Tips & Tricks

Lastly, I wanted to talk about some tricks or lessons that didn’t fit elsewhere in this guide. They are mostly related to what worked for me. And the remark at the end is important!

Trick: continuous self-validation

Yes, the rewards of a habit are only visible after weeks or months. But it doesn’t mean that is your only data point.

While trying new habits, while doing stuff every day, keep an objective journal of your progress. Write down all you accomplished. Measure your weight. Measure how much you can lift. Measure how many words you’ve written for that book.

When you feel down, look back at that journal. You’ll see you did much more than you probably thought. That you were on a nice streak and you don’t want to break it.

Why doesn’t our brain remember this correctly? Because, again, our brain is very subjective. I mean, we can even distort memories or perception, simply because we’re a bit hungry. Don’t trust your brain, your moods, etcetera.

Write stuff down. Measure stuff objectively. Use it to track your progress and constantly validate that you’re doing the right thing.

It also helps to remember why you’re doing this.

• “I want to lose weight, to reduce the risk of a serious disease.”
• “I want to write this book, because I think the message is too important not to tell.”
• “I want to do something that counts, because I care about leaving a legacy.”

Trick: your future self

One thing that really helps me, is to ask: “If I look back in a year, what would I wish I had accomplished the past year?”

In other words, do something for your future self. Be productive so you can be happy about it in a year. So your future self can pick the fruits of that labor.

I often don’t have motivation to work. I’ll sit behind my laptop, toiling away at some idea with no certainty of income, no deadline, and wondering why I’m doing this.

And then it really helps to say: “In a few months time, I’d wish I had finished this project. I would have wanted to complete this, so I could have learned form it, and started an even better project by now.”

Your current self is probably feeling down, or sad, or tired. Don’t let it make the decisions. Think about your future self, and how happy it will be that you were productive.

Trick: no zero days

This is another one that really helped me. I’ve spoken about this with many specialists I visited over the years, and most of them could back this up.

Many people keep a schedule like

• “Oh, I’ll work on my hobby projects in the weekend”
• “I try to do work towards that goal two or three days a week”

And this is fine. But it’s not optimal. By the time the weekend comes around again, you’ve forgotten most of that hobby project, and need to waste a lot of time getting into it again.

Instead, establish your core goals, and establish habits so you work on them every day. No zero days. Don’t break the chain.

This can be a tiny step. Like, really tiny. Sometimes, all I do for a book I’m writing, is restructure my notes for 15 minutes, or write one paragraph somewhere. I might not have time for more that day. But at least I did something.

Our brains love this.

• We keep our momentum
• Our head stays focused on the goal. We don’t lose progress, we only build.
• Daily habits are the strongest habits
• It’s been shown that our body and brain get an extra boost if you do something every day, if you really immerse yourself into it (without going overboard).

Tips for people with ADD

I have ADD. (This is probably no surprise.) I feel a relentless need to move, to think, to write, to create projects, every secod of every day.

But … many people with ADD really struggle to get things done. It’s almost a paradox. The people with the most energy and intention to do stuff, are also scatterbrained and can’t focus long enough to finish a task.

Because I wrote this guide, most of the tips are already applicable to you. But let me summarize and expand where needed.

• Multitasking doesn’t work for us, because we are, sort of, always multitasking. Our head is always going many places. This leads to creativity and fun associations. So, force yourself to really “single task” anything you do.
• Write everything down. Even the tiniest tasks. Even the tiniest thoughts. Writing it down, means it can now move out of your busy head.
• Take many short breaks, in which you do some physical exercise. Even better, stay active while working. I have a standing desk and stand on a “balance board” most of the day. Not only is it healthy, being physically active means my brain doesn’t have to be.
• Reduce sugar intake. Don’t keep snacking while working. Every bit of energy you eat, is like a jolt into your brain / body, making it even harder to focus.
• Vary your work. I can’t work on the same thing for more than a few hours. On any given day, I might make progress on two or three projects. (Usually morning = main project, afternoon = another project, evening = another project if I have the energy.)

It’s a sad thing. People with ADD are often categorized as troublemakers, as “bad learners”, even people with a “learning disability”. This is not true, at all. In fact, these people have hypercharged minds and bodies, making them better at thinking fast and acting on their thoughts.

It’s just our education system, and most of our corporate world, that has a rigid structure that doesn’t fit what we want. That’s also why many people with ADD—like me—start their own business. I’m a freelance artist, because I’ve never found a company that would allow me to work the way I want to work. Which is, again, sad. So much wasted potential, so much unnecessary hurt.

I am officially a Mathematical Engineer. But all those years at university, I caught flack from professors telling me I was studying wrong, and that my methods would “not continue working”. I barely opened a textbook. Instead, I wrote my own little books about each subject, and did a lot of exercising between study sessions. I connected every subject to something I was passionate about, something else that wandered around my brain, to be able to remember it.

When I was still at school (or university), I was forced to do sit still and do things their way. Since I left, my productivity skyrocketed. And the only change is that I was able to apply my own tips and habits that help focus and calm my brain.

All I want, is for everybody else to unlock their potential as well. And to know they are (probably) not in the wrong—our systems of education are.

But as always

Health comes first. All my tips and tricks will lead to more energy, more productivity, all sorts of habits around getting stuff done.

But the worst thing for productivity … is getting a burn-out and being forced to stop working or 6 months 😉

As I said, a good health improves everything. Sleep, rest, relaxation, they are actually magic bullets towards solving issues and gaining skills.

I recommend reading my courses on Fitness & Health for the details. But the summary is:

• Design your environment to stay somewhat active all day. (Like, a standing desk instead of a chair. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.)
• Try to get 30-60 minutes of moderate-to-intense exercise every day.

When in doubt: when pressed for time, give preference to hitting this health goal. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.