5 Productivity Myths Ruining Your Life

Hey everyone, this is Nir Eyal and welcome to the near and Far Podcast. Today we are going to be reading the article 5 productivity myths ruining youg Life. My name is Nir Eyal and with me is Nick Gray. Nick, how's it going?

It's going great. Hey, I was just in Mexico City and somebody came up to me and they said, aren't you that guy that helps read Nir's articles? I said, yes, that is me. So thank you to all of our listeners. Thanks for leaving a review and a rating. It really means a lot. We're going to be Reading Today 5 productivity myths ruining your life. Busting these myths will set you free from productivity woes. Every time I hear a productivity myth described as fact, I cringe as if listening to a snake oil salesman peddling his cures. Let me tell you, when I was writing my second book, Indistractable, I endlessly researched productivity and time management. I tried a lot of recommended methods and techniques myself. Some of them can be so incredibly helpful in controlling your attention and managing your time. But productivity myths hold you back. They aren't just inaccurate, they have the potential to hinder your productivity rather than help. By letting them go, you can make room for productivity methods that actually work. Here are five myths you should stop believing now. Motivate yourself to focus with a reward do you tell yourself that if you just finish that one project, if you just focus for one hour, if you just buckle down for today, then you can treat yourself to something. You can go out for a nice dinner or get a cappuccino at a cafe, or buy yourself something. How has that been working for you? For hundreds of years, we've believed that motivation is driven by reward and punishment. But the truth is the root cause of human behavior is to relieve discomfort. All motivation is a desire to escape discomfort. Even when we think we're seeking pleasure, we're actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting. And when we feel that discomfort, we are prone to distraction. If you feel discomfort, also known as an internal trigger, such as anxiousness or restlessness, when you try to accomplish a certain task, then an arbitrary external reward is not going to motivate you to overcome that discomfort. Discomfort. Instead, add a bit of play to the task itself. Ian Bogost, a professor of interactive computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, says that fun and play can be a part of any difficult task. They can even be used as tools to keep us focused. The idea is to pay such close attention to your task that you Find new challenges you didn't see before. Those new challenges provide the novelty to engage our attention and maintain focus when tempted by distraction. For example, if you're struggling to sit down and write an article, give yourself a time limit or try to write it as fast as you can. Operating under a constraint adds a fun element. Thoughts on that section? Nir? I liked it.

Yeah, so this is a very common myth is, you know, just add a spoonful of sugar to a task, the whole Mary Poppins method. And it turns out that that works for some behaviors. It works for the kind of behaviors that you only have to do. So if it's, you know, I just need to do this one thing one time and then I'll get through it. Yeah. Sometimes a reward can, an external reward can be helpful. But the problem is that people think that this technique works for tasks they have to do again and again and again. And what they do is they start offloading their motivation to extrinsic motivation as opposed to intrinsic motivation. And that can be very problematic. We know that extrinsic rewards, you know, giving yourself a treat, a trophy, whatever it is, for every little thing you do that actually reduces creativity. We've seen studies where this actually happens. When people are asked to do a task and they're rewarded for the task as opposed to being prompted to just enjoy the task itself, the output actually gets worse. They do, they, they perform worse on metrics of creativity and they actually report that they enjoy the task less when they're doing it for some kind of. Out for some kind of extrinsic reward. So the idea here is if it is a task that you don't enjoy doing, but you know, you have to do repeatedly, right? So for me, what I like writing, I enjoy the overall task of writing. But the day to day grind is really hard, right? It's difficult. I've never figured out how to make writing into a habit. I don't know what people are talking about when they say they want to get into a writing habit. Writing is always hard work. It never comes easily. At least if you want to write something that you're proud of. And so, so, so thinking that I can reward myself with some kind of, you know, snack or treat or, I don't know, some kind of extrinsic reward is not the way to go. A much better way to go is A, if you can find the pleasure in the task itself, and B, if you can attach play to it. And I think this, you know, I took this from Ian Bogos, who I mentioned in the article you just read, he actually has some really interesting takes on play. He says play doesn't have to actually be enjoyable, you don't have to enjoy play. The purpose of play is just to engage your mind long enough to help you get through the task. And that's a very different way of viewing things because I think people think that they have to enjoy the task. If they don't enjoy the task, then it's not worth doing. And look, I wish life were like that, but that's not reality. There's all kinds of stuff that we have to do as part of being a grown up in the world that we don't necessarily enjoy doing, but we have to do to make our lives and careers better. And so adding play, adding this element of variability, doing what's called sandboxing, where you have constraints to the task, whether it's seeing how far you can get in a certain amount of time or adding some kind of other challenge to the task to do what's called sandboxing, and that adds some kind of variability to the task, can add play that you can leverage to help you continue without distraction through that task. So not requiring that you enjoy the task I think is a big insight. And second, looking for ways that you can add play to a task to get through it.

I like what you said, that operating under a constraint can add a fun element. Like if you're writing an article to give yourself a time limit or try to write it as fast as you can, doesn't have to be enjoyable, it can just be a constraint. Like that myth. The best productivity apps will help you focus. Don't fool yourself into thinking that when you're struggling to accomplish the task at hand. Perusing the Internet for the app that will help you focus is productive. Searching for the holy grail of productivity apps is just another distraction. Spending hours searching for and trying out the best productivity apps is wasting time. Productivity apps are not one size fits all. You have to be intentional about finding the right productivity for you. That means using this failsafe trick in your search for the right productivity apps. First diagnose the problem, then search for the solution. If you're having trouble sticking to tasks, then you might try an app or software that facilitates a pre commitment pact like FocusMate. I gotta pause before the next one because I have seen so many unproductive people think, oh, once I start to use notion then everything will change. And I'm like, I don't think you using notion is gonna make you more productive. They Might feel productive setting it up. I don't know. Do you ever see that?

Oh my gosh. And in fact, I think it can be actively harmful. And I would also expand this here I talk about the productivity app, you know, Shangri La, that I think, oh, if I just find the right productivity app, then everything will be solved for me. I think this also applies to books and gurus and courses, right? I talk to so many people who think, wow, if I just hear the right bit of advice, then my problem will be solved. And yes, there are people who are further down on the road who have maybe done more research than you, who have had more life experiences that might be able to give you some good advice. But, but fundamentally, if you don't sit and think about the problem first before you look for the solution, what oftentimes happens, you don't find the solution. You really have to analyze the problem. And so I think that that applies to so many different fields, whether it's, you know, I'm looking for a book to tell me the answer, I'm looking for a guru to tell me the answer, or a consultant to tell me the answer, or an app to give me the answer. If you don't first stop and think what is really the problem here that I'm solving for and then laser focused searching for the solution to that problem, you're likely to go off track. So if you say to yourself, hey, you know what my, my problem is is, for example, with, with Focus Mate, if you start with Focus Mate being the solution without actually asking yourself what is really my problem, right? If my problem is that I get distracted, how am I getting distracted? Am I having problem getting started? Am I having problem continuing a task? Am I having a problem when I'm doing the task, going off track as I'm working on the task without really thinking about what is the problem, you're not going to find the right fit for that problem.

It's a very holistic approach and it's one of the reasons that I like a lot of your writing and teaching that you don't try to shame us for using social media or for finding the right app. It's saying, hey, focus on the problem and then search for the solution.

For Focus Mate, I'll just clarify real quick. So Focus Mate is a product. We actually both know the founder of Focus Mate, I'm an investor in Focus Mate. FocusMate is a product where they will, will match you with another person who's trying to be indistractable. They want to stay focused on a task. And so this is a great solution for the problem that I oftentimes have, which is getting started. So I have that time box in my calendar to start a task, but I find that sitting down and actually doing it is something that I easily procrastinate on. Well, when you go onto FocusMate you find some other person who is there ready to work when you are because you signed up in advance and if you don't show up they give you a bad review. And so it's a wonderful way to solve that specific problem, right? And so that can be a great solution if that is your problem, but that's not your problem. For example, let's say prioritization is your problem. Well, focus mate is not going to help, right? Just like you're saying notion's not going to help if your problem is not having an easy way to collect your thoughts. Notion might not be the right solution or to do list might not be the right solution. Whatever the case might be. So focus made is a great solution if you have that specific problem.

By the way, Nir has written a great article that is called Tame Daily Distractions with a pre commitment pact and software like FocusMate talks about creating that pre commitment pact. You can find that by searching for near and far and pre commitment pact, you gotta check it out on his blog Next Myth Multitasking Destroys Productivity it's true that most forms of multitasking aren't effective. We can't tinker on our phone and be fully present with our friends at the same time. We can't simultaneously absorb information shared during a meeting and write a report. People not only commit more errors when juggling many tasks, but also take longer, sometimes double the time to complete the tasks. But there is one brand of multitasking that does effectively help you save time. Multichannel multitasking. The concept of pairing one complex task with a lower level task that uses a different sensory input. Multichannel multitasking is a way to navigate the two limitations of the human brain. One its limited processing power. The more concentration a task requires, the less room the brain has for anything else, and 2 its limited number of attention channels, meaning it can only concentrate on one sensory output at a time. As long as we're not required to concentrate too much on any one channel, we're able to do more than one thing at once. We can make calls while walking, listen to podcasts while cleaning, and cook meals with friends and family. We can even use temptation bundling, which involves multitasking. With one task, you enjoy and One you don't in order to motivate us for. For example, you might exercise while watching your favorite TV shows.

Yeah, so this one is pretty self explanatory, but it often grates on me when I hear people saying this often repeated myths of you can't multitask, you can't multitask, you can't multitask. Well, actually you definitely can multitask if you do it correctly. And so that's all there is to be said around that it's about being thoughtful around when can I multichannel multitask? So there's absolutely nothing wrong with combining the the various life domains. You know, we talked about this in a previous episode around Time Boxing based on your values and your values are based on these life domains of you, your relationships and then finally your work. Well, you can combine those life domains and multitask. So for example, if you're at work, right, and you want to also get exercise. Well, oftentimes what I do is I'll take a call while I'm walking, right? Or even better, if a colleague is physically present, we'll take a walk together. Steve Jobs used to do this all the time around the Apple campus. Used to take walk with colleagues. And so you kill two birds with one stone. You have that self domain of taking care of your health. So you're taking a walk, you're doing something good for your body and you're also working at the same time. So you absolutely can multitask as long as you're using different input channels. So you can take a walk. The physical domain, right? You can have that input channel around sensory input, but also have the auditory channel and listen to a podcast or make a phone call or chat with a friend.

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Yeah, so this is a big one. I hear this all the time where people say that, you know, what happens if I'm just not feeling up to doing a task? What happens if I'm feeling tired? What happens if I don't have the energy? And this is a myth, right? This is just a myth because, remember, I think one of the points that we talked about earlier, but we should have gone into further depth around is where human motivation comes from. And this really, you know, changed my mind. And the way I see the world fundamentally is that I used to think that motivation was about the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, right? Jeremy Bentham said this. Sigmund Freud said something similar. And a lot of people carry around this notion that motivation is about carrots and sticks, right? That you have to feel up to a task in order to do it. And if you don't do it, there has to be some kind of punishment. Well, it turns out the brain doesn't work that way. That fundamentally all human motivation, all human motivation, comes from one thing, and that is the desire to escape discomfort. And once you realize that fact, it's almost like a Matrix moment. Remember in the movie the Matrix where Neo sees that, you know, he comes to the realization there is no spoon? Well, when it comes to what we're talking about now, about human motivation, the carrot is the stick. Let me say that again. The carrot is the stick. What the heck does that mean? It means that the way the brain gets us to act, even when it is something we think is going to be pleasurable, the way the brain gets us to act is by creating this desirous response, this wanting, this lusting feeling, which is itself psychologically destabilizing. And once you realize this fact, once you realize that everything we do is just about modulating a feeling, that's all it is. It's just about how you're, how your conscious mind responds to this physiological response of discomfort. That's everything. That is the name of the game, that is literally the science of motivation in a nutshell, is deciding consciously how you will respond to discomfort. What unfortunately, many people do, distractable people, low performers, whenever they feel discomfort, they try and escape it. They escape it with distraction. I don't feel like doing it right now, right? I don't feel like working out. I don't feel like working on that project. I don't feel like making that phone call. It's just a feeling. What high performers do, what indistractable people say is, okay, I got it. I hear that sensation, right? I acknowledge this feeling. But I don't have to be a slave to it. It doesn't have to run my life. I can choose how I respond to it. And high performers, when they feel that same discomfort, boredom, loneliness, fatigue, anxiety, uncertainty, they feel them too. But they use that discomfort as rocket fuel. They say, I'm going to prove that I can do this despite the fact that I don't feel like doing it. That is the power of becoming indistractable.

Myth A to do list is all you need. When we need to manage all of our tasks, a common approach is to make a to do list. We write down all the things we want to do and hope we'll find the time throughout the day to do them. And but often these tasks get pushed from one day to the next. It's not an effective way to manage our time. To do lists aren't useful for productivity for the same reason the myth of readiness is not being productive or making good use of your time and finishing tasks are not the same thing. Output is not the only measurement of accomplishment. Treating it that way doesn't take into account the journey of long term goals and thus discourages people from pursuing those goals. Yet to do lists measure productivity based on output. Stop making yourself feel like you're not doing anything just because you didn't check off a box today. If your task is an important project, it's Going to take time. It's not something that can be done in a day. Supplement your to do list with a time boxed calendar and see how your productivity mindset changes as a result. You can use this free schedule maker in order to get started. That free schedule maker you can find online@nearandfar.com schedule maker. Are you ready to become even more productive? Learn how to create new habits and measure your progress using Near's free habit tracker NIR Thoughts on the To Do List idea? I know you've talked about it before. It really comes down to if I remember using that Timebox calendar instead of a to do list. Is that right? Right.

And using them in conjunction. So there's nothing wrong with taking things out of your brain and putting them on a piece of paper in an app. That's great. I do that as well. But that's step one. Most people stop right there. And of course, we've talked before about why to do lists are one of the worst things you can do for your personal productivity. And there's. You can search on my blog for articles about that and podcasts that we've done in the past about that. But trust me, to do lists on their own are terrible because if you don't convert that task that to do is into a time in your calendar, then there are no constraints. Right. What happens is you have a million things on that to do list, and without a time to do it in, you feel like you have to do everything. And that's impossible. What a timebox calendar forces you to do is it forces you to prioritize because we all have the same 24 hours in a day. So it forces you to say, okay, that's important, but not right now versus this. Oh, that's definitely important. I have to make time for doing it. And let me just dispel one very, very important myth. Because a lot of people when they start timeboxing, they bring in the same mindset that they use with a to do list. And to do lists are all about output. It's all about checking off those cute little boxes. And you know, we both probably known people, or maybe you are one of these people who will write down a task after they finish it just for the joy of checking the box. Right. That. That shows you right there how stupid this technique is. If you have to do something so convoluted to get that good feeling, it shows you it's. It's a kind of a silly tactic. So instead, what you should be doing with a Timebox calendar and A big misconception. A timebox calendar is not measured by how much you finish. Okay? This is super important. A to do list is about did I finish? Did I finish? Did I finish? And so what do people do? They maximize. They optimize how many things they finish. So they do silly things like writing down tasks after the task. They do the easy stuff, they do the urgent stuff, they do the stuff that they can do quickly, the stuff that's fun, as opposed to the hard and important work they have to do to move their lives forward. And they do this silly stuff, right, because they're measuring themselves by boxes. Time boxing is not about that. Time boxing is not about how much you finished. It's not about how much you finished. You don't even measure how much you finished. That's not important. You measure whether you worked on the task or you did the thing that you want to do for as long as you said you would without distraction. That's the only criteria. It's not about did I finish, it's about did I how? It's about did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I did said I would without distraction? Then you can stop and you can assess and you can say, wait a minute, okay, for this task, how much did I get done without distraction? Right? So this, this is what cures what we call this productivity fallacy, where we know that a task on average takes people three times longer to finish than they predict. Three times longer. Why does that happen? Because most people have no feedback system. They don't know how long things take. So they work on something for five minutes and then they get distracted. They check email, they do this, they do that, and then they never get a good assessment of wait a minute, how long does it actually take me to finish? So what do they do? They wait to the last minute. They call their spouse and say, I can't come home from work. Or they tell their kids, sorry, I can't be with you. And so they, they, they. The cost of not planning properly is taken, is paid by other people by, typically by their relationships. Whereas when you timebox, when you're indistractable, you can say, okay, I worked on this task for 30 minutes. And you know, let's say I needed to write a blog post. And a blog post is about a thousand words. Okay, well let's see. I got through about 200 words. Okay, so that means I need five of these 30 minute time blocks in order to finish the entire task. And so over time, you get better and better at predicting how long things will take you. Whereas a person who just uses a to do list, they never get that kind of feedback. They can never look back and say how long do things take me when I work on just that task? And so that's why to do lists are not enough. You also have to have a timebox calendar where you plan out what you're going to do because you're planning your input as opposed to to do lists that only are about output. A timebox calendar focuses on the only two things you need to get things done, which is your time and your attention. And if you don't plan for that input, you're not going to get the output.

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