The productivity advice that will actually improve your life — Chris Bailey: Full Interview

[0:00] My name is Chris Bailey and I'm the author of Intentional How to Finish What You Start and [0:05] Hyperfocus. Chapter 1. Intentionality and How It Shapes Our Goals. There's a lot of productivity [0:19] advice out there, but for every minute you spend reading about it or listening to somebody talking [0:26] about it or watching some video about somebody talking about it, you have to make that time back [0:31] and then some. And not all productivity advice falls into that category. A lot of it's just fluff, [0:38] a lot of it's kind of, you know, stuff that sounds good in theory, but doesn't really hold water in [0:44] practice. And what I've found is that the best advice, it tends to come rather predictably from [0:50] a few places. The first is the research. It's the academic literature about human performance, [0:57] especially in the workplace. But there's also the experimental aspect. So I love using myself as [1:03] almost a human guinea pig so that I can push on the limits of what I'm able to accomplish mentally [1:10] and physically each and every day. So these experiments have spanned the gamut from working [1:16] 90-hour weeks to watching 300 TED Talks in a week to meditating for 35 hours over the course of a week, [1:23] all to push on these boundaries and get to the bottom of what's the secret to being productive. [1:31] And since I can remember, I've always had the same answer, which is that being more productive [1:35] is a process of becoming more intentional about how we spend our time, our attention, [1:42] and our energy, which I see as the three ingredients of productivity. [1:46] When it comes to the goals that we attain, intention matters more than any other factor [1:56] in determining whether we'll attain our goals. You know, there's that quote from Wayne Gretzky where [2:02] we miss a hundred percent of the shots we don't take, even though there's a one to five percent [2:08] probability of us scoring. And intention is the same way, right? There's the saying that the road [2:13] to hell is paved with good intentions. But yet, but yet, whenever we do find ourselves having achieved [2:21] something that we set out to do, there was always an intention behind it. This is pictured beautifully, [2:29] I think, in the intention stack. The different layers of intention that are in our life are almost [2:36] stacked on top of one another. At the top here, you'll see our values, right? Which are these broader, [2:42] deeper motivations that we have in our life. Values sit at the top of the intention stack [2:48] for a big, big reason. They're the ultimate intentions that we're after in our life. [2:56] Underneath that are the priorities that we have, right? Becoming healthier, make more money, [3:02] whatever the priorities might look like. Then we have our goals, our traditional goals, which are these [3:08] broader stories, narratives of change that we're driving forward in our life. Beneath our goals, [3:17] you'll see our plans, right? The plans that make our goals a reality. And then finally, at the bottom, [3:26] we have our present intentions. So, for example, maybe you have a goal of running a marathon, [3:33] but that might lead to certain plans that you have further down the intention stack, [3:37] which might be run this number of miles or kilometers this week. And then that might flow [3:44] into the present intentions, the daily intentions that you have to go for a run after lunch today. [3:51] But when you look up the intention stack, you'll see that the goal that you have to run a marathon, [3:56] it can fit with your priorities and your values as well. So, it might fit with the priority of [4:02] becoming healthier, for example. It might fit with your broader value of accomplishment. And so, [4:08] this completes the full stack of what this goal means to you. It's not just about the goal. It's [4:16] about what the plans are that the goal leads to and the daily actions that it will lead to as well. [4:21] It's about the priorities that it fits with, the broader values that are in your life that it fits [4:27] with, too. And so, we need all of these different layers of intentionality. A goal is not enough. We [4:35] need our values. We need our daily actions as well. And in this way, a goal becomes the route that our daily [4:45] actions can take to connect with who we are. So, we don't always achieve our intentions. But when we do [4:52] achieve something, there was intention behind it. And that's why intentionality is so critical to shape. It's [4:59] a skill that we can get better at. We can incrementally improve our ability to shape our intentions, to deepen our [5:08] intentions, to align them with the values that we have, to overcome the aversion that we have to doing them, to beat the [5:17] procrastination that leads us to put them off. And best yet, over time, we can make them more aligned with our [5:24] values and who we are. One of the things that surprised me about the nature of intentionality going deep into the [5:33] research on it is that there's two types of intentions. So, an intention at a fundamental level is just a plan that we will do [5:42] something. When you think about it, we set plans both deliberately, thoughtfully, but we also set them just out of [5:50] default on autopilot mode as well. So, the default intentions that we have are embedded within us. There are habits, in [5:58] other words. So, you know, we're laying down in bed, and our phone wakes us up, and so we bounce around between a stable of [6:05] apps. There is a certain part of us that sets a plan to do the next thing, even though it's just a response to [6:14] what happened before, to a certain set of conditions that came before. So, the two types of intentions, default and [6:21] deliberate. The more deliberate intentions that we set, the more we choose where to go. And we often also have [6:29] these moments of awakening that happen in our day. So, take the scenario where you're laying down in bed, you're [6:38] swiping around between apps on your phone on default intention, driven forward by that habit energy. Eventually, there [6:47] will come a point where it's like, okay, time to put the phone down. What do I want to do now? What do I actually [6:54] want to get out of this day? Do I want to make myself an omelet and then read a book? Do I want to, [7:02] you know, get a coffee and then go to work? Do I want to, you know, say hi to the kids? Do whatever [7:07] it might be. We set an intention when we snap out of that default mode and enter into that deliberate mode, [7:15] and we choose where to go forward. This is why one of the most meaningful questions you can ask yourself [7:22] is what is the most meaningful thing I could be doing right now in this moment. You know, [7:28] we have all these different currencies that we try to optimize for in our lives without even realizing [7:34] it. So we're at work and we're optimizing for accomplishment and productivity. We get home and [7:40] we optimize for meaning, you know, extracting more meaning out of the experiences that we have. [7:45] And so intention is such that we often need to take one step back before we decide where we wish [7:53] to move forward. And I think that's the key to keep in mind. If you're wanting to make more meaningful [7:59] memories at home, take that step back and really consider what is the most meaningful thing that I [8:05] could be doing next after I'm done with this current thing. Should I pick up the phone and call a friend that [8:11] I haven't connected with in a while? Should I just give my wife or husband a hug? You know, whatever it [8:17] might look like. There are a thousand potential futures that we could have at work, at home. Sometimes we have [8:23] to just work within the autonomy that we do have, which is constrained often. But when we do have that [8:29] ability to actually take charge and choose where we go, that is the time to root ourselves down and really [8:37] decide thoughtfully, what do I want that will make me more productive or allow me to extract more meaning [8:44] out of my next experience. So every intention has a different source, duration, strength, and depth. [8:55] So first of all, we have the source. The beautiful thing about intentionality is our intentions come from a [9:04] whole host of places. Some of them, this deep rooted conditioning that we have and others more deliberate. [9:14] We have these default intentions that are embedded within us because of our biology, for example. So if [9:21] you're on a road trip and you need to stop at a restroom, you set an intention to make a pit stop the next [9:28] chance you get. The social environments we're a part of. We catch the social conditioning that other [9:36] people have. If we join a new company and people there don't love going to the bar after work like [9:43] they did at the previous company, that will inform the intentions that we have. We'll set fewer intentions [9:48] in that direction, maybe become a bit healthier as a result. So we get intentions from our biology, [9:55] the social environments we occupy. We also get intentions from all the lessons we've learned. [10:01] And so maybe we interact with the world in a certain way, and that teaches us a lesson for how [10:06] we should behave. And then we learn to do things differently the next time to not, you know, pick up [10:13] and eat apples off of the grocery store shelf as a child. I now know that as an adult. But we get this [10:20] conditioning from our biology, from lessons we've learned, from the conditioning in our past, [10:25] but there's also the deeper sources of intentionality that we can have as well. Like our self-reflective [10:32] capacity. So every intention has a different duration. So we can have a tiny intention to [10:41] tie our shoelaces before we go for a run, which could be a part of an even greater intention that takes [10:49] place over a longer period of time to run a marathon in a certain amount of time, which could be a part of [10:57] a broader priority in our life to become healthier, which could be a part of a value that could be even [11:05] broader than that, like feeling secure in our body. Personal security is a fundamental human value. [11:12] So we have the source, we have the duration, but we also need the strength of an intention as well, [11:20] which is a function of how much we desire doing the intention minus the aversion that we have to [11:29] doing the intention. So sometimes our desire will far outnumber our aversion. And so we'll be motivated, [11:37] we'll be fired up to do it. But of course that changes over the timeline of goal attainment. And so [11:43] we need to account for aversion in overcoming procrastination. And the final attribute of our [11:51] intentions is their depth. Every intention that we have is connected to a different extent to the values [12:00] that we hold most dear. So my two biggest values happen to be self direction and pleasure. I love [12:07] going my own way. I love sense pleasure, delicious meals, baths, you name it. And so anything that is [12:14] aligned with that feels deep and motivating to me. You know, making the gym like a spa is very motivating [12:21] to me, as is finding an enjoyable, sustainable way of eating very enjoyable to me. But other intentions, [12:28] like, you know, increase cardiovascular fitness after surgery, I had a few years ago, I'm okay, [12:34] don't worry. That's, that requires more motivational energy, there's more aversion embedded within that, [12:43] because it's tougher for me to align that with the deeper goals that I have, though it is possible to [12:48] edit them closer in that direction. So every single intention that you have will have a different depth [12:54] as well. If somebody took just one idea from intentional, it's to really become more deliberate [13:02] about the intentions you set across multiple layers of that intention stack. And so one of my favorite [13:09] ways of doing this is called the rule of three, where essentially we think at the start of the day, [13:15] what three things will I want to have accomplished by the time the day is done? That's it. You only have to [13:21] choose three. And if you love the rule every day, you might want to do it every week too. So every week, [13:28] every Sunday, perhaps, you think, what are the three main things I'll want to have accomplished by the [13:34] time the week is done? So then you can look to your daily intentions when you set them, and you can look [13:40] to your weekly ones and think, how are these going to flow into one another? How can what I bite off every [13:47] day contribute to this broader change that I'm trying to make to my life? And when you set those [13:53] weekly intentions, you can look to your goal inventory, all the goals that you want to achieve [13:59] over a medium, a long time span. And you can see how they align with the goals. Every time you set the [14:07] weekly ones, you can bite off a bit of that goal that you can bring down to earth on that daily level. [14:14] And then when you have the review of the inventory, you can look to your values so you can shape them [14:20] around the kind of person that you are and take advantage of that natural motivating force inside [14:29] of you called your values. And so it's in this way that on a practical tactical basis, each and every day [14:37] are different levels of intentionality in our life can flow into one another. [14:42] So often when we don't follow through with a goal, it's because the goal is misaligned with something [14:57] called our values. And I know what you're thinking. Whenever I hear the term values myself, whenever I [15:06] have heard it, my eyes have kind of glazed over a little bit because there's a lot of advice out there [15:13] about values, how we should connect with our values, embrace our values that isn't rooted in science. [15:21] What comes to mind for me is these cheesy corporate exercises where, you know, somebody will come in [15:28] and they'll give you a list of a hundred different values. And you're supposed to circle the one that [15:33] you find most in. I just want to circle the whole page, you know, everything on there. I like, I love humor. [15:38] I love grace. I love this. I love that. But the research shows there are 12 fundamental human values [15:45] that we all share. Every single one of us has these, but in different amounts. And full credit, [15:52] where credit is due with these values, to Professor Shalom Schwartz, who pioneered the theory of fundamental [15:58] human values in 1992. So the thing to know about our values is our values are our motivational core. [16:10] They are at the core of everything that we want to do and everything we don't want to do. On a very, very basic [16:19] level, we're either compelled to enrich other people or ourselves. That's the first kind of polarity that we have. [16:27] And the second polarity that we have is we either want to conserve things as they are, or we want to improve [16:36] or change things as they are. So we have that basic polarity at the heart of us. We all point in a slightly [16:46] different direction between those. And that creates our values. So our 12 values that we all share in [16:54] different amounts, they blossom out of this fundamental orientation that we have. The first value is [17:03] self-direction, which is going our own way. It's thinking our own thoughts. Stimulation, which is [17:11] novelty. It's excitement. Then we have pleasure. Could be everything from eating a delicious burrito to [17:19] taking a relaxing bath. Achievement, right? Accomplishing things that you're proud of. [17:28] Next up is power, which is having dominance over resources and also other people. And curiously, [17:38] out of all the different values, this one is the lowest, both cross-culturally as well as generally. [17:45] And there is a certain need for it though, too. Every congregation has a priest, for an example. [17:51] Every city has a mayor. So there is this intrinsic structural need for it. Face is the next value, [18:01] which is avoiding humiliation while preserving how you come across to other people. [18:08] Next up is security. And this includes both personal security, but also societal security. [18:15] Tradition. This is loving the norms and customs of the groups that we're a member of. Conformity. [18:25] That's abiding by the expectations that other people have of us. Humility. It is recognizing [18:34] your own significance or some might say insignificance in the grand systems that we're a part of. [18:43] Universalism. Which is protecting the welfare of people and of nature. And finally, [18:49] Benevolence. Which is kindness. It's serving others. We all have some of these values in spades [18:58] and others in very, very low amounts. And knowing which ones are strongest for you, [19:03] You uniquely is one of the most helpful, if not the most helpful thing that you can know in goal [19:12] attainment. So when you look at this list of values, you'll probably find that some of them [19:19] jump out to you. It's like, Oh, that, that is me. That describes me to a T. I am benevolent through [19:24] and through, or I have self-directed through and through, or pleasure is what I'm after in my life, [19:30] whatever it might look like. And then you probably have others that are, you know, [19:36] I don't want that in my, I don't need, you know, for me, I have that reaction to conformity and to [19:43] power. I don't want to have power over any other person ever. I find it awkward. So you can probably [19:50] identify the top two that you have at this point. You know, for me, again, it's self-direction and [19:55] pleasure. Maybe it's benevolence and tradition for you, whatever it might look like. Try to base your [20:02] goals around those values, edit your goals. So they fit with them. There is that next level that [20:09] you can take. There are a lot of scientifically validated values tests because there simply is so [20:15] much research around this theory of fundamental human values. I partnered with Professor Schwartz to [20:21] create one and distribute it to readers of my book, but you don't have to take that. You don't need to [20:26] pay a dime for this stuff because you probably have a lot of intuitive responses within you in that [20:35] self-reflective capacity that you have that tell you which ones are strongest for you. So our values [20:41] shape the intentions we set without even realizing it. So if you find that when you have a bit of downtime, [20:49] for example, you find yourself gravitating to doing certain things, to serving others through your [20:56] value of benevolence, to reading a book because of your value of self-direction, whatever it might look [21:03] like, you'll find that your default intentions are already shaped by your values, right? They work hand [21:11] in hand with one another. But when it comes to setting deliberate intentions, you'll find that what you [21:17] gravitate to will be in line with the things you value. You'll want to double down on the values that you [21:26] already have. And in my view, there are no good or bad or right or wrong values. There definitely are [21:33] certain values that are more conducive to certain goals and to certain situations. And so when a goal is [21:40] something that we are struggling to achieve, it can often be because it's misaligned to the values that [21:48] we have. So if you value self-direction, which is going your own way, but a goal on your list feels like [21:55] you're conforming to somebody else's expectation, you're probably going to rebel against that goal. [22:02] You're not going to want to do it. There's going to be some part of you that feels deep inside of you [22:08] that's like, no, get this goal out of my face. And it's because we have this visceral reaction when something [22:16] isn't aligned with the things that we value. So let's say you have a goal on your list, like write employee [22:23] handbook for the next calendar year. Um, that might actually be a goal that feels like something you have to [22:31] conform to. It fits with that value of conformity. You're not going to want to do that goal. But let's say you [22:37] value, benevolence, kindness, right? You can reframe that goal around benevolence. So instead of write [22:45] employee handbook, it could say, mentor new employees and welcome new employees through the handbook update. [22:54] So it's a simple reframe. It might be the same set of actions that you take to accomplish both goals, [23:01] right? They might look the same from the outside looking in, but to you, they're completely different [23:09] because one is aligned to what you actually care about. The other just feels like something you have [23:15] to do. And so really when a goal sticks, it's because we found a part of it that we can deeply and [23:24] fundamentally connect with. And when a goal hasn't stuck, when it's just kind of something that we've been [23:30] struggling to achieve for a while, that can be a sign that we need to edit the goal so that it's more [23:36] in line with who we are. Maybe we need to see it from a different direction. Maybe we need to experiment [23:41] with it a little bit to, to approach it from a different way, instead of trying to will ourselves [23:47] into some change, you know, lose that body fat, Christopher. It can be more, how do I enjoy this [23:54] process more for myself? How do I make it more pleasurable? And how can I be kinder to myself in [24:00] this process too? They all look like the same thing. That's just embracing who you are and what [24:06] you value. Chapter three, how to follow through on goals. So if intentionality is the key to finishing [24:19] what we start, goals are how we get there. A goal is a story of change that we're trying to make to our [24:27] life. But what a goal is at its core is a prediction. A goal is a prediction of where we [24:35] believe our current and our planned actions will take us. And I don't know if you've ever tried [24:43] predicting the future before, but if you have, you've probably realized just how bad we are at [24:48] predicting the future. We don't know what's around the corner in the world or even in our own lives. [24:54] Sometimes we overestimate how many resources we'll have for a goal, how much time we'll have for a [25:00] goal, but I think about all the new year's resolutions that we set and then reality sinks in. [25:06] So a goal is really a prediction, which often turns into an expectation of what will end up happening [25:13] in our life, which turns into disappointment when it turns out that we can't predict the future, [25:18] which turns into yet another goal that we set. And so goals are really these stories of change [25:25] that we're trying to create. But when we're not careful, they can set us up to feel disappointment [25:31] when we don't predict the future that we're planning for. We get so much wrong about goals. [25:38] And I think a lot of the heuristics that we use to set goals are just these ideas that have circulated [25:45] for a long time that we don't even know where they came from originally anymore. So smart goals come [25:51] to mind for this, where a smart goal, there's a lot of advice out there about smart goals that we should [25:58] set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound. The words mean something [26:05] different depending on who you ask, actually. But the research shows that they don't work. They don't [26:12] actually work. Specific goals often aren't more helpful when we're in the learning stage of a goal. [26:18] And there's redundancy in this criteria as well. So aren't measurable goals also realistic and kind [26:26] of attainable too? So there's redundancy in the criteria. There's criteria that doesn't actually [26:32] matter. And the research shows that there's actually a big amount of quote unquote research [26:39] waste that has been conducted around smart goals. What does work is becoming more intentional [26:46] across every level of our life. From what we do today that allows us to act toward a goal, [26:54] that to what we plan this week that allows us to act toward a goal, to the goal itself, [27:00] to whether that goal is connected with what we value at our deep and fundamental level. [27:07] So there are four steps to goal attainment. Shape a goal into something that you want to do, [27:13] then act on the goal, then edit the goal. And then the final step is to maintain the goal. [27:21] So when it comes to shaping a goal, we need to get two big things right. We need to get the outcome [27:28] that we're after and the process that will get us to that outcome. So for example, learning a new song on [27:36] the piano, right? The outcome for that is to learn the new song on the piano. That's the goal. [27:42] But the process that it takes us to get there is very different than that outcome. It might be [27:48] do this new song for 20 minutes every day this week. So we need both when it comes to a goal, [27:54] the process and the outcome. And we need to set intentions across multiple levels of our life. [28:01] We can't just set these broad goals. We need to think, okay, how am I going to work toward them [28:06] this week and today and this moment? There's a great quote that I love from Annie Dillard [28:13] that kind of relates to this, where she wrote that how we spend our days is of course how we spend our [28:20] lives. And the exact same thing is true with regard to our goals. We need to think about the day-to-day [28:28] with the goals that we set. You know, so many of our goals are sepia-toned fantasies that sound [28:33] incredible on the surface. One that really comes to mind for me is waking up early. [28:38] Now, I love the idea of waking up early, of being this incredible early riser to, you know, [28:47] wake up at five and read the paper and meditate and answer email, do all these things. But whenever [28:53] I integrate this habit into my life, which I love the idea of, I realize just how much I absolutely [29:01] hate this ritual. I have to go to bed when friends want to hang out. I have to do all [29:06] these things in the morning when I have no energy. I'm a night owl at heart. That's when I thrive [29:12] personally. And it just goes to show that so often the idea of a goal is far more attractive than what the [29:21] goal actually looks like in our life on a daily basis. And so mind if any of your goals are sepia-toned [29:30] because how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. I remember when I was first starting with [29:38] looking at process versus outcome goals, and I was really, really against the idea of setting outcome [29:45] goals. I'm not that accomplishment driven in my life. You know, accomplishments never really inspire [29:52] me. I've never been inspired to do these big, audacious things, but I've always loved the process [29:59] of doing them. So, you know, writing a book, for example, I love the process of writing a book. I never [30:06] think about what it might look like in the world, maybe for better or for worse. I'm not sure. I'll have [30:11] to ask my publisher. But what I've realized, though, is outcome goals and process goals, [30:18] if you're against them, they're both two sides of the same coin where we need that broader story of [30:24] change, which is the outcome that we're trying to achieve in our life. But we also need the process [30:30] that'll get us there. So there is a reflection that needs to happen where if you make a list of goals, [30:37] maybe under each of those goals, have the outcome that you're trying to achieve [30:40] and the process that will get you there. Because remember, goals are just a prediction, [30:46] right? They're a prediction of where you believe your current and your planned actions will take [30:50] you. And sometimes your process goals will work. Sometimes they won't. Sometimes something that you [30:55] thought would work incredibly well won't work at all. So I remember when I was learning the piano, [31:02] I downloaded all these apps because I'm kind of a tech nerd at heart. And I would download the apps and [31:09] hook the piano up into the iPad and tell me which keys to play and when. But I found that habit kind [31:17] of fell by the wayside until I hired a piano teacher, which added that layer of accountability [31:24] into the goal. And so sometimes we need to try a lot of process goals out to find the one that actually [31:31] sticks and allows us to make more progress to the outcomes that we have. Next up, act on the goal. [31:40] So something that you'll find when you take a chance to capture all the goals that you're in the middle [31:46] of is some of them will attract you. Some you'll feel just compelled to work on naturally. You'll be [31:53] inspired, motivated to do them. And then you'll have others where you're looking at it and you just have [31:59] this aversion to it, this aversive reaction where a goal just feels ugly. You know, the things that [32:07] you have to do, even though they might prove worthwhile at the end of the day, are not enjoyable [32:14] in the slightest, right? So sometimes the process of doing something will induce aversion. And every [32:21] goal has a different balance of desire and aversion. The interesting thing about desire and aversion [32:29] is they fluctuate incredibly over the span of a goal. Like maybe you want to learn Spanish because [32:36] you're going to Spain. And right after you book the tickets, even though it's six months away, you're [32:41] you're fired up to go on this trip. And so you're learning, you're practicing for an hour every day, [32:47] but then a few weeks go by and that desire that you originally had, it begins to taper off a little bit [32:55] and maybe even gets to that point where that goal is aversive to you. But then fast forward a few [33:01] months and the trip is coming up. It's right around the corner. And so you're inspired. Okay. I'm [33:06] going to learn Spanish again. It's just a few weeks away. Let me get going. Let's go. [33:10] And so goals fluctuate over their timeline. And the interesting thing about aversion is there are [33:19] certain characteristics a task or a goal can have that make it feel ugly to us. And those are whether [33:28] a task is boring, whether it's frustrating, whether it is unpleasant, whether it is unstructured, [33:36] whether it's far away in the future. So the further away a goal is, the less we feel compelled to do it. [33:43] And the final one is when something's meaningless. When something doesn't feel connected with who we are, [33:50] on that deep fundamental human level, which is our values. And so these characteristics of aversion, [33:56] they tend to rear their ugly head when desire tapers off, especially at the start of a goal. [34:04] We too often rely too much on desire to achieve our goals because desire fades, right? Excitement fades [34:13] with a goal. And so we need to, when we set a goal, we can't just look at that excitement at the [34:18] beginning. It's not enough. We can't just rely on the willpower of wanting to achieve it. That won't [34:24] be enough because the time will come when we don't have that willpower, when we don't have the energy to [34:30] expend, and when we just don't want to do it anymore because the conditions of our life aren't right. [34:36] We need to accommodate for both desire, right? Increasing it where we can, surrounding ourselves with [34:42] people who are conducive to achieving a goal, right? If we have a running goal, joining a running club, [34:48] for an example, but taming aversion is critical too. So if you find yourself procrastinating on a goal, [34:57] that's a sign that it's aversive, right? Those six triggers of aversion, they lead us to procrastination. [35:03] I remember talking to one procrastination researcher and writing this book, [35:07] and something that he said to me, put me totally at ease. He said, everybody procrastinates. [35:15] Procrastination is human. Studies show that 15 to 20% of adults chronically procrastinate and about a [35:24] third of students admit to procrastinating chronically as well. Another study surveyed a huge population of [35:30] people and found that 99% of them openly admitted to procrastinating on their goals. And in my opinion, [35:39] that 1% is lying through their teeth. This is a human visceral reaction to something that we just [35:46] don't want to do that trigger the six attributes of aversion. And there's nothing wrong with you if you [35:53] do it. But one tactic that can help immediately if this is something that you fall into is to shrink [35:59] your resistance to something. So let's say you're putting off a meditation practice. So you might [36:05] think, do I want to meditate for 45 minutes today? No. Okay. What about 30? Okay. What about 20? Nope. [36:16] Still no. What about 15? No. What about 10? Yeah, I could do 10. And so you do it for 10. And what you find [36:26] with resistance to doing things is the resistance that we have is almost always stacked at the beginning [36:32] of the task, right? It takes a little bit of time to jump into the cold pool. But once we're in there, [36:38] we warm up very quickly. And our work, our tasks are the exact same way. And procrastination on a [36:46] psychological level is when our intentions fall apart, right? We kick our intention down the street too. [36:54] We'll just deal with it another day. But we can untangle this phenomenon of procrastination [37:03] by using why we procrastinate in the first place, which is those triggers of aversion. [37:09] So if something's boring, for example, can you make a game out of it or have some fun with it? [37:14] If something's frustrating, can you do it over a fancy latte or a beverage of choice? [37:21] If something is far away in the future, can you set milestone goals? Can you bring in an accountability [37:28] partner? So you have that immediate accountability right in the moment, tomorrow, perhaps not six [37:34] months down the line, when you're going to have to run the marathon or actually speak Spanish because [37:39] you're in Spain. So accounting for these triggers is entirely possible to do. One of my favorite ways [37:47] to deal with as many triggers as you possibly can at one time is what I think of as aversion journaling. [37:55] So here's how it works. You give yourself a choice to either do the thing that you want to put off [38:02] or journal about it. That's it. You get the choice between door A or door B. And so you're going to [38:10] want to journal at the start of wanting to put something off. You're going to write about how ugly [38:14] it is, why you don't want to do it, and really untangle a lot of knots with regard to a task. [38:22] So setting a goal is not enough. We need to learn how to edit and improve and change them along that [38:29] timeline of goal attainment. A big sign that you should be editing a goal is you're not doing it [38:36] anymore, right? So the easiest way to tell if something is a priority for you and motivating for [38:42] you is you've done it already. And so if there's a goal on your list that you're not making progress on, [38:49] it could probably benefit from an edit or a revision. Sometimes they're worth dropping entirely. [38:55] And so this is the thing about a goal where a goal is really just a prediction in disguise. [39:02] And so we need to revise our predictions as we get more data, right? So as we get feedback from trying [39:10] out the different goals that are on our plate, we can see what's working, what's not working. We can [39:16] revise the process goals that are associated with a broader outcome that we're trying to achieve in our [39:22] life. Often with the outcome goals that I have, like with losing body fat, like with working out more [39:28] often, I've needed to try a lot of different process goals to find the one that ultimately worked out for [39:34] me. And you're probably going to be the same way. You're going to try out a lot of things and they're [39:41] not going to work. Nothing's going to stick. You're going to be frustrated, but that's the process of [39:46] learning what a goal is about. And so at the start of a goal, you're going to be in that learning mode. [39:52] And so embrace the learning mode, embrace the challenge of finding what will actually stick [39:59] with making progress with a goal and edit the goal continuously as you go forward, as you learn what [40:06] will actually lead you to make more progress. So one of my favorite ways for capturing all the goals [40:12] on my plate is just to make a goal inventory. So a goal inventory is just a list of every single goal [40:18] that you're working towards. And it's remarkable how little we think about all the goals that we're in [40:24] the middle of achieving, right? So we'll be at home and we'll be reminded of the dozen goals that we [40:30] have to do around the house. We'll get to work. We'll open up our email. We'll see reminders of all [40:35] the different projects that we have on our plate. And what this does is it increases the cognitive [40:42] overhead of having goals. And it makes us just, it makes it so our environment is just chock full [40:50] of reminders of all the things we have yet to do, of all the goals that we have yet to achieve. [40:56] And so this is why I love the goal inventory so much is it's a goal list that you review once a week, [41:02] every week. I review mine every single Sunday. And all it is, is it lists out every single goal that [41:08] you have across the different contexts of your life. So I have mine broken down by work is at the top, [41:14] because I have more work related goals. And then home is at the bottom. And I review that once a week, [41:19] and every week I think, okay, what do I want to bite off when it comes to these goals this week? [41:25] What do I have time for? What do I have attention for? What do I have energy for with regard to these? [41:31] And what can I actually slot in in the week ahead? If I have a fitness goal, can I schedule some [41:37] workouts? If I have a goal to develop deeper friendships, can I arrange two coffee shop [41:44] dates with friends this week? Whatever it might look like for you. It's a great way of bringing [41:49] your goals down to that daily level. The final step is to maintain the goals that we have. So this can [42:00] be a challenge. And I find this in my own life, including with things like meditation. So sometimes [42:06] a new habit, like meditation or something, I've been meditating for years, but I find that I go into [42:12] phases in my life where meditation works so well that I stop doing it. And this is true for a lot [42:20] of our goals. Sometimes they work so well that we stop doing them. We take them for granted. [42:26] And so there's this critical maintenance phase when it comes to the goals that we have, [42:33] that we need to embrace more often. If a goal is really important for you, and it isn't some [42:40] project that's a once off that, you know, it's okay. That's done. The reno is finished onto the [42:46] next thing. It's this thing that you want to actively maintain in your life, like meditation, [42:52] set a maintenance goal and add it to your goal inventory. So you can review it regularly. And [42:58] you'll find over time that you'll keep up with it just automatically, because that weekly reflection, [43:04] it won't feel like, okay, I need to figure out what I'm going to bite off with every goal this week. [43:09] It feels like a pat on the back because you've done such a good job of achieving the goal. And [43:15] now you're in that maintenance phase. Sometimes you do need a little bit of a course correction [43:20] when you do that goal review, but you'll probably find that when you've gotten to that point of goal [43:25] attainment, when you're onto that maintenance phase of a goal, it'll feel more like a pat on the back [43:30] than anything else. But also, and I have to be honest here, out of all the advice that I give, [43:38] this is some of the toughest advice that I find to take myself, but something that I have basically [43:44] forced myself to do after achieving a goal is to celebrate the fact that I achieved it. [43:50] And it could be something as simple as ordering dinner one evening or going out for dinner. Food [43:58] is my core competency, you know, at heart. It's not productivity. It's well, productivity plus food, [44:06] let's say, but treat yourself in a way that feels like a celebration, whatever it might look like for [44:13] you. Celebrate the fact that you achieved something incredible. Keep an accomplishments list. So the [44:20] definition is in the name there, where an accomplishments list is a list of everything [44:25] you accomplished. And you can do this across whatever timeline you like. So if I'm dragging my [44:31] feet one week and I'm struggling to muster the motivation to do stuff, I'll just write an accomplishments [44:39] list. What are all the results that my efforts are leading to at work, at home, regardless of the [44:47] context, but you can also have one overall for the year, right? What are the big things, uh, you're [44:53] achieving that you have achieved that you didn't expect to achieve, right? So everybody knows that [44:59] feeling of, you know, you achieve something during the day that you didn't plan on doing. It was something [45:05] unexpected. And so you get to write it on your to-do list and then you get to cross it off. You still [45:10] get the satisfaction of having done it. Accomplishments lists can be like that too, where if you achieve [45:15] something that you didn't expect to, put it on the list, you've earned it. [45:24] Chapter four, focus in the age of distraction. We're living in a really distracted time right now. [45:32] And not only this, but the algorithms that try to distract us are driven by artificial intelligence. [45:38] Now they, they learn a lot about us. And so that hooks us into even greater novelty. And it's really [45:46] novelty that is the biggest source of distraction. In our brain, we have this idea called the novelty [45:52] bias. It's a bias embedded within the logical center of our mind, our prefrontal cortex, whereby [46:00] for every new and novel thing we direct our attention at, we get a hit of dopamine. And so we go to [46:06] Instagram, we get a hit of dopamine. Then we, you know, check the news. Then we get another hit of [46:11] dopamine. Then we go to something else. We go to TikTok. We get another hit of, we check email. We [46:15] get another hit of dopamine. Research that has been conducted by Gloria Marks. She's found that [46:20] the median amount of time we focus on something for when we're in front of a computer is 40 seconds. [46:28] That's it. That's 40 seconds. That's all we got. And when we have our phone nearby, this lowers down [46:34] to 35 seconds. And so this is the rhythm of our attention. And you can see it from the moment you wake [46:40] up, right? Maybe your phone wakes you up. And so you're tapping, you're swiping around. And then [46:45] 40 seconds after that, maybe you check email. 40 seconds after that, maybe you go over to [46:51] Instagram. 40 seconds after that, oh, I should just check on this app over here, whatever it might be. [46:57] And where multitasking comes in is, well, we can't actually do it. What we see as doing more than one [47:06] thing at one time is really just as rapidly switching between things, which creates the [47:12] illusion that we are doing more than one thing at one time. And why this matters is there is a [47:19] phenomenon that research has identified as being called attention residue, where whenever we go from [47:26] doing one thing to doing the next thing, we're always remembering a little bit of what we were just [47:32] doing. So think about, you know, you're in a big meeting, there's maybe something big happened in [47:38] it, and you're trying to check your email after. You're going to be remembering the meeting in your [47:43] head. You're going to remember the conflict. You're going to remember the brainstorming. You're going to [47:48] remember whatever it is that happened in there. And attention works the same way, but on a very [47:54] smaller, more granular basis throughout the day, where we're always remembering a little bit of what we were [48:01] doing before. And this makes our attention less efficient. So if we had no attention residue, [48:08] if we were always just cleanly going from task A to task B to task C to task A to B, [48:15] that would be fine. Multitasking would work. But when attention residue is in play, [48:21] that means we can't really actively be doing more than one conscious thing at one time. Now, [48:29] there is an exception to this though, which is with habits. So we can actually multitask with habits. [48:34] We can walk while we chew bubble gum, while we do something that requires our full attention, [48:40] like listening to an audio book or something. But when it, when we need to bring conscious intent [48:48] to something and intervene to move things forward, multitasking just kind of makes us way [48:56] less efficient and things take way longer than they ought to. And so this is the battlefield that we [49:03] have for our attention these days, right? And I really firmly believe that the state of our attention [49:12] is what determines the state of our lives. If our attention is overwhelmed in each moment, [49:18] these moments will sum up to make us feel overwhelmed in general. Whereas if our attention is calm, [49:27] if we're chill, if, if we don't constantly bounce around in these dopamine fueled feedback loops, [49:35] we can be with whatever it is that we're doing. We can be present with whomever it is that we're with. [49:41] And this is everything with productivity, right? Productivity is being able to bring our full [49:48] deliberate time, attention and energy to something and creating the conditions for that. So our attention [49:55] is incredibly in demand. It's constantly being hijacked because of these novel sources of stimulation. [50:02] And so that's the playing field that we have with regard to our attention. And so we need to create the [50:08] conditions to counterbalance that. We have these kind of two modes that we go between throughout [50:15] the day. There's the autopilot mode where we're just doing things in response to whatever happens [50:19] in front of us. We're running on what Buddhist monks often call habit energy. So our habits are [50:26] propelling us forward to doing the next thing and then the next thing and then the next thing. [50:31] And often autopilot mode is nice. You know, you had a long day and you're kind of tired, [50:37] you're kind of wiped. And so you just want to unwind and lay on the couch and not do much of [50:42] anything and just recharge and watch a couple of episodes of something. I'm a productivity expert, [50:48] but I'm also fundamentally lazy. And so I can sympathize with people who are also wanting to be [50:55] lazy, right? In my opinion, that's why I'm into productivity. So I have more time to be lazy, right? [51:00] So autopilot mode, it can be relaxing, it can be restful. But when we want to actually accomplish [51:09] things, when we want to go a different way, when we want to move our days and our life to be in a [51:19] certain direction that is different from where we are just otherwise, that is where intention comes into [51:26] play. And it's very curious, intention and attention have this interplay with one another, right? [51:33] So if we set an intention to accomplish something, then we need the attention to carry it through the [51:40] finish line. Hyperfocus is, you know, it's a word that sounds intense, but it's really when we bring [51:46] our full deliberate attention to something. And so we all have those moments where what we're doing [51:53] consumes our full attention. We're in an engrossing conversation. We're hunkered down on something [52:01] that's really important. And this in the, it's very similar to flow in a way where hyperfocus leads [52:07] to flow where we're completely immersed. And then, then we reach that flow-like state where time [52:12] seems to not even exist at all. And so hyperfocus is this process that involves four distinct steps. [52:21] First, we choose our object of attention, which is, you know, that reflection. What is the most [52:26] productive thing that I could be doing now? What's the most meaningful thing I could be doing now? [52:32] Then we eliminate distractions. So we think, what can get in the way of my intention, right? [52:40] Productivity is all about intention. So we need to protect the intentions that we set, fortify [52:46] the intentions that we set to eliminate the distractions that might be coming at us [52:51] while we engage with them. Step three is noticing when your mind wanders. And so [52:56] it's almost meditative in a way. So when you meditate, you focus on your breath and then your [53:02] mind will constantly wander to more engaging things, more interesting things, more novel things than the [53:09] breath. And work can be meditative in that same way, where we have the intention that we want to [53:17] accomplish. We eliminated the external distractions, but then we still have the stuff in our head [53:23] that's going to come at us. Oh, I need to follow up with this person. Or, oh, what if I did this instead [53:30] later today? Write those down, make a distractions list where you jot them down, whatever it takes to [53:35] get these things out of your head. So you can work on what you're doing with confidence. And then [53:42] finally, when your mind does wander, when you do veer off, not only what you're focusing on, but also [53:49] what your intention was in the first place, bring it back just gently, right? We all veer off intention. [53:56] This is a part of the process of being human. We get derailed, we get distracted, but bring your [54:02] attention back to focus on what's important until it's done. A big part of bringing more attention [54:13] to whatever it is that our intention is to accomplish is designing an environment, both external [54:21] to us and internal to us. So a calm mind, for example, that is conducive and supportive of [54:29] the intentions that we set. And so for the external environment that we have, what are the distractions [54:36] that are likely going to come up as you're engaged with the thing that you're doing? So for example, [54:43] is your phone going to go off every 40 seconds or something? Are people going to come up to you in [54:49] the office and ask if you have a moment to chat? Things like that. So not every distraction that we [54:55] face can be dealt with ahead of time, but many of them can, and we need to deal with those that we can. [55:01] And modifying our environment is a big part of that. You know, one of the awkward things with working [55:07] with a team is that we all have two types of work that we do. We have the focused work that we do, [55:12] and we have the collaborative work that we do. So the focused work that we do is, you know, [55:17] an extreme example of this is a novelist in the woods, right? A novelist can go off into the [55:24] wilderness and write their book for weeks on end, not talking to a single soul. And they do work that [55:31] is very, very individualistic, very non-collaborative. But then you got this person, you got this person [55:41] over here who is hyper-collaborative is what the research calls it. You know, think of a NASA [55:48] engineer who is launching a new shuttle into the heavens. Their work is going to be super collaborative. [55:58] Think of the control room, right? Everybody's interrupting each other constantly. That is the [56:03] process of doing work that's collaborative. But between those extremes, between the novelist in the woods [56:10] and the NASA engineer, we're somewhere in between here. Some of us are more individual. Maybe you're a [56:18] computer programmer. Other people are more on the extreme collaborative side. Maybe you're a people [56:24] manager or an administrative assistant, whatever it might look like. So realize where you are and where [56:31] your team is between those two extremes, between the focused extreme and the collaborative extreme, [56:37] and calibrate accordingly. If you're more on the focused end, maybe having outward signals that [56:43] you're more focused can be very helpful. If you're more on the collaborative end and collaboration is [56:49] your default, maybe have that open door policy at the office for most of the time, but have that signal [56:55] that when the door is closed or when, you know, a flag is up or something, then you're focused. And so, [57:02] calibrate for how focused versus collaborative your role is and work within those boundaries to understand [57:11] how to protect your focus, but also protect your wandering time. So the more that intentionality [57:18] matters, the more that strategy matters, the more deliberate you can become about the direction [57:25] of your work, the more you need to wander. And I think, especially as things advance with artificial [57:32] intelligence, where we're guiding not only ourselves, our own intentions, we're guiding [57:37] the intentions of machines and agents now. Intention has never been more important, but also stepping back [57:45] to have a strategy behind that intention has never been more important. And one of the best ways to do that [57:52] is to wander. You think about intention more often, you plan for the future more often too. [57:58] Scatter focus is when we let our mind deliberately wander. And so, I don't know if you can think back to [58:06] when your best, most brilliant ideas have struck you. What were you doing when they did? Maybe you were [58:14] taking a shower and then out of the mist, your mind had a chance to connect a bunch of the constellations [58:23] of ideas that were swirling around inside of it, right? We're going on a walk and we connect ideas [58:30] in that context too. It's when we let our mind wander and we create the conditions where our mind can [58:37] wander when we're doing something habitual. Maybe it's going for a shower, maybe it's going on a walk. [58:43] That's what leads to the conditions that lead to more creativity. So when our mind wanders, we wander to [58:51] three main places. The past, the present, and the future. So we think about the past around 12% of the time. [58:59] And a lot of this time we're recalling ideas, we're thinking about memories from them. Sometimes we're [59:05] recalling those cringeworthy things that we said that, you know, is uncomfortable, but that happens [59:10] less than we might think. 28% of the time we're thinking about the present. So this is when you're typing [59:19] up an email and you can't figure out the perfect way to phrase it. And so you walk across the apartment [59:25] or your house to get a cup of coffee or something. And on the way there, it hits you. That's how you [59:31] should answer the email. And you run back, you type it up, you hit send, and you forget about the cup [59:36] of coffee in the first place. But the beautiful thing about scatter focus is we wander to think about the [59:45] future more than the past and the present combined. So 48% of the time that our mind is wandering, [59:54] we're thinking about the future. So this is when you're taking that shower, you're going for that [59:59] walk. And on the way there, your mind has a chance to connect a bunch of these ideas. And these numbers [1:00:06] don't add up to 100 is because the rest of the time our mind is, it's dull, it's blank, or it's focusing [1:00:12] on ideas that aren't rooted in time. But because we actually get this chance to wander, we don't have [1:00:20] to force ourselves to focus on anything, which lets us recharge. We have more energy for later on. [1:00:26] So we get the recharging benefits. We get the planning benefits. So we actually become more [1:00:32] intentional when we enter into scatter focus mode. So there's a key when it comes to the breaks that we [1:00:39] take. And there are multiple ways that we can take a break with the work that we do. But the key is to [1:00:47] do something that is effortless for yourself, right? Do something that is habitual, in other words. So [1:00:55] something that doesn't require constant conscious intervention, but something that roots you down into [1:01:03] doing something that is habitual, so you can actually let your mind wander at the same time. So all day, we're [1:01:10] trying to regulate our attention, you know, focus on this, hunker down on this problem, deal with this [1:01:15] situation, put out that fire, deal with that emergency. And all of this fills our mind with a lot of noise. All [1:01:23] this is a lot of activity that can get in the way of thinking clearly and focusing clearly and actually recharging [1:01:31] with what we're doing. So the research shows that there are different types of mind wandering that we can do. [1:01:38] We can wander around a problem, for example. So you're dealing with an issue at work. And so you go [1:01:43] on a walk with a notepad and you write down thoughts that occur to you around that idea. But one of the [1:01:49] most productive ways that we can let our mind wander is habitual scatter focus, where we do something [1:01:55] habitual that we love, whether that's going for a walk, going for a run, doing a workout, just, you know, [1:02:02] doing a stretch, whatever it might look like. Those are all exercise examples, I realize. [1:02:07] But whatever it might look like, maybe taking an extra long shower, for example, [1:02:12] and just letting your mind roam free. Something habitual that you love is the key to a restful break. [1:02:20] So the interesting thing that happens in our mind when we're scattering our attention [1:02:25] is we're processing and connecting all of the previous information we've consumed during that time. [1:02:32] So when our mind is wandering, we connect experiences with memories, with knowledge, with facts, [1:02:41] with news, with books we've read, with all automatically in our mind, we connect the various [1:02:49] issues and problems and information and data and, oh my, all together in our head. And so it's so [1:02:56] critical to become more deliberate about the information we consume in the first place. So the dots [1:03:04] that you're pouring into your head, the information that you consume throughout the day, it really [1:03:09] matters, right? What is the quality of that information? You know, so I try to pour more books [1:03:16] into my head than I do random news articles, for example, because I find that when I reflect, [1:03:23] I'll be thinking about ideas. I'll be thinking about deeper issues. I'll be making connections [1:03:28] between that information too, instead of being concerned. And this is not an argument for burying [1:03:34] your head in the sand or anything like that. You know, there are ways to stay informed that are [1:03:39] essentially a higher quality information based, but it's so critical. Look at the information that you consume, [1:03:47] what's the quality of that information, and what is that leading you to in terms of your thoughts [1:03:53] and the ideas that you're generating. One of my favorite stats, and I know stats are not motivating [1:04:01] in and of themselves, but one of my favorite stats that motivates me to scatter focus more is that we [1:04:08] think about our future goals 14 times as often when our mind is wandering versus when we're focused on [1:04:16] something. It's remarkable. So when we take that step back, we automatically choose where we're going [1:04:25] to take that step forward. So we get the rest, we get the future planning, and we get the ideas [1:04:32] that rise to the surface of our mind because we bounce from thinking about the past to thinking [1:04:37] about a problem that we're going to face later on in the day in the future to a situation that we're [1:04:42] facing in the present. We connect all three destinations and we unearth ideas we would never [1:04:49] have arrived at otherwise. [1:04:56] Want to support the channel? Join the BigThink members community where you get access to videos early, [1:05:02] ad-free.