Insanely productive

How to become insanely productive.

I’m one of the most productive people I know, and I never procrastinate on what is important to me.

How do I do it? Let me try to share what I think my secrets are:

I. What is productivity?

To be productive means to produce. Produce a lot. To be a maker, not a consumer. To make more than you take.

To be productive, means to make a lot of product. Product being a photo, blog post, a physical item you sell, an idea, a cultural concept, or a piece of poetry, a drawing, a dance, or a new verse.

II. Why be productive?

We are always brainwashed by society to be more productive. But why seek to be more productive?

For me, to be human is to be productive. To produce, create, and make things (physical or digital) is what empowers yourself and humanity.

Therefore, to be happier, be more productive.

III. What productivity isn’t.

Productivity isn’t answering a bunch of emails efficiently, nor is it organizing your desk, nor is it managing your finances, nor is it making ten year plans, nor is it making a business plan, nor is it making a social media strategy, nor is it uploading stuff to Instagram or Facebook, nor is it making more money.

Productivity is about making more art. Art can be anything and is everything.

Art is an expression of your creative soul.

For me, I feel productive when I make a lot of poems, letters, blog posts, videos, write books, make photos, or make graphic illustrations. I make art with my fingers, my voice, and my mind.

The more art you make, the more fulfilled you will feel.

IV. Personal strategies

My tips and strategies won’t work for you. But they work for me.

1. Drink lots of espresso:

Espresso has less caffeine than a cup of drip coffee. And you can space them out over the day. I drink my espresso, no cream or sugar, and now I only drink water, black coffee, chamomile tea, and that’s it. No more alcohol for me, no beer, no wine, no hard liquor.

No coffee, no productivity.

My theory is this: when I drink coffee, my blood boils. I have an adrenaline response. I have the fight or flight feeling. This stimulates a fear response in my body. I channel that fear response to be productive, to write, and do creative work.

Homework assignment: to be more productive, drink more black coffee (all killer, no filler), and drink less alcohol, fruit juices, or anything with sugar.

2. No breakfast or lunch

What I love about my philosophy is that it is free.

I don’t eat breakfast or lunch anymore. Why? I am less productive.

After I eat breakfast or lunch, I feel lethargic. I get tired. I wanna take a nap. Like a lion, after she gets a big kill. A lion goes to sleep for 3 hours.

I want to be like a wild animal. Fierce, always a little hungry, and sharp. Focused.

Animals in captivity are fed three square meals a day. They become lazy, and fat.

Hawks are constantly hungry, and are given a little bit of red meat to whet their appetite, to give them a taste of blood. That helps motivate them to hunt.

Think about it: does a lion eat a granola bar before she hunts a gazelle? No. A lion is motivated by hunger to hunt. If a lion wasn’t hungry, a lion wouldn’t have motivation to hunt.

Humans (according to Charles Darwin) share a common ancestor with lions, and other mammals. Therefore, we should biologically and metabolically work the same.

We don’t hunt for our food anymore, but our hunting is now running, lifting heavy barbells in the gym, writing things on the computer, or creating art.

I am most productive when I am hungry. Because I am hungry, I am motivated to work hard, to get my reward at the end of the day– tons of dark meat chicken, an egg snack of 5-6 whole eggs (yes with the yolk), tons of Kimchi, and lovely three hour conversations with friends and family.

Homework assignment: stop eating breakfast or lunch, and just start eating one meal a day (huge dinner). Drink lots of black coffee, tea, or water (no sugar) to ward off hunger, and go on brisk walks when you’re hungry. Have your first meal of the day at around 3-6pm.

3. I will die tonight.

Death is the best motivator.

In the fantastic movie “In Time” with Justin Timberlake, there is a dystopia future where the rich have unlimited time, and the poor have limited time.

The rich with thousands of years of life are bored. Lethargic. Lacking meaning in life. In the beginning scene, one guy commit suicide, because he’s just bored of living so long. To live forever is hell.