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The Tim Ferriss Show
#771: Productivity Tactics – Two Approaches I Personally Use to Reset, Get Unstuck, and Focus on the Right Things
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- [00:00]
Tim Ferriss
Well Governor, this is Tim Ferriss recording from the UK where I'm trying to blend in. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferriss show where my usual job is to sit down with world class performers of all different types to interview them and tease out habits, routines, favorite books, et cetera. There are 700 plus of those interviews in the back catalog and we'll get back to that shortly. But this time around we have a different format. In this short and very tactical episode I share some of my personal approaches, my personal methods for how to get out of a rut, get unstuck, re aim yourself at big outcomes, reset and refocus and make progress on a daily basis despite the self defeating tendencies and inner voices that we all have. And that applies to everyone I've met the top of the top in any given field. We all have those days. The first story I tell is of a three to four week period when I was beset by all sorts of personal challenges and ultimately the approach that saved my sanity. It does not require any heroic efforts, any differential calculus. It is beautifully simple. But first, before we get to that, just a few quick words from today's sponsors who make this podcast possible. If you want to support the show, please check them out. I use all of these on a daily or weekly basis and given that I'm able to test everything under the sun, I think that is saying something. Regular listeners probably know I've been taking Momentous products consistently and testing them for a long while now, but you may not know that I recently collaborated with them to put together my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind and neither is possible without quality sleep. So I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes and here it is. Creapure Creatine for muscular and cognitive support, Whey Protein Isolate for muscle mass and recovery and Magnesium Threonate for sleep. All Momentous products are NSF and Inform Sports Certified, which is professional athlete and Olympic level testing. So try it out for yourself. Visit livemomentous.com Tim and use Tim at checkout for 20% off of my performance stack. I'll spell it out. It's a long one. Liv momentous.com Tim so livemomentous.com Tim for 20% off this episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the pod and I'm excited to test it out. Pod 4 Ultra Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature. Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping positions for best unwinding experience. And for those snore heavy nights, the Pod can detect your snoring and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve airflow and stop you or your partner from snoring. Plus, with the Pod 4 Ultra, you can leave your wearables on the nightstand because these types of metrics are integrated into the Pod 4 Ultra itself. So get your best night's sleep. Head to 8sleep.comtim and use code TIM to get $350 off of the Pod 4 Ultra. They currently ship to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Optimal Minimal at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Can I ask you a personal question?
- [03:10]
Neil Gaiman
Now would have seen an appropriate time.
- [03:12]
Tim Ferriss
What if I did the opposite?
- [03:14]
Neil Gaiman
I'm a cybernetic organism, living tissue over a metal endoskeleton A few years ago, a creature died in the walls of my home. It was disgusting. Now to be precise, it gave up the ghost in the heating system so the death fumes were conveniently pushed directly into my bedroom. My ex girlfriend and I discovered this around 11pm as we tucked into bed hoping for a good night's sleep. We could turn off the heat and freeze, that was one option. Or we could bathe in the stench of what I assumed was a raccoon carcass and the whole thing made my eyes itch. It was horrible. I imagined it downing its last meal. Pig entrails, moldy socks, fermented beans. Who knows before defiantly jamming its bloated body into my H vac. Don't worry, we are getting to some kind of lesson here. But the kamikaze raccoon was just the first surprise guest, the opening act. In short order my dog then got horribly sick. Unrelated to raccoon, overdue paperwork started piling up, popping out of nowhere and onboarding a bunch of new contractors ran into trouble. Then I pulled out of a parking spot and scraped the entire side of my car and the car next to me. Later that same afternoon, all these Christmas presents I had ordered somehow had run out of stock and were auto canceled. So I was sent scrambling and on and on it went, more and more clowns piling into the clown car for a shit show that lasted three to four weeks. It was just a 15 car pileup of nonsense. There are the rare times when I feel like I'm in the zone and Those are great. Those are fantastic. Then there are times when I ask myself, how unholy hell have I become? The janitor of a mountain of bullshit that happens more than you might think. Put another way, sometimes you are the boxer and sometimes you are the punching bag. We all get our turn as the punching bag. Doesn't matter who you are, as far as I can tell, it doesn't matter how successful you become. You've always grabbed a number at the deli counter of just wait. Eventually you're going to get your ass kicked by the universe. Now, during these periods of firefighting, let's just call it, when stuff is popping up this whack a mole, I get fidgety and frustrated. I feel like I'm treading water and patience wear is very thin has never been my strong suit. That's true, especially with myself. And my instinct is to try to fix things as quickly as possible. And that's all well and good, but I've realized that from a place of what the fuck? I often rush and create more problems. This is particularly bad. Catastrophic. Sometimes when I try to sprint immediately upon waking up. The mantra that has saved me and saved me during that three to four week period I mentioned was very simple and it's this. Make before you manage. Make before you manage. That's it. What this means is each morning before plugging holes, fixing things, calling vets, answering text messages, delegating or yanking out dead raccoons, answering a million text messages, this mantra was a reminder to make something. You should read Paul Graham's essays and listen to Neil Gaiman's Make Good Art commencement speech for more on all of this. But back to any given day and make before you manage. Even the most time sensitive items can usually wait 60 minutes. And by make something I mean anything. It could be anything at all. You just need to feel like you've pushed a millimeter ahead in some creative direction. For me personally, even a 90 second video of calligraphy could set a better emotional tone for the entire day, helping me to be more calm as I handle problems as I execute all the rest of the stuff later. Or maybe I attempt to jumpstart my writing with an Instagram caption, right? Or an email to a friend to take the pressure off. It's practically nothing, but it's enough. Even token efforts allow me to reassure myself with hey pal, don't worry, you did produce something today. And the psychological difference between zero acts of creation and one act of creation, no matter how small, is really impossible to overstate. It's binary, right? Zero to a little bit. Those are two different worlds. If you're lucky, sometimes that one idea, that one sentence or one shitty first draft can turn into something bigger. And that happens when you catch the wave. But the point is to be able to say to yourself, even for five minutes, hark. I am a creator, not just a janitor of bullshit. Here's proof that I can and will do more than just manage the minutiae of life. And I think, at least personally, I do need that reinforcement. We all spend time on the struggle bus. Happens to everybody. At the very least, this mantra has helped me to find a window seat when it's my turn. So as a reminder, when in doubt, try it out. Make before you manage.
- [08:08]
Tim Ferriss
Okay folks, I'll be back shortly with another story, this time from a birthday crisis. Fun, fun, fun. Ultimately it has a happy ending, so stay tuned. But first, just a few quick words from one of today's sponsors. I do get asked a lot what I would take if I could only take one supplement. And the true answer is invariably AG1. It simply covers a ton. I usually drink it in the mornings and frequently take their travel packs with me on the road. So what is AG1? AG1 is a science driven formulation of vitamins, probiotics and whole food sourced nutrients in a single scoop. AG1 gives you support for the brain, gut and immune system. So take ownership of your health and try AG1 today. You will get a free one year supply of vitamin D and five free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription purchase. So learn more go to drinkag1.com Tim that's drinkag1, the number one. Drinkag1.com Tim Check it out.
- [09:11]
Neil Gaiman
The moment that you feel that just possibly you're walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself. That's the moment. You may be starting to get it right. This is a quote from Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite fiction writers. It's from his University of the Arts commencement speech. But let's bring it back to my story. A few months ago I had a birthday party. It was great. Dozen friends and I gathered for a few days of sun, beach barbecue, catching up. We do it every year. And then on the last day I didn't get up until 11:30. That's late even for me, knowing full well that the last few remaining friends were leaving about 30 minutes later, around 12 noon. And the sad reality is I was afraid of being alone. I was afraid of being lonely. So like a child, I hid my head under the covers. That's literally. And hit snooze until I just couldn't postpone reality any further. But why am I telling you this? Why am I being so self indulgent in telling you this ridiculous story? It's because we all like to appear successful. A nebulous term at best. And the media like to portray certain standouts as superheroes. These people on the magazine covers and so on. And yes, sometimes these dramatic stories of overcoming the odds are super, super inspiring. But often, just as often, they lead to an unhealthy conclusion. Maybe an inner monologue which is something like. Well, maybe they, whoever they happen to be, maybe they can do it. Because they're incredible. They have no faults, they're just karate chopping the day and winning at all moments. But I'm just a normal person. I can't do that. The reality is, most superheroes, these superheroes are nothing of the sort. They're just as weird and neurotic as we are. They're strange creatures who do big things despite lots of self defeating habits and self talk. So to personalize this, let's bring it home. I am definitely no superhero. I'm not even a consistent normal, whatever that is. So let me give you a little laundry list. Not too long ago, I cried while watching Rudy on an airplane. And that was cause for concern for a lot of people around me. I repeatedly hit snooze for one to three hours past my planned wake time. Because I simply didn't want to face the day. I considered giving everything away. Moving to Montreal, Seville or Iceland. Location kind of depends on what I'm trying to escape. I've used gentlemanly websites to relax during the day when clearly having other urgent and important shit to do. I wore the same pair of jeans for a week straight just to have a constant during weeks of chaos. So listening to all that, you might think it seems pretty dysfunctional, right? I assume so. I certainly hear it that way. But around the same time, especially sort of the latter few weeks of that, I also was able to increase my passive income 20%. Bought my dream house, got to the point where I was once again meditating twice per day for 20 minutes per session without fail. So not winning any gold medals in meditation, but incredibly helpful in stabilizing. I cut my caffeine intake to next to nothing. That usually means pu Er tea in the morning and maybe a green tea in the afternoon. I've had no more than one cup of really strong coffee. Per week. There's a lot to that, but suffice to say, much improved sleep. Signed one of the most exciting business deals of the last decade, including working on a collaboration that is first of its kind for me. Completely transformed my blood work, including a few biomarkers I've been working on for years and I realized as the next point once again that let's just call it manic depressive symptoms are just part of entrepreneurship. And last but not least, I have come to feel closer to all of my immediate family members. So where does that leave us? So personally, I suck at efficiency, which is doing things quickly or doing things super well. But I have a few tricks so here is my coping mechanism. It is an eight step process for maximizing efficacy, which is doing the right thing. Number one Wake up at least an hour before you have to be at a computer screen. Email is the mind killer, so don't go immediately into reactive mode. Number two Make a cup of tea. I like pu er tea and sit down with a pen or pencil and paper. I like to do it analog. Number three Write down three to five things and no more that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They're often the things that have been punted from one day's to do list to the next, to the next to the next, and so on. And most important usually means most uncomfortable or very frequently it does with some chance of rejection or conflict. To find the most important, you can often just look for the most uncomfortable with some chance of rejection or conflict. So write down those three to five things. Step four for each item, ask yourself if this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day? Also ask Will moving this forward make all the other to dos unimportant or easier to knock off later? That's a nod to Gary Keller, the one thing. So thank you for that, Gary.
- [14:10]
Tim Ferriss
Step number five look only at the.
- [14:12]
Neil Gaiman
Items you've answered yes to for at least one of those. Those are the high leverage items. If removed. Number six Block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them. For today, one Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. They'll still be there tomorrow. Step number seven and I'm repeating to be clear, block out at least two to three hours to focus on one of them. For today, this is one block of time uninterrupted. No distractions, no social media. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work. Step number eight if you get distracted or start procrastinating. Happens to everybody. Don't freak out and downward spiral. Just gently come back to your one to do. Congratulations. That's it. That's the whole thing. This is practically the only way I can create big outcomes despite my never ending impulse to procrastinate. Nap. Otherwise fritter away my days with all sorts of bullshit. And it works. Work really really well. And I've come to learn if I have 10 important things to do in a day, it's 100% certain that nothing important will get done that day. So you gotta pick one thing. On the other hand, I can usually handle one must do item and block out my lesser behaviors for two to three hours a day in the beginning of the day. That's what works for me. It does not take much to seem superhuman and appear successful to nearly everyone around you. If you learn to Single task single Single Single Single Task 1 In fact, you just need a simple rule. What you do is more important than how you do everything else and doing something well does not make it important. So material over method, the what over the how. And if you consistently feel the counterproductive need for volume and doing tons of stuff, maybe you should put a few things on post it notes, put them in your bathroom and the first that you can add is Being busy is a form of laziness, lazy thinking and indiscriminate action does not mean that more equals more. In the positive sense, being busy is most often used as a guise for avoiding the few critically important but uncomfortable actions you need to take and when, despite your best efforts, you feel like you're losing at the game of life. Just remember, even the best of the best feel this way sometimes. It happens to everybody. And when I'm personally in the pit of despair, I recall what iconic writer Kurt Vonnegut said about his process. Highly recommend his books. Amazing guy. And here's the quote when I write, I feel like an armless legless man with a crayon in his mouth. So don't overestimate the world and underestimate yourself. You're better than you think and you're definitely not alone. We're all in this together and everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.
- [16:56]
Tim Ferriss
Hey guys, this is Tim again. Just one more thing before you take off and that is five Bullet Friday. Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little fun before the weekend? Between 1 and a half and 2 million people subscribe to my free newsletter. My super short newsletter called five Bullet Friday. Easy to sign up, easy to cancel. It is basically a half page that I send out every Friday to share the coolest things I've found or discovered or have started exploring over that week. It's kind of like my diary of cool things. It often includes articles I'm reading, books I'm reading, albums, perhaps, gadgets, gizmos, all sorts of tech tricks and so on that get sent to me by my.
- [17:37]
Neil Gaiman
Friends, including a lot of podcast guests.
- [17:39]
Tim Ferriss
And these strange, esoteric things end up in my field. And then I test them and then I share them with you. So if that sounds fun, again, it's very short. A little tiny bite of goodness before you head off for the weekend. Something to think about. If you'd like to try it out, just go to Tim Blog Friday. Type that into your browser. Tim Blog Friday. Drop in your email and you'll get the very next one.
- [18:04]
Neil Gaiman
Thanks for listening.
- [18:05]
Tim Ferriss
This episode is brought to you by eight Sleep eight Sleep recently launched their newest generation of the Pod and I'm excited to test it out. Pod 4 Ultra Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit below room temperature. Pod 4 Ultra also introduces an adjustable base that fits between your mattress and your bed frame and adds reading and sleeping positions for the best unwinding experience. And for those snore heavy nights, the Pod can detect your snoring and automatically lift your head by a few degrees to improve airflow and stop you or your partner from snoring. Plus, with the Pod 4 Ultra you can leave your wearables on the nightstand because these types of metrics are integrated into the Pod 4 Ultra itself. So get your best night's sleep. Head to eightsleep.com tim and use code TIM to get $350 off of the Pod 4 Ultra they currently ship the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. Regular listeners probably know I've been taking Momentous products consistently and testing them for a long while now, but you may not know that I recently collaborated with them to put together my top picks. I always aim for a strong body and sharp mind and neither is possible without quality sleep. So I designed my performance stack to check all three boxes and here it is. Creapure Creatine for muscular and cognitive support, Whey Protein Isolate for muscle mass and recovery and Magnesium Threonate for sleep. All Momentous products are NSF and InForm Sport certified, which is professional, athlete and Olympic level testing. So try it out for yourself. Visit livemomentous.com Tim and use Tim at checkout for 20% off of my performance deck. I'll spell it out. It's a long one. Live momentous.com Tim so live momentous.com Tim for 20% off.