Productivity
Compound growth gets discussed as a financial concept, but it works in careers as well, and it is magic. A small productivity gain, compounded over 50 years, is worth a lot. So it’s worth figuring out how to optimize productivity. If you get 10% more done and 1% better every day compared to someone else, the compounded difference is massive.
What you work on
Work on the right direction before moving fast! It doesn’t matter how fast you move if it’s in a worthless direction.
Make a stand The most impressive people I know have strong beliefs about the world, which is rare in the general population. If you find yourself always agreeing with whomever you last spoke with, that’s bad. You will of course be wrong sometimes, but develop the confidence to stick with your convictions. It will let you be courageous when you’re right about something important that most people don’t see.
You can only be productive on things you care about. Leave enough time in your schedule to get inspiration about what you should work on
Around with smart people to push you I love being around people who push me and inspire me to be better. To the degree you're able to, avoid the opposite kind of people—the cost of letting them take up your mental cycles is horrific.
Prioritization
3 Pillars
- Make sure to get the important shit done
- Don’t waste time on stupid shit
- make a lot of lists
Make lists of what you want to accomplish each year, each month, and each day. A list helps you with multitasking without the effort to remember all the things in your head. It also allows you to quickly switch to other tasks you want to do when you are not in the mood to work on the current task. (As you don't have the mood to take a shit, you can work on something else.)
Don't be trivial about categorising tasks, instead prioritize in a way that generates momentum. Try to work on something each day you can make progress on.
(Extreme) Be ruthless about saying no to stuff, as saying yes to unimportant things takes away from what really matters. Doing non-critical things in the quickest way possible.
According to Sam Altman meetings are best scheduled for 15-20 minutes, or 2 hours.
Value you time Try not to be a type of person who makes 20.
Divide your day into different session to work on different tasks based on your level of productivity
Don’t fall into the trap of productivity porn—chasing productivity for its own sake isn’t helpful Working on the right problem stead of squeezing out every second to work on the wrong thing.
Other tips
Interesting points which I want to verify
From other productive people
- Focus completely for 2-4 hours daily on higher priorities, avoiding contact switch and social media apps.
- You want your work to be a slow burn, not a heavy lift
- Do one thing at a time, accepting that not all priorities are equally important and multitasking can lead to subpar work.
- Filter news and information from industry experts to determine what is important and what is noise.
- Focus on tasks that are exclusive to oneself, and delegate tasks that others can do better to maximize efficiency and productivity.
- Leave some time for personal development, such as reading or trying new activities, as it can lead to unexpected opportunities in the future.
From Sam Altman
- I wrote custom software for the annoying things I have to do frequently, which is great.
- I also made an effort to learn to type really fast and the keyboard shortcuts that help with my workflow.
- I generally try to avoid people and situations that put me in bad moods, which is good advice whether you care about productivity or not.
- It can be beneficial to slightly overcommit oneself to tasks, as it can increase efficiency and help avoid distractions. However, overcommitting significantly can have disastrous consequences.
Don’t neglect your family and friends for the sake of productivity—that’s a very stupid tradeoff (and very likely a net productivity loss, because you’ll be less happy).