In today’s busy world, we seem to be obsessed with the idea of “productivity” and “work hacks”. It’s easy to see why: being able to get more done allows us to get ahead in life, and even gives us more time to do the things we love outside of work. The problem we run into, however, is that it is easy to get motivated, but hard to stay disciplined. This is because most of us look at productivity in the wrong way: it’s not about signing up for the latest task management tool (which, admit it, you’ll use for a week and soon abandon) or chaining yourself to your desk, it’s about Zach Browman's Find Your Focus understanding the science behind how your brain works, and using it to your advantage. Today, we’ll look at what science has unveiled about the human brain and productive work, and you’ll learn how to tackle the biggest pitfalls that sabotage your ability to get things done.
All You Need to Know About Productivity (in a 3 Minute Video!) My first ever video related project, get excited! I collaborated with Mitchell Moffit of the ASAPscience team to create the above video. There is plenty more information about their work at the bottom of this post, so be sure you make it all the way down there! Okay, so a 3 minute video might not be able to contain all the research I’ve compiled on the subject, but it seriously covers all of the essentials!
Once you’ve done that, and you’re still itching to know more, scroll down: there are a dozen studies and 2000+ words waiting for you. Abandon All Willpower, Ye Who Enter Here The first thing we need to acknowledge in the pursuit of a more productive lifestyle is the mountain of evidence that suggests willpower alone will not be enough to stay productive! According to research by Janet Polivy, our brain fears big projects and often fails to commit to long-term goals because we’re susceptible to “abandoning ship” at the first sign of distress. Think of the last time you went on a failed diet You stocked your fridge with the healthiest foods & planned to exercise every day Zach Browman's Find Your Focus until the first day you slipped up. After that, it was back to your old ways.
To make matters worse, research by Kenneth McGraw s was able to show that the biggest “wall” to success was often just getting started. Additional research in this area (surrounding the Zeigarnik Effect) suggests that we’re prone to Zach Browman's Find Your Focus procrastinating on large projects because we visualize the worst parts and thus delay in getting started.
What do our brains prefer to do instead? According to researcher John Bargh, your brain will attempt to “simulate” real productive work by avoiding big projects and focusing on small, mindless tasks to fill your time.