productivity

Think Clearer And Have More Energy – The Hidden Cost of Mental Clutter

clutter

by Vlad Dolezal on January 23, 2012

I have a little test for you.

In the image below, there are two columns of words, printed either in UPPERCASE or in lowercase. I’d like you to first try looking down the left column of words, saying out loud (or mumbling under your breath, if you’re in public) either “upper” if the word is printed in UPPERCASE, or “lower” if the word is in lowercase.

Next, try doing the same for the right column of words, again saying out loud the case of the words, instead of reading out the words themselves.

Done?

This is one of the most robust experimental results in cognitive psychology – the words on the right will interfere with your attempts to say the case. Completing the right column will take you longer than completing the left column. Your mind simply cannot not read the words, if you can read English.

You might not think the result is big, but it’s there, it’s measurable, and it will keep happening, no matter how much you practice. [click to continue…]

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How to Become A Master of Time (and use your time to the full)

Tardis

by Vlad Dolezal on November 1, 2011

“With all the time you spend watching TV, you could have written a book by now.” a friend of yours might say.

And that’s complete bollocks.

All time is not of the same quality. You very likely spend your low-quality time watching TV – there’s no way you could just take that time and use it creatively.

That being said, you can use your time more effectively by making sure you spend your highest quality time doing the things that require it.

And even better, you can increase the amount of high-quality time you have each day! [click to continue…]

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When Good Advice Goes Bad – How I Escaped A Self-imposed Work Trap

Vlad with a writer's block

by Vlad Dolezal on July 20, 2011

I once heard a Scandinavian parable about two blind men. At least I think it’s Scandinavian, because those guys love gory stories. (One of my favourite story books as a child was Scandinavian, for exactly that reason. But I digress.)

In this parable, there are two blind men. One of them saves up enough money and goes to a famous healer. The healer examines his eyes, and then orders a very particular mix of over a dozen herbs and various other ingredients, which the blind man has to prepare and rub on his eyes daily for a week. He does so, a within a few days, his eyesight returns!

The second blind man, upon hearing of this, goes to the first blind man (as he can’t afford the healer’s rate) and asks him for the herbal recipe. He then applies it just the same way. However, instead of curing his eyesight, the mix makes his eyes burn and steam and melt in their sockets.

The moral of this story is that the symptom does not equal the cause. And while the symptom was the same for both men (blindness), they each had a different cause, and thus needed a different cure.

But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Instead, I’ll talk about another moral from this story – the context of every piece of advice is just as crucial as the advice itself. [click to continue…]

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Roleplaying For Motivation (try this with me)

by Vlad Dolezal on December 3, 2010

I was talking to a friend about motivation the other day, and she said something that just blew my mind:

“When I have to do something I don’t like, I sometimes decide to just pretend that I’m a person who loves doing it.”

Think that over for a few seconds.

That’s exactly the sort of crazy thing I’d do, and I never even thought of it! :D

So, I’ll be definitely giving this a shot, and I thought I’d share it with you as well, so you can try it yourself.

If you decide to give it a shot, or if you’ve tried it in the past, please come back here and share your experiences in the comments. Let’s try it out together, and see how well it works as a motivation strategy!

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My Personal Development Experiments – June Update

blindfold eating

by Vlad Dolezal on June 14, 2010

It’s almost two months since I last shared my personal development experiments… and I can’t wait let you know about several of my new experiences!

I didn’t post a May update, because I was very busy, and right in the middle of a big experiment (the first one I’ll mention today). But hey, you got your share of Vladdyland in my quest for the manliest shave of them all ;)

Today, I’ll tell you about my experiments with:

  • super-concentrated studying (or using time effectively)
  • building a daily habit – flossing
  • blindfold eating

… and a few other small things. So let’s jump right in! [click to continue…]

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Double Your Productivity And Peace of Mind With Daily To-Do Lists

to-do list

by Vlad Dolezal on May 25, 2010

Whenever I talk to people about to-do lists, they’re surprised that my biggest selling point isn’t being super-productive and achieving lots of things.

It’s being able to truly relax when you have time off, because you know you have achieved the imporant things.

If you’ve ever been taking time off (browsing the web, watching TV, whatever…), but couldn’t relax properly because you had a nagging feeling at the back of your mind that you should be working, you know exactly what I’m talking about. [click to continue…]

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Interesting, Useful, or Neither?

by Vlad Dolezal on February 9, 2010

I was at a great life coaching seminar recently. And one of the presenters always asked these questions:

“Was this interesting?”
“Was it useful?” [click to continue…]

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How to Eliminate Creative Blocks

by Vlad Dolezal on January 6, 2010

You’re sitting in front of a blank computer screen. You’re trying to write, yet the ideas aren’t coming along.

There’s a reason that’s such a common image when talking about creative blocks. It shows the exact biggest mistake most people make that sets up creative blocks for them… [click to continue…]

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The Secret of Super-effective People – Weekly Review

by Vlad Dolezal on May 29, 2009

I’m sure you’ve heard the old story about the man who dropped his keys in the parking lot, and then went looking for them in the street “because there’s better light there”.

That guy might be very efficient at searching the ground around the streetlights quickly. But it won’t help him find the keys.

Similarly, we all sometimes get so caught up in doing something that we completely forget the reason why we’re doing it. You might be the best in the world at knitting socks for orangutans, but you just won’t make much of an impact that way. (If anything, at least knit gloves for them ;) .)

That’s where the weekly review comes in!

What’s a weekly review

Take one day off each week, and spend it thinking about the big picture stuff. Make sure you’re looking for your keys where you dropped them, instead of where there’s the most light.

Figure out what’s important, not just urgent.

Returning a library book on time or finishing that homework? Probably not that important in the long term. Trying that new hobby, talking to new people, trying a crazy experiment? Potentially very important.

Get the important stuff in. For time-independent tasks, schedule them early in the week, to make sure you get them done.

It’s surprisingly easy to get stuck in the rat race, constantly being busy, never pausing to think what impact you’re making.

Perspective rocks (but not all the time)

A weekly review lets you pull back and consider your weekly actions in perspective.

Sure, it’s nice to just stick your nose to the grindstone and get working. You don’t want to be worrying about big-picture consequences all the time. But you don’t want to get stuck in that state all the time, because you might very well end up being busy but not effective.

That’s why I like to-do lists.

When I generate my to-do list, I’m firmly in big-picture thinking mode. Then, during the day, when I’m knocking tasks off the list, I can let myself slide into nose-to-grindstone ground-level thinking. And I don’t need to worry, because I know I’m going to accomplish all the important stuff.

That’s also why I never add tasks to a to-do list, even if I finish early for the day. Because it lets me just relax and feel good about doing nothing for the rest of the day. It really cuts down on low-level background stress.

You won’t believe it if you haven’t tried it.

(Mind you, if I think of a good action I’d like to take, I write it down somewhere. I just don’t put it on my must-definitely-accomplish-today list.)

How to organize a weekly review

Take a day off each week, and spend it just thinking. Sunday works great for me.

It might sound crazy to take one day off a week. Hey, that’s one day’s productivity wasted, right?

Wrong.

The day you take off and spend thinking about big-picture strategies will make you SO much more productive! It’s like you take one day off, and add three, in the productivity gains you achieve in the other 6 days. (Plus it’s fun to spend a whole day thinking too!)

Think about the following things:

  • your long-term goals and dreams
  • the most important things going on in your life right now
  • review your values, and make sure your actions align with them
  • only THEN consider specific “most important tasks” you want to accomplish in the week ahead

And that’s all there is to a weekly review.

Other people who swear by the weekly review include Scott H. Young, Leo Babauta and David Allen (the author of Getting Things Done). They use slight variations, but all the versions boil down to taking time off and considering the big picture of your life.

Try it just once, and you’ll be a convert forever.

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Using the Hawthorne Effect for Effortless Change

by Vlad Dolezal on May 26, 2009

I’d like to point out you’re breathing consciously now. Noticing the expanding and shrinking of your chest as you breathe in and out.

Just keep observing. Simply notice your breathing pattern. For a few more breaths…

Now, believe it or not, I can virtually guarantee you that just by observing your breathing, you started breathing more deeply and fully.

That’s the Hawthorne Effect – when you subconsciously change your behavior as a result of being monitored.

Using the Hawthorne Effect

In 1955, Henry A. Landsberger In 1928, Elton Mayo tried measuring the effect of lighting levels on the productivity of Hawthorne factory workers. He formed three groups. One with increased lighting levels, one with decreased lighting, and a control group with unchanged lighting.

As expected, the group with increased lighting experienced a measurable increase in productivity. But lo and behold… the increase in productivity was matched almost equally by the other two groups! The single biggest factor influencing the workers’ productivity was that someone paid attention to their efforts.

You can easily use this to encourage positive behaviors in a friend or colleague. Just let them know you’re noticing.

But watch out! Don’t praise them – they would usually perceive that as you being  condescending or trying to control them. Instead, neutrally report what you’re noticing. Like “I noticed that you are …”. No judgment. Just plain facts.

This lets the person believe they’re fully in control, and makes the Hawthorne Effect kick in the strongest!

Using the Hawthorne Effect for Yourself

But while helping others is nice, wouldn’t it be great to use the Hawthorne effect for yourself?

Of course it would :D

And it’s so easy! Just like focusing on your breathing makes you breathe more deeply and fully, without any conscious effort.

Simply start recording some behavior you want to improve. (My two favorites are spending and eating habits.) And my favorite way to do that is a 30-day trial:

For thirty days straight, record exactly how much you spend and what you spend it on. Not only will you become more aware of what you’re spending money on, and where you could make improvements… You will automatically use your money more wisely! All hail the Hawthorne Effect!

And that’s all. It’s that simple. Just start recording, and watch yourself effortlessly change your behavior for the better.

Have a great day!

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