broad brush strokes that fill in the canvas rather than thin fine details.
For Example: If you have 10 topics to study for the exam, the worst way is to think of taking one week for each topic. A better way would be to cover the broader basics of each topic in the first week and then subsequently go into detail with each week.
Prompt #6: What 20% of my work is driving 80% of my useful output? What is taking up 80% of my time but not actually contributing much to my output?
Newton’s First Law Of Motion
In simple terms it is, the state of rest or uniform motion continues to remain that way unless acted upon by an external force.
This also means, that once we are already started and in motion, an external force is no longer required. Therefore, start the work, even for a short duration.
2–Minute Rule
If you will take less than 2 minutes to do a task, just do it now!
5-Minute Rule
If you are struggling to start something, convince your brain that you will do it only for 5 minutes. Then you will automatically keep moving by the virtue of Newton’s first law.
Remove the friction for your task by setting it up beforehand. Build Keystone Habits.
Prompt #7: Turn off the class (in this case, exit the blog ;)) and go do something you’ve been putting off and be here when you’re done.
The Power Of Habits
Small habits formed by tiny changes can lead to big improvements.
Make a public commitment. Like starting a weekly newsletter instead of writing weekly blogs.
Start reinforcing the identity of a productive person. This makes productive work more fun.
Stop stating your bad habits as a badge of honor. For example- “Ugh! I do not read books at all”, “I never eat healthy LOL”
Many more ways and principles required to build meaningful habits are mentioned in Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Prompt #8: What 3 things would boost my productivity if I made them a habit? How can I help make those habits stick?
The Power Of Productive Downtime
Use the small blocks of time off of work for meaningful tasks instead of mindless scrolling on the phone.
For example, you can squeeze in some of your work during the small windows of free time during office work hours.
Write down Daily Highlights. It is the one thing you want to get done that day.
Morning Dump — Just a random list of things to do for the day, anything that comes to mind. This later can be referred during downtime and can be accomplished.
Prompt #9: What are some chunks of the day in which I find myself wasting time in ways I’d rather not? What useful (small) things could I do with this time instead?
The Power Of Productive Procrastination
Even in your free time, do something that adds value, like reading a book that interests you.
Take notes, highlight, and record your thoughts on everything you read (books, articles, blogs) and hear (podcasts).
Prompt #10: What items on my bucket/ task list can I procrastinate my way to progress on?
The Fun Factor
People who are happy end up being more successful.
Enjoy what you are doing. And if you don’t, recognize that you can choose to enjoy it by making just minor changes.
Make a mindset shift from “Have To” to “Get to”. Consider it a privilege.
The concept of ‘Hybrid Chill’ — Working with friends makes everything more fun. Thus, it increases productivity overall, even though the output may be less.
“If I am not enjoying this (what I have chosen) then I am the mug here”
Prompt #11: What do I have to do on the days that I’m currently not enjoying? If I had to, how would I make this stuff more fun?
“You don’t smile when you are happy. When you smile, you become happy.”
Choose Happiness :)
This is all from my side. If you want to take it seriously, make sure to write down the answers to all the 11 prompts above.
Trust me, it will give a little clarity.
If you liked it, do clap and comment. It would mean a lot.
You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter here.
Until next time,
Good day.
ZUFINE.
