Cash and productivity secrets
The cult of the bro
Wayward young men long for a club. Along with theatre, the cult that consumed most of my time in my twenties was productivity. Inspired by a boon in self-help literature, I became convinced I was a few hacks away from a millionaire lifestyle and limitless productivity. Like any cult, it was dangerous, self-defeating and based on inherently wrong philosophies. Like any cult, it was helpful, contained seeds of profound truth, and informed who I became.
It started with Tim Ferriss’ The Four Hour Work Week - an incredibly influential dot-com-boom guide on eliminating the unnecessary and earning big. The answer? Be a white, single, twenties tech bro in America and farm out menial tasks to ‘virtual assistants’ in third-world countries. I swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Ferriss’ guide contained some truth - a kind of Buddhist discipline in eliminating bullshit tasks. It also (and this was critical in my mid-twenties) uncoupled my self-identity from that of an ‘employee’. The idea that my only valuable asset was my time is only one aspect of income generation.
Ferriss has had an interesting journey. He has an incredibly influential podcast (of course) and is primarily well-meaning and non-toxic in the bro space. He’s softened, and it’s clear he was an incredibly depressed, lost young man when he wrote his original masterpiece.
Ferriss inspired a wave in self-help productivity ‘guides’, and I’ve read most of them. The ones that were the most helpful and least bullshitty were: Getting Things Done by David Allen, anything by Cal Newport and Atomic Habits by James Clear. YouTube is filled with productivity gurus; many are insane. The only one I return to now with occasional passing interest is Ali Abdaal. However, most of his stuff is geared towards how to do what he did: become a successful content creator online. His book, Feel Good Productivity, is possibly worth your time. It doesn’t ask you to dismiss your life’s enjoyment for a ‘grind’.
And that, perhaps, is the entire genre’s Achilles heel. It’s what capitalism is built on: the idea that for a few hours now, you can have wealth later. Work hard now to enjoy your life when you’re sixty-plus. Or, if you listen to Ferriss, sacrifice your twenties so you can be a millionaire by thirty-something. I don’t want to dismiss the value of ‘grinding’ occasionally. Discipline is vital. Discomfort in work and pushing yourself can reap big rewards. But with a philosophical, spiritual and wellbeing lens, concepts of wealth and life quality are much broader than simply having a cup of concrete and hardening up.
This is why, if you read anything I recommend, I would push you towards my suggestions for books on rest. I’m yet to meet a working person who is truly lazy. Most working people I know are burned out and have forgotten how to rest.
Now I’m out of the cult. Children fixed that. I became incredibly frustrated with many of the dudes I used to follow - they were all childless. Or worse, they had kids and families but rarely mentioned them. Instead, they would rattle off their ‘perfect morning routine’ that include ice baths, gratitude journals and workouts. I would watch from my couch at four-thirty in the morning, cradling an infant, and want to hurl my phone across the room.
Still, some truism remains. And what’s a productivity blog without a list of hacks? Here are some tools I still use.
The Pomodoro technique. This has been tried and true for decades. Simple enough: committed to focussed work for twenty-five (or fifty) minutes at a time and follow it with a five (or ten-minute) break. And repeat. Regular breaks prevent burnout, meaning you can go for longer. Helpful Pomodoro timers abound on YouTube, and you can spend money on fancy, swish-designed timers to sit on your desk.
The 80/20 principle. This was one of the biggest things that came from Ferriss. The general rule of thumb is that 20% of your clients will be 80% of your workload. They present problems, they’re difficult to work with, etc. It’s the same with students in a class. Or your e-mail inbox. Or whatever. The inverse is also true: 80% of your clients will take up 20% of your workload. They hum along happily enough. The trick is, then, to say no to that 20% of pain-in-the-ass people or projects that are going to take up 80% of your time. Concentrate on the majority who trickle along pleasantly. Which brings us to….
No is a complete sentence. Say no. Unless it’s a ‘fuck yes’, it’s a ‘no’. This is particularly hard for working artists, where income scarcity is real. But before saying ‘yes’ to a project, pressure test it to ensure it won’t be more trouble than it’s worth. If you say yes to everything, you (and the world) become uncertain about what you stand for.
What are your productivity tips or reflections on this topic? Comment and share.
Pair this post with this discussion on the value of rest.