peaceful productivity

This piece is on my peaceful productivity processes. Over time, I found tools, habits, and routines that help me feel less stressed and get work done. I don't have macho, superhuman advice, and this isn't about squeezing more work into your day. Sleep and rest are important.

I didn't introduce new processes all at once. The long list below is the result of a lot of experimentation. My process is:

1. Stumble across an idea while reading books or articles.
2. Try it out.
3. Reflect on the results.
4. Adapt the idea for my life.

You can run your own experiments to see what works for you.

The following sections are on:

• staying alive
• staying peaceful
• blocking distractions
• doing tasks

More important topics come first. You don't need to be uber productive to be happy and healthy.

staying alive

Sometimes, I forget that my brain has a squishy human host. This section is on taking care of my body. Take care of your physical health first, and mental health often follows.

Sleep is the most important. Here's how I practice good sleep hygiene:

• Block light and sound. I sleep best when it's dark and quiet. Invest in an eye mask and earplugs.
• Reserve bed for sleeping.
  • I don't read, watch TV, or use my phone in bed. Move devices to another room.
  • I get out of bed if I can't sleep. I either migrate to the couch or sit on the floor doing nothing in the dark.
• No devices at night. I set my devices to automatically block the Internet at night. For more information on how to do this, see the section on blocking distractions.
• Go to sleep and wake up around the same time every day. This helps my body know when to feel sleepy or awake. I sleep 10 PM - 6:30 AM. Your hours will vary.
• Get 8-9 hours of sleep every night. I feel best when I get that much sleep. Sleeping 7 hours and working an extra hour doesn't work for me.
• Prioritize bedtime over social commitments. After many years, I learned that I should make this trade-off. It doesn't make sense for me to stay up late. At night, I feel sad, anxious, and lonely. I also can't sleep in after the sun rises.
• No coffee after 12 PM. Caffeine has a long half-life so it remains in your system for quite a while. I have a cup of coffee at 7 AM. For the rest of the day, I sip tea, not coffee.
• Try a sleep podcast. When my mind is racing at night, listening to a sleep podcast helps me fall asleep. I recommend Nothing Much Happens or Headspace sleepcasts.

Here are some other ways I take care of my body:

• Drink water throughout the day. Drinking 8 cups of water a day is a myth. I have a water bottle with time markers and aim to drink 6 cups of water a day.
• Get dressed for success. I like putting on work-appropriate clothes and doing my makeup. Even when I don't feel great, I feel better after I get dressed for the day.
• Move my body. Common exercise advice targets men and suggests running and push-ups. For most women, running requires a sports bra, and push-ups are harder. I like walking, biking, and climbing. Try different types of fitness to see what you like.
• Go on walks.
  • I have a step goal to walk 6000 steps a day (about 2.5 miles). Walking is good mild exercise.
  • I listen to audiobooks, music, or podcasts while I walk.
  • I like going outside. Walking past outdoor cafes, the local produce store, and the cat in the clock shop makes me smile.
• Eat enough food.
  • Bodies need fuel. I used to have an unhealthy relationship with food so I sometimes remind myself to eat enough food.
  • Bodies know how much to eat. I follow intuitive eating: eat when hungry and stop when full.
• Pay attention while eating. I focus on the food and don't use technology.
• Rest my eyeballs.
  • Screens dry out eyeballs. I have a Mac extension Take a Break that reminds me to look away from my computer.
  • Blue light is maybe bad for you. I downloaded flux to make my screen orange and less bright.

staying peaceful

News, social media, and notifications stress me out, so I remain out of the loop. Here's how I configure my technology:

• Silence my smartphone.
  • I say no when apps ask if they can send me notifications.
  • I turn off sounds for text messages because they aren't urgent.
  • Phone calls do still ring for urgent issues.
• Delete news, email, and social media apps. I'm more pleased after I got rid of Gmail and Instagram on my phone.
• Log out of sites. Facebook asks if I want to save my login information. No. Logging out deters me from mindlessly checking social media.
• Block social media home screens. I downloaded a Newsfeed Eradicator Chrome extension.

Health advice recommends meditation. Here's how I approach meditation:

• Rethink meditation as do nothing. Meditation often sounds effortful and hard, but doing nothing feels more approachable.
• Pay attention to 1 breath. Feel how the body expands when you breathe in. Feel how the body collapses when you breathe out.
• Meditate for 1-3 minutes. Headspace has a short breath meditation that helps me recenter.

blocking distractions

When it comes to technology usage, I treat myself like a small child. I don't trust my willpower. Instead, I have automated tools to limit my technology usage and turn off tech at night:

Tool	Purpose	My Config
Cold Turkey	Strong app/Internet blocker for the computer	Social media: 30 min limit until 5 PM Morning: Block broad Internet use until 8 AM Evening: Block social media at 8:30 PM, everything at 9:15 PM
iOS screen time	Limit Mac and iPhone use	Downtime 9:15 PM - 6 AM 1 hour app limits for Steam games
freedom	Block Internet connection for computer + phones	Adhoc phone blocks Scheduled 9:30 PM - 5 AM block for my phone
Nintendo Switch parental controls	Limit Nintendo Switch use	Limit playtime to 1 hour Block play after 9 PM

doing tasks

Start with the previous sections - if you're sleepy or stressed, then it's hard to do work. Reading Getting Things Done inspired my approach:

• Write down all tasks.
  • Use an electronic to-do list. I use Todoist. This helps you track tasks across different devices or when you're on the go.
  • Keep pen and paper handy. As they come up, jot down action items from meetings.
• Maintain a calendar. This helps you track meetings with other humans and schedule chunks of time for tasks.
• Break down tasks. What is the actionable next step? For example, the first in doing your taxes is to find your paperwork.
• Batch related tasks. This reduces the overhead of context switching. I batch respond to Slack messages at work and do my writing in chunks.

conclusion

Knowing something is good for you doesn't mean that you'll do it. Sensible advice like "get enough sleep" and "exercise" is often hard to follow. This piece listed concrete ways to achieve peaceful productivity. I hope you try out a new process, reflect, and adapt it to your life.

footnotes

(1) "Do nothing" is the first step of The Joy Diet.

credits

Reading Make Time inspired me to write this post. For more information on habit building, see James Clear's book on Atomic Habits.