I am a bit obsess with productivity, trying to always produce more. This is another approach. He became Doctor via discipline but things started to fail when working as a junior Doctor. The idea is to move from discipline to joy. I find it difficult in general. I think I am not bad at discipline, but still got a pit paralysing when hitting the unknown, and splitting things in small chunks is helping me.
Energise:
Find/add the concept of “play” in what you do (sense of adventure and take things less seriously)
Find empowerment, choose how you work on things (most of the times you can’t choose on what your work…. so you know) You can choose the process and your mindset.
Surround yourself of the correct people that lift you up instead of suck up the energy. Think of giving help, it is not always getting.
Unblock:
This part focus in procrastination and the most important for me
Clarify: Think about what is blocking your mood, ask “why” you want to do something, then figure out “how”. For the “what” use NICE (near-term, input-based, controllable and energising) and then set the “when” you do things. Add “clues” to trigger the action (create an habit)
Fear: understand what you are afraid of? will that matter in 10 minutes, 10 weeks, 10 years? And very important, most people are not thinking about your, they are too busy worry about what the others are thinking about them.
Start: This is for me the most important part. Find the friction, what it is stopping you to start, how can you remove them? You dont have to get everything figure out, so “just do it” (do something). Be kind to yourself, analyze what you do, correct and move on.
Sustain
This is part is about burn-out. It can over-work, it can be boredom. Focus in doing less but better. Focus on “Fuck yeah or not” to decide things. Control the distractions (noise, youtube, etc) and take breaks where you do nothing.
You need to learn to recover and disconnect: have a hobby, try to be in nature (walk to a park)
Discover misalignments: you spend time on goals that dont align with your values.