Lesson Category: Productivity

Through a series of reviews, you will ensure that your plan for success remains relevant and effective. You will move from a strategic perspective, looking into your long-term future, through to a daily analysis. The approach I share will guarantee that you extract maximum learning from your experiences and that your bigger goals remain in focus – and, crucially, get acted upon.

We know change is inevitable but we can still experience powerful negative reactions. I will show you how to counteract these and immunise yourself so that you anticipate and prepare for change.

A good plan and efficient systems are rarely enough; there is just too much happening in the world and things will go wrong and obstacles will block your way. Sometimes the only way through is bloody-minded perseverance and ‘grit’ and willpower have been shown to be amongst the best predictors of success. The good news is, these are not immutable; things that you either have or don’t have. Whatever your current level, you can develop greater resilience. As we have seen throughout this program, change the neural connections, the way you think, and you change the way you act. And I will share with you, techniques to increase your grit and willpower. 

However, heroically pushing on in the face of adversity is not always appropriate and we need to break free from conventional, misconceived, notions about ‘failure’. You will learn the critical questions to ask yourself that will help you to decide whether to persevere or quit.

Linking back to earlier modules on how your brain works, I will share with you surprising research on how your body can change your thought patterns – and how you can use simple methods to increase your productivity.

And finally, the greatest threat to your productivity: other people. I will help you to become more assertive – but without upsetting people!

Earlier in the program we considered what habits would help to make you successful. Now we look at how you can establish and embed these habits in your life. This may intuitively appear to be an effortless, straightforward process but the reality is that few people manage to maintain good habits. So I will show you a range of different techniques to enable you to put success on autopilot. And, tips on how to break those pesky bad habits.

Procrastinating, putting off tasks to a later date, is probably the most common productivity flaw to which people admit. I’ll explore the problem and provide you with a range of solutions.

And finally in this module, I will help you to achieve intensity, to my mind, the most important driver of success.

Earlier in the program you developed an action map and identified supporting habits and checklists. Now we aim to connect your action map so that achieving your vision becomes fully-integrated with your day-to-day life . Over the next few sections, you will learn a variety of approaches for handling tasks and appointments. Why a variety? Because there is no one-size-fits-all approach. However, I will give you lots of ideas, with pros and cons, on how to develop your tailored approach.

Life is rarely simple though and so I will outline an approach, CARPE, that will enable you to process, triage, new demands for your attention. And then it’s on to consider how to schedule your day for maximum productivity, efficiency tips and getting the most from meetings. There is also an interesting perspective on Rituals and how they can help you to achieve the optimum mindset. I was initially sceptical of rituals but have most certainly revised my opinion!

Having a System

I am not advocating one particular approach over another; my experience suggests that there is no universal approach that works for everyone and that even small details can make a difference to the success or failure of a system with a particular individual.

I will suggest a number of options but ultimately, you have to discover which system works best for you.

But don’t expect perfection – the very things that make a system effective in one aspect, reduce efficiency in another area.

The key is to explore the options, make a decision on your approach, tweak as you apply it – and then get on with your life!

Don’t waste time trying to perfect the system; it’s a fool’s errand.

Your system is a means to an end, not an end in itself.