⏰ 5 Weird Productivity Tips

Here are 5 weird productivity tips you can apply to your life. Of course, all tips you read in a book or see on the internet are only applicable in certain cases with certain contexts, it’s generally never a one-size-fits-all unlike what a lot of articles claim them to be.

1. Don’t make a to-do list - I struggled for a long time with perfectionism. Feeling so upset with myself after I created a to-do list that was never finished, due to unpredictable elements in your life. Because when you think about it, how realistic are to-do lists? How can we assume we can predict everything that will go on in the day, or in life? Not having a to-do list has helped me trust in my own abilities to remember and get things done. For you, this may help with flexibility, relieving pressures, getting rid of a pre-defined concept of “productivity”, alleviate perfectionism, increase adaptive abilities, and help you follow a path that is more yours rather than what other people say is good for you.

2. Work late and get up late - I used to be so angry with myself for not being the 5am person that I see all over the internet. But there were circumstances in my life where working later and getting up later was actually healthier than forcing an early bedtime on me. Allowing myself the freedom to work on projects when I wanted helped me get more done and have more fun doing it.

3. Allow yourself to procrastinate - I used to get so angry with myself when I told myself I SHOULD be doing something else, but then I paused for a moment and asked myself, whose “should” am I following? If it was my own should, I certainly would not be procrastinating. And that was when I realized that my procrastination was actually my inner self trying to lead me to a more authentic life. It was a guiding sign. And that the tv shows I was watching while procrastinating were actually indicating what kind of life I actually wanted. So I quit the things that were inauthentic to me, and now when I need rest, I view it as working with my brain rather than assuming I know everything about it and how it works, which often leads to effortless productivity. So rest actually isn’t rest, but a productivity tool for the brain.

4. Make a mess - Sometimes I need a clean office, other times I need a messy office. When my office space would get messy, in the past I would condemn myself for being so out of control, like I somehow failed in some way and that it was affecting me in ways I wouldn’t understand in the future and that I was preventing myself from succeeding. But then I learned that sometimes I need to put all of my favorite objects everywhere in my room because it actually stimulates ideas! The only reason I thought I was failing was because of external societal stigmas.

5. Get confused - When I entered areas of confusion in my life, I used to think that it was because I was an incapable human being, so I would guess something and lock down the assumption as a fact, which I had noticed this societal system rewards. One problem, though: this is grounds for illusion. If you state a guess as a fact and don’t admit to confusion, one’s growth in that way becomes rigid. And one illusion/faulty permanent logic begets another. But if one admits to confusion, treats guesses only as guesses, and is able to say the magic words of “I don’t know”, confusion can be an incredible ground for growth, when one is patient enough to let the truth reveal itself to them.