It’s a common misconception that you can increase your productivity by simply managing your time better. In fact, I used to believe that myself. I would try to programme my tasks around the time I had available. When things didn’t get done at the scheduled time, I felt tired and frustrated. I was missing something crucial.
The answer came to me when I read Chris Bailey’s “The Productivity Project”. Time is merely the backdrop to productivity; true productivity lies in the management of your energy and attention.
Join me as we explore key takeaways from “The Productivity Project” and discover how to take your productivity to the next level, just as they did for me.
The Energy & Attention Revolution
If you take nothing else away from this post: productivity isn’t just about time management. Yes, time management is a consideration, as time is the backdrop and a finite resource. Every day has 24 hours, and our mortality limits the number of days we have.
Instead, we should focus on managing our energy and attention levels. These naturally rise and fall throughout the day, with peaks and troughs varying from person to person. That’s why Chris recommends keeping a diary to track your energy and attention levels at different times of the day.
For me, I tend to hit my peak for both energy and attention around 10:00, experience a dip in the afternoon, and often get a smaller peak in the early evening around 19:00 before declining again.
During the working week, I try to schedule tasks that require more attention and energy for the morning, when I have the most of both. In the afternoon, I focus on easier, less demanding tasks.
In the evenings, I aim to work on my blog until 21:00 at the latest. After that, I work on my notes or read, as I find these activities almost restful.
During the weekends, I aim to do my content creation in the morning when I’m at my peak. During the week, I don’t normally have the ability to do this, so I try to meet my minimal target for writing, which currently stands at 100 words, as I can really feel the difference when I don’t.
In fact, the paragraph above was one of those paragraphs. Thankfully, I will get to edit this post during the weekend.
The importance of rest in productivity
Once you realise that the key to better productivity is managing your energy and attention, you can see why rest is so important.
There are many so-called productivity gurus who urge you not to rest or relax, but you need it to recharge. Do the things you enjoy, be it computer gaming, watching television, or going for a walk. And most importantly, sleep well. It isn’t just good for your health, but also for your productivity.
As well as recharging your energy and attention during these periods of rest, you’ll also likely encounter a third benefit: a flash of inspiration or a fresh perspective that bubbles up from nowhere. Your conscious mind was at rest, but your subconscious mind was still working.
Mastering your maintenance tasks
Maintenance tasks are those essential tasks that we must do to live our lives or carry out our work. These tasks offer little in achieving our long-term objectives, yet they need to be done. We’re talking about tasks like washing your clothes, making your bed, or mowing the lawn.
Most maintenance tasks require little in the way of energy or attention and should, therefore, be done when you are not at your most productive.
You want to work them around those essential tasks that will move you closer to what you want to achieve with your life.
Small changes have a big impact
Habits might not have a noticeable impact immediately, as each action seems small. But the compounding effect will have a significant impact on our life over the long term, measurable in years. This is taken from a note I made after reading James Clear’s “Atomic Habits”
This idea has been reinforced by other books I’ve read over the last five years. In particular, “Mind Management, Not Time Management” by David Kadavy really highlighted the importance of cultivating a writing habit.
As a result, I try to write at least 100 words every day. It’s not always possible, but I manage it most days, and sometimes I find myself writing far more.
If I write 100 words a day, that’s 700 words a week, or 35,200 words a year. That pretty much ensures I hit my writing targets for my blog or newsletter. I’ll link to our sign-up page if you’re interested.
From “The Productivity Project”, I’ve tried to develop several habits, some with more success than others:
- Drink more water. I aim to drink more water every day. Specifically, while working at home, by getting myself a mug of water in the late morning and again in the late afternoon instead of having a cup of tea. I also try to limit myself to one cup of tea in the evenings.
- Regular exercise. This is a conscious attempt to try and be a bit more active. I take my dog out twice a day. He does a lot of sniffing around, so when I go out for other things, I try to walk with more pace. I don’t think I’m doing enough, but it has helped.
- Rest and sleep. This is the habit I struggle with the most. I try to stop doing whatever I’m doing at 22:00 during the week and start my bedtime routine, with the aim of going to bed at around 23:00. I find it difficult to stick to the 22:00 and 23:00 times. However, I do stick to my bedtime routine, and it does help me to unwind and quickly drift off to sleep. I will keep working on this habit, as even this small success is better than none.
Calculating the value of your time and delegating tasks
How much would you spend to buy back an hour of your life? This is a question you should ask yourself regularly. That’s the note I created after reading “The Productivity Project” by Chris Bailey. It’s a question all of us should ask ourselves, as it will help you to prioritise what is important for you.
You want to cut the time you spend on things that you have little interest in but still need to do, while concentrating on the things that matter.
This change of mindset, brought on by this book, has helped me to subscribe to tools that help me, such as Readwise, which powers my Personal Knowledge Management system stack, which I have recently written about.
Another more recent example is my recent subscription to Obsidian Copilot, which has helped me to streamline my publishing and social media promotion routine at a better quality, helping me to free up my time and concentrate on the tasks I’m most passionate about: writing my content and learning about the world around me.
Conclusion
If you don’t remember anything else, remember that productivity is about managing your energy and focus. A key part of any productivity strategy is to ensure that you get enough rest.
Lastly, Chris wrote this book out of doing experiments he carried out from his project and that in itself is a lesson I think we all need to learn from my productivity and knowledge management systems that have improved over the years due to my ongoing experimenting. Which I share on my blog. Stay updated with our latest content by signing up for our newsletter.
Further Reading
- “The Productivity Project” by Chris Bailey
- “Mind Management, Not Time Management” by David Kadavy
- Unleashing Creativity: A Deep Dive into “Mind Management, Not Time Management” by David Kadavy
- “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
- From Information Overload to Knowledge Powerhouse: Building Your Personal Knowledge Management Stack