Overcoming Productivity Challenges: A Practical Approach to Success

Improving productivity involves recognizing wasted time, valuing one's time, and setting realistic life goals to avoid regret and achieve fulfillment.

### The Cost of Wasting Time and the Importance of Discipline
* ⏰ Many people, including university students, waste significant amounts of time each day, with some spending up to **6 hours on unproductive activities**.
* 💸 When calculated, this time wastage can amount to **$100,000 a year** or **$4 million over 40 years**, based on a conservative estimate of time value at **$50 per hour**.
* 😞 Wasting time not only leads to **financial loss** but also contributes to feelings of **depression, anxiety, and internal dissatisfaction**.
* 🚫 Simply telling people to stop wasting time is not enough; practical strategies and incremental changes are necessary to **develop discipline**.
* 📊 In a clinical psychology context, this discipline-building process can involve **setting specific, achievable goals** and **gradually increasing productivity**.
* 🎯 The Future Authoring program encourages individuals to envision their **ideal future** and the potential **negative outcomes of continued procrastination**.
* 🔥 By creating both a "**little hell**" to avoid and a "**little heaven**" to strive for, individuals are motivated to make positive changes, even if they are initially challenging.

and then the next thing is um well it's it's painful to understand how much of what you're doing isn't productive. So I'll give you an example. So I've done this a couple of times with classrooms full of students, usually when I'm lecturing about Career Development. I say, Okay, um, how much time do you waste? So then I get the class to vote. How many of you waste, uh, 10 hours a day? It's like 10% of the kids will put up their hands. And it's interesting 'cause I don't Define what constitutes waste. I just ask the question. So they're diagnosing themselves, right? I'm not saying you're wasting 10 hours a day. I'm just asking. It's like, given your own attitude, how much time are you wasting? 10 hours a day, it's like 10% of the people put up their hands. Well, when you get to like 6 hours a day, 80% of the people put up their hands. So then we do the arithmetic. It's

like because I like doing arithmetic with people. People hate arithmetic, but I like doing it. It's like, okay, 6 hours a day. It's 42 hours a week. So let's call that a work week, 40 hours a week. So that's a work week. Let's say, what's your time worth? You're a university student. Well, it's certainly worth minimum wage because obviously, but it's worth way more than that because if you spend a productive hour when you're 20, then you gain the benefits of that hour for the rest of your life. So there's the compounding effect of time spent when you're young. So I say, well, let's assume your time's worth 50 bucks an hour, which I think is an underestimate, but whatever, let's call it 50. We call it 25, but we'll call it 50. That's $22,000 a week you're wasting. It's $100,000 a year. It's like, how much better would your life be if you weren't wasting $100,000 a year? It's like what.

is that over 40 years? $4 million. It's like you're rich, you don't even know it. Quit wasting time. By your own definition, it's like people shake their heads, like I never thought about it that way. It's like, yeah, think about it that way. Don't waste your damn life. And then you think, well, why would people be resistant to that message? It's like, well, you really want to wake up and figure out that you're wasting half your life. And you know, when people do that kind of wasting, they actually hate it. You know, and I've had lots of people come to my clinical practice who were chronic procrastinators, you know, and so they're watching YouTube videos, say, but not ones that are good for them, although sometimes they will do that, but just browsing in that kind of mindless way that you do when you're not paying attention and you're trying to kill time. And people doing that, they feel bad, they get depressed, they feel anxious, they can't get away from it, they feel kind of

Quasi-addicted. What they're saying about social media now, it's a huge issue with young kids, absolutely, but there's this feeling of kind of internal rot and corruption that goes along with it. It's like, Yeah, well, you're wasting your life. It's painful. It's painful to recognize that. Then it's painful to think, Oh my God, look how undisciplined I am. I don't know anything. I can't use a schedule. I can't stick to a calendar. I don't have any aims. I don't know anything about the world. And maybe there's a part of me that's bitter because I haven't got everything already, and I'd like just like to say, To hell with it. That's the recognition of the Jungian shadow. It's like, that's what makes you vicious and untrustworthy, all of that. No one wants to look at that, and no bloody wonder. But hey, the alternative is worse. So the problem is you say, like just saying, Stop wasting your life. Like I think that that

that's not enough. I think this is one of the reasons why a book like this is so important. Like the idea of discipline, in most people's eyes, it's like if you're not a disciplined person, it's uncomfortable, it's going to be painful, it's a frustrating. You have to force yourself into these things. It's a muscle, and it's a muscle that has to be developed. These patterns have to be developed in your own mind incrementally. Yes, well with the so you're right, just telling people not to waste their lives is not enough. And this is another reason why I've so much enjoyed being a clinical psychologist, because clinical psychologists don't stick with high-level abstractions, especially the behaviors. They're really practical. It's like, okay, you want to get your act together. It's like, well how about if let's say you're not studying well, and so we do a real analysis of how much you're studying. You say, well, I go to the library 4 hours a

day. It's like, yeah, yeah, okay. How much time do you actually study in the library? Well, you know, I waste time. I have to travel there. I look at my phone. It's like, okay, well, how much? 15 minutes, half an hour? How much is real studying? Well, maybe we figure out it's 15 minutes. Say, okay. So what you're going to do for one week is you're going to study for half an hour. That's all. You don't get to go to the library for 4 hours. You have to sit down. We'll figure out a time. 10:00 in the morning, whatever. We'll put it in your schedule. Try to study for half an hour. No more. And then just come back and let's have a conversation about how well that worked. And people come back and they say, well, you know, I managed it 4 days, and one day I went over, and one day I couldn't do it at all. It's like, okay, that's better. Instead of 75 minutes of studying, you know, 15 minutes a day for 7 days. What is that? 15

70-105 minutes. You've managed about 210 minutes. So you've already produced an improvement of 50%, and you're bumbling horrible way. You got a 50% improvement in one week. It's like that's deadly. It's like so in the future authoring program. What we ask people to do is well think about your life along six dimensions. What do you want for your so? The goal is this. You're going to take care of yourself. You're going to have a life in three years that justifies its suffering. That's the goal. So you can invent the damn life, but you have to think what you would be satisfied with so you wouldn't be all bitter and resentful. It's like, okay, what do you want from your family? What do you want from your friends? How are you going to educate yourself? What do you want for your career? How are you going to use your time outside of work? How are you going to handle drugs and alcohol and other temptations like that? How are you going

to keep yourself mentally and physically healthy these are open questions like you get to answer them. The idea is you can have whatever you want but you have to figure out what it is. It has to be realistic and you have to figure out what it is. It's okay so now develop a vision. What's your life going to be like in 3 to 5 years so you write it down. Then we do something else which is okay um your bad habits and your resentment and your bitterness and all of that your procrastination gets completely out of hand and you augur down and you're in your own personal version of Hell in three to five years. What does that look like well everyone knows that it's like everyone can look into the future and think well if I keep going on this dark path this is where I'll end up. Well then you've got little hell outlined for yourself to run away from and you got a little Heaven outline for yourself to run towards and then you're motivated because sometimes you know you're just hopeful I would like a

good thing to happen. It's like, yeah, but you know, I'd like to drink half a bottle of whiskey tonight too. It's like, so which is it going to be? Well, just being hopeful about the future might not be enough, but then you think, Oh, I see, like there's that little hell thing that I line that's waiting for me. And maybe I'm afraid of taking the next step forward 'cause it's demanding and challenging. It's like, yeah, I'm afraid of that, but I'm way more afraid of where I might end up if I don't get my act together. And people should

Joe Rogan gets his Mind Blown by Jordan Peterson Philosophy about Time

Power of Reflection

The Impact of Time Wastage on Productivity

Many students admit to wasting significant hours per day, with the majority confessing to six hours of waste.

This amounts to 42 hours per week, equivalent to a full-time job, with a potential worth of $100,000 per year.

The compounding effect of wasting time, especially for young individuals, can have a substantial negative impact on their future.

Wasting time can lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, and internal corruption, especially with the rise of social media.

Chronic procrastinators often struggle with feeling undisciplined and aimless, leading to a recognition of their own shadow.

The pain of recognizing a wasted life can be bitter, but the alternative is even worse, making it crucial to address the issue.

The Significance of Discipline in Personal Development

Discipline is crucial for personal growth and needs to be developed incrementally in the mind.

Clinical psychologists focus on practical behaviors to help people get their act together, rather than just giving high-level advice.

They emphasize real analysis and incremental changes to help individuals improve their habits and achieve their goals.

Planning for a fulfilling future involves thinking about your life along six dimensions: self-care, family, friends, education, career, and personal time.

The goal is to create a vision for your life in 3 to 5 years that justifies the suffering, while also identifying the potential consequences of succumbing to bad habits and resentment.

By outlining a positive future to strive for and a negative outcome to avoid, one can feel motivated to make the necessary changes for a fulfilling life.

The Internal Struggle of Facing the Future

Balancing hope for the future with the fear of the unknown is a common internal conflict.

The temptation to avoid challenges is overshadowed by the fear of the consequences of not taking action.

Ultimately, the fear of the potential negative outcomes can outweigh the fear of stepping out of one's comfort zone.