About 6 years ago, I wrote an article about my search for maximizing productivity. It's funny to read this back now as so many things have changed in both my personal and work life. Back then, I was working 9 to 5 leading a team of developers and my main goal was to find more time to work on launching a startup idea.
Well, I am so over that and here's why.
First off, I ended up quitting my full-time job towards the end of 2013.
Launching my own company was probably the scariest thing I have ever done and it sure did keep my mind busy for a while. It’s scary to have something work and constantly doubt if it will remain that way.
Leaving the agency world also removed a lot of noise about the startup hub and, let’s be honest, comparing myself to others on a daily.
Things became quiet around me.
So What Is Productivity For Nowadays?
I’ve been running my own company for more than 4 years now. It feels weird to say, but I’ve become pretty stable with my business even if I don’t work on the same projects ever.
I don’t feel like I need to be productive while doing work. And by that, I mean that I already am. I just do what needs to be done so I respect delays and get paid, eh?
These days and especially this year, I have shifted my goals to not being productive but instead, having a productive life.
Productive life?
Yeah. I want to get off my ass and do things. You know that feeling when you’ve been running around all day doing both work and personal things and choosing sleep over watching Netflix once you make it home? That’s what I want 80% of the time.
I’m not talking about the "I’ll sleep when I’m dead" way of life though. My health is still my number one priority and you can bet I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
But instead of watching all the shows on a grey day, I want to be out with other humans experiencing something nice, or uncomfortable even! Just as long as it helps me grow. I’ve been really craving this for the first time in my life and that’s one good thing I got from the roughest breakup I had to go through.
3 Practices I’m Currently Doing To Up My Productivity
1. Meditation
I’ve been meditating on & off for at least five years. Vancouver last summer, was probably my longest streak with a daily five-minute session every morning.
For the past 10 days, I have finally incorporated meditation back into my daily routine. This week, I was able to easily reach 15 minutes per day and I love it.
It’s crazy how great it feels but how easy it was to find a reason to not do it before. I really got the drive from becoming friends with an amazing person who has been practicing it for years.
Meditation brings me back to a good place.
Current practice: I usually do ten minutes in the morning before starting my day and five minutes at one point in the evening.
2. Living Somewhere Else
Well, that’s nothing new if you know me but it’s so important for me to travel no matter what.
I find Montreal quite miserable during the winter, especially for its lack of sun which controls my mood sadly.
In the summer, I always want to be out and see people because it just feels lame to stay home. I found that it’s important for me to leave at one point during the winter to get that drive back and be outside all the time to gather new experiences.
Current practice: I’m leaving in ten days for South East Asia. I’ve been planning to visit this area for years but it always intimidated me and the length of travel time turned me off. I finally decided to do it no matter what and will be there for six weeks.
3. Fasting
The subject of Intermittent Fasting has been present on the blog for easily 18 months.
It’s become something natural to me and after so long, I was able to confirm it didn’t affect my health in any negative ways including not messing up my monthly period.
It’s funny how a lot of friends still get freaked out when I tell them I fast most of the day. If I were eating six times a day, nobody would say a thing but the contrary seems unacceptable in a society where everything is exaggerated.
Snacks were invented by marketing agencies to sell more processed food between meals and breakfast has been pushed forever by the grain & dairy industries. Anyway, I can go on with this.
Fasting has helped me simplify my days as I don’t have to stop working or move a training session because of food anymore. I have all day to get what I need done and then I eat, and it’s glorious ;)
Current practice: On most days, I fast a minimum of 20 hours a day and eat one big meal in the evenings. On some days, I get back to a 16/8 schedule with two meals over 8 hours. Those days happen mostly when I have lunch or brunch plans with someone so I don’t miss out on those.
—
I could go on with more practice as part of my weekly routine like working out or journaling! I also have a few things in mind I want to try in the next few months.
It’s super exciting and truly empowering to work on becoming a better version of myself and sharing what works or not. My birthday is exactly in six months and one day so expect an update on what makes it or not.
I hope this encourages you to try new things if you are open to that. As a bunch of cool peeps keep saying around me this month:
Live your best life 🙏