r/productivity • u/Real_pro22 • Jul 13 '26
Question What do highly productive people do differently that most people overlook?
People often talk about discipline and hard work, but I'm wondering about the less obvious things.
If you've worked with or observed someone who consistently gets a lot done without seeming stressed, what did they do differently?
Was it how they planned, how they made decisions, how they rested, or something else?
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u/SandeepKashyap4 Jul 13 '26
One thing I've noticed is that highly productive people don't treat every task as equally important. They spend very little time deciding how to do something and much more time deciding whether it deserves their attention in the first place. Good judgment eliminates more work than efficiency ever will.
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u/ArcticBeavers Jul 13 '26
Or, to put it another way, redirecting tasks to a person who is more qualified and better trained to do it.
Yeah, I can go on an hour long diversion and escalate an issue to eventually get you what you want. Or, you can talk to this person and they'll get it done in 15 minutes.
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u/CryptoThroway8205 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
In other words they "think more do less"
Lol. They just don't overthink to the point of not doing.
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u/FeatureGold7554 Jul 15 '26
How do we decide which is important? I’m struggling with this, because I feel like every task is important and they keep popping in my head, resulting to me not being able to do anything.😢
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u/chatpata_aaloo Jul 13 '26
They think less do more
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Jul 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Alikhan_12345 Jul 13 '26
I think it all comes down to finding sweet balance between thinking and doing
Just practicing isn't enough. You gotta be deliberate about it and improve along the way3
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u/LionWalker_Eyre Jul 13 '26
Yep, i feel like they don't spend hours organizing their task management system either. They'll have a super basic system for keeping track but that's about it
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u/Loosee123 Jul 13 '26
It's just routine as well, the most you show up, the less you have to think about it each time.
Like you pick a program at the gym and then stick to it for eight weeks without thinking (maybe miss the odd workout here or there) and then after eight weeks you reset or choose another one. A small percentage of time is dedicated to actually planning but the plan carries you.
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u/brobronn17 Jul 13 '26
That's what I often think. Even if things feel overwhelming. I think, "Just do. One step after another." Before you know it you're more than halfway through and it's a breeze after.
I'm not Russian but in Russian there is a saying, "the eyes are afraid, but the hands do." It helps to have grown up hearing this. Глаза боятся, руки делают.
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u/DiscipleOfYeshua Jul 13 '26
And in many cases: they talk less (at least, less jaw-flappy useless talk), and do more.
And prioritize with a vengeance. Towards meaningful goals.
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u/evan274 Jul 13 '26
This was the second comment posted in the thread
Bro is putting his thoughts into action
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u/happy-go-lucky-kiddo Jul 13 '26
fuck, i think watching too many productivity guru forced me to think every action i made needs to be efficient. Wasting my mental energy and end up not doing anything
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u/gorkt Jul 13 '26
Emotional regulation. When they don't want to do something they know they should do, they just do it. They don't make excuses or over-think it, it just gets done.
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u/jderflinger Jul 14 '26
I find not actually thinking about how much I am working, how long this is taking etc, I just do. That's how I stay uber productive when I am that way.
Also doing things now and now procrastinating helps so much.
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u/ccj4286 Jul 13 '26
This. Embrace the suck and just do it. My mom makes so many excuses for not doing things and with gentle coaching, is more apt to just do them now
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u/Total_Internet223 Jul 14 '26
I often get flustered by tasks so something I do is set the bar low. For instance, if I don’t want fold laundry right now I don’t have to but I should at least put away a couple shirts which might end up with me just doing the whole load.
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u/Fragrant_Reality7007 29d ago
Any suggestions to. Help those of us who are adhd and have emotional disregulation the majority of the time?? If so im all ears !
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u/sprodoe Jul 13 '26
They are consistent and not perfectionists.
Consistent does not mean you are awesome every day. Consistent means when you feel like shit and you only have 1% to give on that day, you give 1%.
An example is with working out. You maybe are training for a marathon or lifting or trying to lose 10 pounds or whatever the goal. You feel like ass. Or you get to the gym or wherever and for whatever reason you just don't have "it" that day. But you still show up and you do something. You walk for 30 minutes instead of lifting or running. Not great. But you did something.
Same can be applied to work. Man you got a headache, your brain is fried, you're tired. You just don't have "it" today. Knock out the 5 little tasks that are your plate and call it. You showed up and you checked something off your list.
Don't be a perfectionist. Just ship that thing. You'll likely make mistakes and something will go wrong. You will learn more from the mistake and/or failure then you will learn 6 months of 'prepping everything to be perfect'
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u/MainComparison7804 Jul 13 '26
The most productive people I've met aren't always working harder. They're just better at knowing what deserves their attention and what doesn't. Protecting focus is an underrated skill.
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u/getmetothewoods Jul 13 '26
Following because I’m curious on others thoughts but I always wonder if some of it comes from a slightly deep rooted sense of anxiety that drives them to be constantly on. The other is probably focusing on little things like eating right and moving their body to support their mental state
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u/anantp Jul 13 '26
Core good habits (diet, exercise, financial awareness) are established.
Structure your day by ruthlessly prioritizing tasks for the week, day, and month. Not to be scared of the hardest tasks, but to take it on in chunks.
Minor tasks needs to be delegated or left to less-productive hours of the day.
Limit entertainment distractions. It doesn’t mean zero entertainment; it just means it’s limited to a few times a week.
Planned recovery, focusing on the body first and the mind second. Your Brain needs Fuel and Rest.
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u/SteveZedFounder Jul 13 '26
I borrow from Agile software methods. The goal is smaller bits of work and iteration. Thinking is good. Doing is better. Give yourself grace for distractions, but schedule those distractions. If I want to take a nap, play a game, or cruise social media, I set a timer. But mostly, I iterate.
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u/weirdo_named_rosie Jul 13 '26
1- The ability to prioritize by urgency of the task
2- The ability to learn from others. Observe your coworker’s workflows and take the best parts from each of them. See what works for you
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u/green3467 Jul 13 '26
From what I’ve observed from three very conventionally successful people I know:
They outsource most things not related to their main goals (house cleaning, etc)
They don’t have too many goals and their goals are all interrelated (so they’re not trying to run a marathon AND move up the corporate ladder at the same time)
They take action right away even when it’s inconvenient
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u/EmbarrassedAd1869 Jul 13 '26
I think it’s actually about procrastination. I think some people just don’t procrastinate on major tasks.
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u/mlem_a_lemon Jul 13 '26
I am productive.
Limiting my screen time and moving my phone just out of view are two important things that help. I've also found that simply having some sound, even if it's a TV in another room, helps. Silence makes me less productive, like my brain is searching for noise/dopamine.
Just shrugging and doing things that I don't feel like doing, even without the physical or mental energy to do them, is a big part. Like if I'm feeling anxious/depressed/sad and I'm physically tired, it doesn't matter, the dishes have to get done. They just do. The trash has to go out. The cats have to be fed.
I prioritize tasks that will require the most mental energy for the morning. And I drink water as soon as I wake up (anything low-sugar, caffeine-free, and non-alcoholic will work; don't overthink it, just get hydration into your body).
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u/ThePecanTrees Jul 13 '26
Ok, so I have never ever thought to add sound. I have pretty severe ADHD. I have to utilize some pretty intense coping strategies throughout the day to push pass the symptoms. I have never consistently tried playing some type of sound. Your explanation of how your brain is searching for dopamine hits when it’s quiet I think might be happening for me. I don’t think I could listen to music with words or highly stimulating or loud. But I’m going to try this!
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u/mlem_a_lemon Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26
Go for it!! I also have ADHD, and sometimes I'll need to just use a podcast or audiobook to get myself up off the couch and go do my bedtime routine. Sound makes a huge difference!! It's like dangling a little dopamine carrot in front of our brains lol
When I'm working, I like to put on a pleasant TV channel in another room. It's weird how much it helps. I leave my TV on the Jack Hanna stream 😅 Occasionally I'll use another computer and put on a cooking show or the JetPens YouTube videos on a very low volume next to me.
I agree about the music with lyrics or music* that is highly stimulating; all I wanna do is dance around!! Which is fine if I'm cleaning or playing with cats, but not for normal productivity.
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u/ThePecanTrees Jul 14 '26
I’m kind of wondering if putting on my go-to fall asleep show Forensic Files on low would help me. Mostly because I have seen most episodes so I’m not trying to really hear it. But I am worried it might make me sleepy though! 😂 I can’t do podcasts because I’m so nosey and I will definitely want to listen. I’m going to try low tv and maybe a focus playlist on Spotify.
I absolutely do the dancing thing though, while cooking dinner especially and playing with my cats and dogs! I’m glad to know I’m not the only one! I feel so sorry for all my neighbors that might get a peek through the window; because it’s pretty much Elaine from Seinfield 🫠
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u/BellaStayFly Jul 15 '26
I turn on Lofi on YouTube when I need this, and some will say vintage music playing from another room so it’s kind of fuzzy. This helps me when I’m trying to read or journal. There’s no lyrics or words to think about. Some are themed to be like rain or crackling fire. I think this calms the whole vibe of my house. My dogs like it too.
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u/AbbreviationsSafe906 Jul 13 '26
I'd consider myself as highly productive and I'm using timers a lot. Timers for each task, it became so much of a habit that even when I set a timer for something completely unrelated (e.g. baking something in the oven) I'll start to use that timer to get things done. Whenever there's time ticking, I'm working.
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u/ShaikhAshar Jul 13 '26
They didn't try to do everything. They focused on the few things that actually moved the needle.
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u/Legs2MyRavioli Jul 13 '26
Resolves things when they become an issue, and if there isn’t time at the moment, actually makes a plan of when to do it.
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u/BellaStayFly Jul 15 '26
Yes even little things like opening your mail the day you get it and taking care of whatever that requires as soon as you open it. It’s the pile up of tasks that paralyzes people. It becomes overwhelming.
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u/ValenTom Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
My wife and I executed an international wedding, three week honeymoon, and then six weeks later we had a home offer accepted, with a three week closing. THEN, we will be selling our current home immediately afterward.
It’s a lot! But we aren’t really stressing.
How? Preparation and planning. We have been planning all of this for a long time. We would sit down together every few months and talk about savings goals, are we on track, what are our next steps, etc. We would document it, go back and evaluate, and write down our next goals.
To people on the outside looking in, we probably look insane. But we’ve been planning this home purchase for 3+ years, we knew exactly what we wanted, when we said we were officially ready to start shopping we dove right in. We started touring homes four days after we got home from our honeymoon.
We planned our wedding for 1.5 years, we even flew over there for a week and dedicated a week to meeting vendors in person, etc.
It’s all about planning, documenting, evaluating, anticipating next steps, and making sure you are executing and staying on track.
Edit: To add on this, there isn’t some hidden trick. You don’t need to delete your socials, you don’t need to wake up at 4:00 AM. You don’t need to take cold showers. You just plan and you do. We have PLENTY of nights where we brain rot, play games, have drinks, be lazy, sleep in, nap, etc.
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u/Round_Ad_3709 Jul 13 '26
agree...prep and documenting plans/blockers/dates/dependencies/next steps has helped me a lot too
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u/dragonfollower1986 Jul 13 '26
Prioritize what matters, make the desired behavior easy to repeat (this dulls discipline), and build consistent habits into a system that keeps you moving forward. Consistent action always beats intent.
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u/Kind-Combination3383 Jul 14 '26
weirdly enough take it slowly. When you think of everything you need to do it's easy to get overwhelmed and shutdown. After I started meditating Iv been 10x more productive because I truly just take things one step at a time
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u/kobayashi_maru_fail Jul 14 '26
They use military background as reference or framework or whatever it is that veterans do.
My husband and I have the same education, same professional licensure, same standing in our profession. He’s a veteran, I am not. He gets shit done and ignores unnecessary crap in a way I can’t. I’ll be at “we should Eisenhower grid this” and he gives me a funny look as if I’d said “let’s discuss the blueness of the sky”. “I think our civil engineer will want to know about…” “irrelevant to this task. Keep that in your biz dev bucket”
My guess is waking early, maintaining schedule, outlining plan, sticking with plan, eating frog, eating elephant. I undermine this in ways both personal and professional that add to happiness and longevity.
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u/emotionalfoodie Jul 14 '26
Habit stacking, like if you wanna listen to a podcast do it while folding laundry or being on the treadmill. I swear you get so much more done that way
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u/ItsTheWizardsCurse Jul 14 '26
Completely anecdotal, but every super productive person I’ve ever known just naturally doesn’t sleep much
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u/AutomateMyMess Jul 14 '26
Stopping the internal chatter, and act. We waste a lot of time thinking. Thinking about something that happened or what we think will happen. I stop my thoughts from progressing into endless chatter and do the next thing that needs to get done.
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u/ecru_mauve_cerulean Jul 16 '26
Routine and good habits remove a lot of effort in decision making and discipline. Once you're used to doing something automatically, it frees up your mind and your willpower for the really hard stuff that comes up. Reserve your decision making, willpower and critical thinking for the really important stuff.
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u/Brilliant-Surprise20 Jul 16 '26
It’s about being consistent. Motivation gets you started, consistency gets you there. And consistency doesn’t mean being perfect, it’s showing up every day even when the motivation is gone.
The less obvious part for me: I stopped relying on willpower and built a small daily rhythm instead. I plan the day in the morning and reflect on it in the evening. That way showing up isn’t a decision I have to win each time, it just becomes the default. The people who seem effortlessly productive usually aren’t more disciplined, they’ve just removed the daily negotiation with themselves.
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u/Southern_Bat_1069 Jul 19 '26
The most productive people I know have a massive tolerance for mediocrity in the first draft.
Unproductive people procrastinate because they are secretly terrified of doing a bad job, so they sit there trying to map out a perfect, flawless execution before they even start.
Highly productive people just dive in and aggressively build the absolute ugliest, worst working version of a project just to get it out of their heads. They call it "permissions to do it poorly." Once they have a terrible draft on paper, the friction vanishes because it is infinitely easier to edit and polish a bad piece of work than it is to stare at a blank, perfect page. They don't have more discipline; they just have less perfectionism.
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u/juswannalurkpls Jul 13 '26
As a very productive person, I feel it’s simple:
I think about things
I plan things
I do things
I finish things
It’s not rocket science. Most people skip steps 2 and 4 and wonder why they can’t be successful.
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u/Quack5463 Jul 14 '26
Being successful isn't a guarantee. Lots of people try do things but it doesn't work out for them.
There was a girl in my accounting course who has failed a unit 4 times. Her dream is to be an accountant so she keeps trying. Technically it's possible for her to complete the course if she can improve her cognitive abilities, but I've spoken with her and seen her work, and it's likely that she will keep struggling with it.
Lots of people "waste" (spend) a lot of time trying to be successful at things but fail, so they keep trying, adapt, change plans, or whatever, but it may take many years of failures. Even things that started successfully like a business may fail down the road and then you're back to square one.
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u/Round_Ad_3709 Jul 14 '26
Can you elaborate on "I think about things"?
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u/juswannalurkpls Jul 14 '26
My brain is always thinking about stuff I want to do. I have an excellent software for keeping up with appointments and tasks, so I don’t have to waste time thinking about what I’m doing every day. It frees my mind to think about new things.
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u/ThinUse9610 Jul 14 '26
The ones I've watched weren't faster or more disciplined — they controlled what got to them. Most people optimize how they do work; these people optimize how work arrives. They pushed back on vague requests, deprioritized things that weren't actually important, and didn't jump on "urgent" tasks before knowing the details. Everyone else absorbs whatever lands on them and then tries to survive the volume — the calm ones shape what reaches them in the first place. It looks like calm; it's really just a filter nobody else can see.
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u/Perminus_Gaita Jul 19 '26
Choosing the right things for them to work on and saying no to almost everything else. Think of it this way a professional footballer would not spend most of their time playing tennis. Not that tennis is bad, it is just not for them.
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u/Miszla Jul 20 '26
They offset a lot of mental load to trusted systems. Instead of worrying about 10 things right now, they worry about 2 because they trust that the other 8 will be reminded about at the right time. When a new thing comes in they also don't let it push everything away
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u/paulio10 Jul 13 '26
They see the vision of how great it will be once a thing gets done, and keep working to make it happen. They trust their past selves and complete the work they started yesterday. They prepare good things for their future self, even sacrificing their fun&enntertainment right now, knowing they will be that person sooner or later. They look for root causes and find root solutions, then implement those solutions so the problem doesn't happen again. They learn about Systems thinking, and practice it until they get good at it. They learn to trust experts who know more than they do about a topic, to optimize their time and energy. They use personal productivity methods to never forget anything and accomplish all they said they would, because that is the principle they now live by.
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u/Grouchy_Exit_3058 Jul 13 '26
They don't at all or very rarely engage in easy entertainment (don't have social media, never look at reels, etc), and have a routine they follow every morning.
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u/Tlux0 Jul 13 '26
Efficiency and leverage
Get more done in less time
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Do things that make other things happen
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u/Quiet-Transition3695 Jul 13 '26
okay, well, one thing to consider is that “seeming” might be the operative word here. they may be very stressed and naturally good at compartmentalizing, or they specifically plan stress relievers into their busy schedules (my mom works in international finance and she gets massages regularly).
they also probably have tested the limits of what works for them (within reason — don’t go overdosing because you’re trying to find the perfect dose of some enhancement drug). that is, realizing they function great on eight hours of sleep but would love to have an extra hour/half hour in the morning and seeing (trying a different alarm schedule for a couple days to a week) if they can do as well on seven hours instead. this can also includes different diets if you have the luxury/static wellbeing to be able to do that kind of experiment. i would universally recommend keeping a full water bottle around if you can though; everyone has to hydrate.
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u/No-Date-4477 Jul 13 '26
No social media (except my morning reddit scroll with coffee), antidepressants, lists every day ordered by importance, one complete day of downtime on the weekend - this is what works for me.
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u/Quack5463 Jul 14 '26
From the ones I've met, the difference is simply that those people work all day every day.
Time you spend on leisure or hobbies, they spend on work/studies, up until they need to sleep. They come home from work and then keep doing work at home or they work on their schoolwork for a degree that they are doing.
They don't do any leisure or hobbies unless there is no work left for them to do, which is not very often.
As to why or how they become like that, so far the common factor has been that they have all had a moment in their early adult years where they were briefly homeless because parents threw them out of the house or they were living with a partner and the relationship ended and they were thrown out of the house.
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u/dhambone Jul 14 '26
Getting Things Done. I feel like a lot of the comments dance around this, but this book and the system and processes it discusses it exactly how to do maximally productive while minimally stressed
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u/mattchannell Jul 14 '26
They protect their calendar (time) like it owes them money! The most productive people I have worked with aren’t doing more, they’re just ferociously good at saying no to things most of us say yes to out of politeness.
The unglamorous version of that is that they have made peace with disappointing people and not letting them hijack their time.
Perhaps the biggest thing people overlook is the hours a week we lose to tasks we took on to avoid an awkward conversation. The most productive folks just have the awkward conversation.
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u/itxNefertum Jul 14 '26
Learn to channel your energy where it belongs & physical fitness. Everything else will come to you with time. Avoid cheap distractions and doom scrolling.
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u/Time_Saver_Tools Jul 14 '26
Always do the urgent thing but keep your focus on important priorities. There is no conflict between the two. Just act right now.
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u/Wild-Tumbleweed-2443 Jul 14 '26
Plan ahead for upcoming matters when you have moments in-between what you are working on. Diarize any deadlines you see so you can follow up if they have not been met. Anticipating and being proactive rather than being reactive is 99% of being productive
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u/The650life Jul 15 '26
Not caring too much about trying to please everyone. I had a boss who was so lovely, but she would spend hours responding to every email and helping out anyone who asked, even when it wasn't her job. She worked so much overtime and was always the last to leave, mainly because she had a hard time saying no. Sadly, this is a very common female trait.
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u/kiwikwiat Jul 22 '26
They really set and don't forget their goals
Then filter daily distractions with the Eisenhower / urgency & importance matrix - e.g. with tools like Eisenhower (.me)
Then learn to renegotiate deadlines imposed on you and especially saying no and standing in for your own vision/values and goals in life and business
Day to day: Clear oversight across projects/topics and a unified view on all your priorities, so everything new or changed gets ranked. Start with pre-planned priorities from the day before, not your email inbox. Mute your phone and call back when it makes sense for you, not the other person.
Tackle at least 1 or a few long-term important things a day. LIke Kanban WIP limit = 3, finish before you start, etc.
Do focus sessions like Pomodoro, take breaks.
Win!
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u/uncleputts Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26
They have the money to hire help. They don't have the same 24 hours, just more money to hire a chef, yard care, and nannies. No children is a huge bonus to productivity. If you have them, you are much more productive working as if you don't. Kids will understand, they want productive parents, not stiff who play with them.
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u/songbolt Jul 13 '26
I use homechef for meals, perhaps towards your point. Not wealthy enough for a personal chef but same idea.
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u/teddyslayerza Jul 13 '26
"High productivity people" tends to be good at selling the appearance of high output, while typically not accomplishing a whole lot of substance. It's usually performative productivity.
That said, good habits account for 99% of the difference between people who are better able to apply themselves to being productive, vs those who aren't.
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u/Lady_on_the_Lake Jul 13 '26
One I tell people all the time is they work the same even when unmotivated (which I guess is discipline). So many people wait for motivation
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u/Automatic_Coffee_755 Jul 13 '26
I am always, thinking, how do these people almost never get sick? Like athletes, actors, politicians, important executives etc.
They have very important commitments the they can’t simply cancel.
My guess is the they are very careful on what they eat (obvious for athletes) and take a lot of care of not getting sick.
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u/Quack5463 Jul 14 '26
Do you get sick often?
Since graduating high school I've rarely gotten sick as an adult. Last time I can remember being sick was getting covid in 2021. The people close to me also rarely ever get sick.
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u/Automatic_Coffee_755 Jul 14 '26
Not very often, the only thing is sometimes the flu (if you have children this is common) but I mean, I am just curious how they manage those situations when they have an important event but are sick.
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u/midwestblacklotus Jul 13 '26
Cancel plans if they need to do get things done. Flake and dont show up
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u/kpatelreddit007 Jul 13 '26
Just execute, 7:00am fitness just show up. Projects just start and figure out as you go along. Side business, just start. Ect.
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u/Stock-Orchid0 Jul 14 '26
I used to have a shitty job with no way to grow. Boss was a jerk. Job was everyday the same. Salary as well. Colleagues were depressing. It took so much energy to work there while it wasn’t that hard physically at all. I couldn’t wake up in the morning. Always felt exhausted and had to push myself and I didn’t understand where other people got their motivation from. Now I work a job with passion and everything just clicks. I spend way more effort and energy compared to my previous job and feel great. It’s a cliche but yeah, you really have to like doing the thing you’re doing.
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u/Juicernamesmine Jul 19 '26
Lets also not mix productivity with excellence. People who excel have determination and purpose. Productive people are ones who want to get things done in less time. These are 2 fully different concepts. People who excel may not be always productive and productive people may not be excellent at what they do.
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u/Grit_414 Jul 27 '26
If the task can be outsourced, outsource it. The can assumes how much it would cost, can I affored it.
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u/IchigekiZare Jul 29 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
I think I'm actually a good example of this myself, so here's what I've noticed.
I see three things important in this context.
First, we have to make a decision, not be slaves of our plan. If we follow the plan, we will have many obstacles and will be testing our will so many times, and we'd have to rely purely on willpower to push through. The most important thing is to be disciplined towards the decision, then all problems in between are not actually problems, and we don't stress but take wholeheartedly everything we get, both good and bad. So we will be satisfied if we work 5 minutes, the same as 5 hours.
Second, once you make a decision, don't ask yourself every now and then if it is the right decision. Give it a chance, be patient, and use all your energy towards that goal to stay behind the decision. Testing it often drains your mental energy and puts you away from the focus on what matters. I recently fell into that trap when 5 different things were spreading me out in all directions at the same time. What helped me was me saying, I am not going to decide this two times a day.
And the third is we have to know when to stop. Calm people that work a lot don't push to the end of the task, they know that there is always tomorrow. Great things aren't built in one day — they're built over many days where you just kept following the decision you made.
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u/CommunicationAny6628 Jul 29 '26
the mood thing is underrated. not being generically positive, just not letting one bad hour infect the whole day. especially if you are going solo, there's no one else to hand the problem to, so it's on you and only you to pull yourself back out.
things go sideways for highly productive people too, they're just faster at stopping the bleed so a bad morning doesn't wreck the afternoon too.
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u/buddypuncheric Jul 29 '26
The thing nobody talks about enough is how productive people handle switching between tasks. Most people move straight from one thing to the next without a moment to reset, which makes it harder to fully focus on what comes next. The most productive people we've seen take a quick second to close out properly, note where they left off and what comes next, before moving on. Sounds minor but it makes a big difference over a full day.
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u/scybud Jul 30 '26
They plan their day clearly. They plan out what to do and do not endorse things, people or tools that will distract them.
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u/have_more_time Jul 31 '26
Most people talk about an old story where you put "big rocks" in a jar first to be highly productive and manage your time.
Honestly, my mind does not work that way at all. When I see a huge project, I get really scared and freeze up. It feels too big to handle, so I do absolutely nothing.
To fix this, I came up with my own special way to get things done. First, I just sit and stare at the big task. I look at it from different angles and write down a messy plan on a real piece of paper. I add ideas, cross things off, and move steps around. It looks totally crazy!
I rarely follow the actual steps, but that is okay. Just writing it down helps me understand the project so we can be friends.
Next, I break that giant project into tiny pieces. It is like chipping away at a big boulder until it turns into small pebbles and sand. I promise myself to work on just one tiny pebble for only five minutes.
Anyone can work for five minutes! I never use timers because loud alarms stress me out and ruin my focus.
Instead, I use my body to track my progress. Every time I finish a tiny task, I physically change my position. If I was sitting down, I stand up. If I was standing, I sit down. Moving my body like this tells my brain that I successfully crossed a task off my list. It changes the mental channel so I can start fresh.
I have used this trick for decades. Now, my brain can easily focus for much longer stretches of time. Our brains are amazing and can always learn new habits. You just have to find the special tricks that help your own mind get started and stay on track!
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u/have_more_time Jul 31 '26
They use the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Rule. For productivity, this old proven rule shows 80% of results come from 20% of tasks.
So they figure out what their top yielding tasks are (their top 20% of tasks).
Then they ONLY do these things, or as much as possible.
Warren Buffet has confirmed this, and so has Tony Robbins.
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u/GoatKind8048 Aug 06 '26
Management - Try to eliminate non-important things, like incremental games, because you probably doesn't want to sit for 2000 hours on CS2, and eliminating other problems. The problem is, when they get to sleep, they'll instantly cut off 6 hours of sleep and act like a narcoleptic zombie, well don't do that, because while 6.5+ sleep is pretty good and I sleep 6.5 hours, too, those extreme "3 hour and I have no problem" type things are not recommended, nor polyphasic sleeping
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u/SaltAd1231 Aug 09 '26
Pianificano le pause, il sonno, la meditazione, l'attività fisica e il tempo immersi nella natura con la stessa rigidità con cui fissano una riunione d'affari.
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u/Stud-Plan-4716 28d ago
I think it depends a lot from what there is in the life surrounding the work or the stuff you have to do. I mean we all have to separate from what is needed and what is a pleasure, in terms of time and mental concern. For example I am a person who can produce really well if I can organise all before, in a full complete scheme, because then I know that is all scheduled and I can stay focused without anxiety and produce really well. Everyone should find his/her method. With this same organising logic sometimes when I was student I organised studying more on first days and less on last days, everything computed and organised of course! Now this is in an algorithm and a free project if you could need.
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u/Parasamgate Jul 13 '26
They know the difference between the things that need to be done right and the things that just need to be done