Too many choices = less or no productivity
Too many choices = less or no appreciation
Too many choices = sense of overwhelm
— Tim Ferriss, The Choice Minimal Lifestyle
“The more of the details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism, the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work. There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision, and for whom … the beginning of every bit of work, are subjects of express volitional deliberation.”
— William James
Automating necessary but seemingly boring things is the secret to productivity.
I’ve automated a few of the most important aspects of my life and it leaves me free to do other challenging, interesting things. It’s similar to compartmentalizing the activities. Though each action affects others, we can’t do two things at a time. We need a certain time and place for each task. It’s easy to let an area of life to eclipse others. Life can quickly get complicated, become a knotted ball of hair.
We can’t be in the same mental states all the time. So, it leads to decision-fatigue if we have to think and deliberate every time we want to do things like diet, exercise, reading, and things.
But we can get around it. There’s something called N.E.T. time — No Extra Time. We don’t have to spend extra time for exercise. We can combine commute with exercise and learning. Exercise time can also be learning time. By doing things like this, we can cut down the amount of time and increase productivity. We can spend that time with our loved ones, on things we do love.
Right, I’ve always believed that health is the foundation of everything else in life. Body is wise, sacred, and miraculous. If I want to do or be anything, I have to start with my body. It’s the earth from where all the life springs forth.
Our work couldn’t care less about our health and learning. Just do what they want and they’re happy. Instead of workplace being a prison, it can be a gymnasium for our body and mind. Instead of letting others dictate how to lead our life, we can decide to shape our life in our own terms.
9-to-5 jobs provide us a fixed routine and there lies a great blessing in disguise. By doing certain things differently, we can develop habits and make our life interesting. We can go home tired, bored, and weak or we can go home rejuvenated, refreshed, and strong.
There’s no progress without discipline and there’s no discipline without some kind of routine. Our workplace can become an imprisonment or it can become a gym.
Well then, health is the product of rightful eating, living, and regular exercise. How does my job pay for it?
Health
I drink green tea everyday. As soon as I enter office, I have a cup of green tea. It can be anything. The point is I’ve made it a ritual.
I avoid sweets and other junk foods distributed freely in office. Instead, I have salads, vegetables, and nuts for my lunch.
I daily have dates when I’m about to leave.
The point being, these things are hard to do if we have to think and do day after day. But, in office, these things offer us welcome breaks.
Exercise
I used to cycle 16 kms to and fro work everyday. Now, I walk. I take long walks during office hours. It helps me work out the boredom, despair of the workplace.
I breathe deeply while I walk. It stimulates my lymph system and aids elimination of toxic wastes.
Now, exercise is not pleasant. Doing it everyday can be drudgery. It requires massive will-power, a ton of discipline, and what have you. But, the commute time can serve as exercise time and you don’t have to get yourself up and will yourself to exercise.
Learning
I listen to music, audio books, talks, podcasts everyday while I walk from office and home. I don’t miss even a single day.
Whenever I get free time, I read instead of chitchatting. I read blogs, books rather than newspapers, sports.
Mindfulness
I observe trees, birds, and the sky. I observe people while I walk. I observe my thoughts and my body movements.
By doing certain things differently, I feel that I get salary not just for my work but for being healthy and wise.
