25 August 2020
I’ve found that listening to or watching something tangentially related to productivity is a huge motivator for me. It’s super easy to fall into a rabbit hole of only consuming stuff on productivity and not actually being productive, however, I experimented by not consuming anything like that for almost a year now, unsubscribing from podcasts and YouTube channels, and have noticed a difference. Through that process, I’ve felt a slow drift away from the motivating factor inside me that wants to constantly strive to improve and grow in many different areas. Combine that loss of motivation with an increased consumption of beer (😬), I�ve noticed an extreme laziness wash over myself that I don’t like one bit.
My mental model of life and things in general has definitely shifted over these past few months given the world we currently live in, so that very well could be messing with my perception of where I was pre-COVID, but I know for a fact my nose was in my phone, constantly scrolling pointless feeds when I should have been doing productive work all the way back in the Fall of 2019.
Over the weekend I decided to dip my toes in, listening to a couple podcasts, watching a couple YouTube videos, and my days have without a doubt been more productive. I have to ensure I don’t fall in that rabbit hole again where consuming material on productivity replaces productive work, but if I can keep to one podcast or video a day, I feel like I can get myself back on a track that is more familiar with where I want to be.