You're Not as Productive as You Think

QUOTE OF THE DAY

YOU’RE NOT AS PRODUCTIVE AS YOU THINK

385 Words | 1 Min 13 Sec Read

What do you consider to be productive?

Is it reading books? Listening to podcasts? Watching educational videos or David Goggins edits?

What you consider ‘productive’ may not be as productive as you think.

Productivity is defined as ‘the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.’

Notice how it says'measured in terms of the rate of output...’, in other words, measured by the result of the action taken.

There is a time and a place for learning and absorbing knowledge that propels you forward; that can’t be argued, as without learning, you can’t evolve.

However, real, tangible progress lies in action.

Your addiction to learning and absorbing without translating it into action is preventing you from actually creating any kind of result.

You see, endless research and analysis might feel like progress to you, but it’s leading you to what's known as analysis paralysis, leaving you with a lot of information but no clue what to do with it, which is as useful as not having the information in the first place.

This is quite the opposite of being productive because here you have spent the time to learn and educate yourself, but you end up having nothing to show for it.

There is, however, a way to end this cycle of endless consumption.

For every piece of new, valuable information, you must try to integrate it into your life.

Stop mindlessly listening to podcasts, but instead listen to them with a paper and pen at your side so that you can jot down the information that you deem valuable and implement it where necessary.

Stop trying to speed up. Run through as many books as you can as if it were a measure of your intelligence, but instead don’t move onto the next chapter until you’ve implemented what you learned in the previous one.

Applying what you learn is as crucial as acquiring the knowledge itself.

ACTIONABLE NEXT STEPS:

Ask yourself the question, “Am I truly taking action, or am I drowning in the sea of endless learning?”

If you don’t have anything to show for the content you’re consuming or the books that you’re reading, then you need to re-evaluate how and why you’re consuming these things in the first place.

LESSON OF THE DAY ⤵️

The solution is similar to the topic that we have covered in today's edition.

Your best bet is to actually limit your consumption and do more with what you have.

Think about it: if you were stuck on a desert island with 1000 books to read, you would take a little from each book, but if you just had one, you would know every word of that book and be able to take much more action with it.

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