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How to go from zero to good, from good to great, and from great to unstoppable
This guide on learning how to become more productive comes from an obsession I’ve had since I was very young. I started working in strawberry fields when I was 8 years old. The rules for making more money was simple: the more baskets you fill out, the more money you make.
Growing up in a poor family, I couldn’t get any “luxury” from my parents, so if I wanted things for myself, I’d have to earn them. And I earned it by working on the farm. It taught me many valuable lessons I still stand by 25 years later, one of which is to value time and energy, which, in my book, is the essence of productivity.
In this guide, I teach you all the steps required to go from zero to unstoppable. It’s part of a series of guides you can find in this publication — SkillUp Ed. All the guides I’m creating come from at least 1,000 hours of practice in the skill, with additional in-depth research on the topic.
Let’s dig right in!
Table of contents
What is productivity?Benefits of learning itThe first 15 hoursThe first 100 hoursThe first 1,000 hoursAdditional resourcesWhat is productivity?
Productivity is not about accomplishing more, nor is it about working harder. A productive person is someone who’s able to manage his time and energy effectively. This means that they use their time on the things that work towards their goal and they maintain high energy throughout the day.
Benefits of learning productivity
You’ll have more clarity about what matters to you
You’ll have the energy you need to perform at your optimal level
You’ll manage priorities better
You’ll learn to say yes and no to the right things
You’ll feel better in your body and mind
You’ll instill better habits
You’ll learn what to eat to get higher energy
The first 15 hours
Learning plan
Learning material
Created with Emberly. Click here for interactive version
Expectations
In your first 15 hours of learning Productivity, you should be able to:
✅ Use the Eisenhower Matrix to figure out what really needs to be done
✅ Learn to set SMART goals
✅ Apply the 80/20 rule under some circumstances
✅ Improve your sleep hygiene
✅ Use walks in productive ways
✅ Know how to establish good routines
How to go from zero to good in Productivity
Prepare
For the first 15 hours, there are a few concepts you need to understand, which you’ll put into practice shortly after. The first thing you have to do is change your mindset about productivity. Re-read the definition we’ve included at the top. In this guide, you will learn to do more of what matters to you. You might end up doing less because you realize that some things just aren’t that important.
The first thing you’re going to want to do is to read the resources we’ve included in the skill tree above. You will apply everything you learn during this first stage of 15 hours later. Make sure you understand what you read.
Since we’ve done a lot of the preparation for you with the skill tree above and its resources, you’ll only need to spend about one hour reading the material. Review after about a week.
Practice
If you haven’t done so yet, please complete the suggestions in the preparation phase before starting here. First, we’re going to look into setting SMART goals. Going forward, any time you set a goal for yourself, make sure to make it a SMART goal. If someone sets the goals for you, ask for clarifications to turn them into SMART goals. Always include the deadline in your calendar and review that calendar daily. For the duration of this phase, try to do weekly planning. During that planning, set at least three important SMART goals you want to accomplish.
Also, during your weekly planning, do your Eisenhower Matrix. As much as you can, schedule quadrant II tasks (not urgent but important tasks). These tasks are about your self-improvement and for long-term projects. As adults, we tend to push those away, thinking we don’t have the time. Well, we have the time, we just don’t prioritize it the right way. The Eisenhower Matrix will help you gain clarity on what truly matters, hopefully helping you delegate or ignore tasks that aren’t worth the effort.
When comes time to act on your SMART goals and your quadrant II activities, think about the 80/20 rule. Ask yourself: what results am I expecting exactly? What activities will yield contribute the most towards that result? Which one of those takes the least time to do? These are the basics of applying the 80/20 rule.
During this phase, make it your mission to regularly take breaks to go for walks. Like you’ve read in the preparation phase, walks can be very productive. In many cases, it’s as good for your energy as caffeine and power napping. But it has two extra benefits: it’s as natural as it gets, and it makes you more physically active.
Taking walking breaks will help with your sleep hygiene, but you can do more. Cut screens ideally 2 hours before bed. Cut caffeine 8 hours before going to bed. Wind down at least 1 hour before bed (read, take a bath, do another relaxing activity). Check out our resources on the topic for more ideas.
Another thing you should start taking seriously during this phase is habits. They really make or break you. Check out our resources on the topic. I especially like the concept of atomic/micro habits and compound habits. Habits take an average of 66 days to form, so you won’t be able to form new ones during this phase, but knowing more about them will help you for the next phase.
Overall, the bulk of your practice will be about setting SMART goals and doing your Eisenhower Matrix regularly, combined with your reflection on how to use the 80/20 rule for each.
Ponder
With every week of practice, reflect on the usual questions:
What went right?
What went wrong?
How can I improve?
In addition, near the end of your 15 hours, reflect on the following questions:
Have SMART goals helped me accomplish more of the right things? How so?
What SMART goals have I found easier and harder to follow up with? Why?
Did I understand the distinctions between the 4 quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix? Which one am I struggling with the most? How so?
What quadrant have I found myself spending the most time on? Is that how I want it to be going forward? If not, how can I change this?
Have I understood how to use the 80/20 rule? Have I thought about how I can use it in other contexts?
Did I act towards my sleep hygiene? Has it improved? How so?
Have I learned to take more frequent breaks and went walking? Why or why not?
Do I now understand what I have to do to establish habits that stick? What am I going to do about it?
The first 100 hours
Learning plan
Learning material
Created with Emberly. Click here for interactive version
Expectations
In your first 100 hours of learning Productivity, you should be able to:
✅ Formulate your “why” in a single, clear sentence
✅ Journal for clarity
✅ Do your Ikigai and Map of Life
✅ Delegate the urgent but not important tasks
✅ Say no to the wrong things
✅ Get better at SMART goal-setting
✅ Plan your work and life effectively
✅ Improve in using the 80/20 rule
✅ Do proper time blocking and auditing
✅ Improve your sleep hygiene further
✅ Improve on your ability to power nap
✅ Establish productive workout routines
✅ Track your habits
✅ Learn about nutrition and eat the right ingredients
✅ Increase your positivity
✅ Understand the science of timing
How to go from good to great in Productivity
Prepare
There’s a lot going on in this phase. Like you did during the first phase, start by reading the material provided in the above skill tree. There are many new concepts you should understand at this point. The order you start with doesn’t really matter. You’ll practice everything right after anyway.
You should spend about 15 minutes reading material for the first four weeks. Review what you read after one week and one month after first reading it. This will help you retain the information for longer.
Overall, you will spend about 7–10 hours reading and understanding the concepts proposed in this phase.
Practice
There is so much to practice during this phase. The most important aspect of productivity is doing the right things. For that, nothing beats having a clear life goal — your “why”. We’ve included many resources on the topic in the skill tree above. My two favourite activities are doing your Map of Life and Ikigai. Your Map of Life should be revisited monthly, and take up to one hour to do. Ikigai can be revisited less frequently. I do it about once every year. It takes longer to do; usually around 3–4 hours for me. Once you’ve done both, it’s much easier to formula your why.
I like to use the 5 whys method for that. Basically, start by asking yourself: “why do I do what I do?” To your answer, ask why again. Do that at least 5 times to get a proper answer.
All the above exercises should be done in a journal. It doesn’t matter if it’s electronic or paper, as long as you write your thoughts. The paper version has the added benefit of involving more senses, and for most people, is slower than typing. This allows you more time to think before writing.
There are also many other ways journaling can help you be more productive. Make sure to review the resources we’ve included on this page and in the skill tree above.
One of the most underrated aspects of productivity is delegation. You should have learned more about that when you read about the Eisenhower Matrix and practiced it. We’re talking about quadrant III activities; the urgent but not important tasks. Note the “not important” here just refers to you. It doesn’t mean the task isn’t important to do. Your goal is to find who would find it important and also has the capacity to do it. If you find someone like that, they’re the ideal candidate to delegate to.
So, during this phase, figure out what you can effectively delegate and how you’re going to go about it. Create a plan for this. Hire an assistant if it makes sense. Involve colleagues, friends or family otherwise. Once the plan is done, put it into practice right away. Reflect on your experience, refine your process, and improve.
Another thing that’s crucial to great productivity is saying no to things. You only have so much time, so if you’re too nice to others with it, you’re sacrificing your productivity. Check out the resources we’ve included for that, try to find a way to make it impossible for you to say yes to the wrong things. This could mean printing a list and keep it in front of your work environment (or your fridge at home), so you’re always reminded what isn’t that important to do. Get creative here and you’ll be rewarded with a lot more focus, time, and energy.
During this phase, it’s also important to improve upon what you learned during the last phase, including SMART goals, the Eisenhower Matrix, improving sleep hygiene, and more. Make sure to spend at least one hour per week refining the techniques you learned.
To your routine, as much as you can, include power napping. When you combine walking breaks and power napping during your day, you will be fully energized the whole day. One walking break and one power nap are usually all I need. If you need more, that’s fine too.
During this phase, you also want to start building routines and habits. My suggestion is to start with atomic/micro habits you can do in less than 5 minutes. You may also want to look into compound habits. For example, after you’re done brushing your teeth, do 5 push-ups. When you combine atomic and compound habits, you start doing a lot more while not feeling like you need to block time for them. That’s really powerful.
At some point during the first few weeks, start looking at nutrients that promote good health and provide energy. You’d be surprised how much of what you eat affects your mood and overall energy levels. We’ve included resources that show you exactly what you should be eating to increase your energy. If you can start eating them during this phase, it will help you perform the rest.
And last but not least, read the books we’ve included in the “when” section of the skill tree. You’ll understand so much more about why you perform doing certain things at certain times. This will help you plan better, meaning, plan things at the right times of the day.
Ponder
With every week and month of practice, reflect on the usual questions:
What went right?
What went wrong?
How can I improve?
In addition, near the end of your 100 hours, reflect on the following questions:
Have I found my life purpose? If so, what is it? If not, why not?
Have I succeeded in doing my Map of Life and Ikigai? If not, why not?
Have I delegated tasks to others successfully? What went right? What went wrong?
Have I learned to say no? What was the easiest? What was the hardest?
Have I improved upon what I learned during the last phase? How so?
Have I built good routines and habits? What are they? If not, why not?
Have I succeeded with time auditing and blocking? Why or why not?
Have I been able to power nap successfully a few times? Why or why not?
Have I researched the best nutrients to eat and have I made the right changes? How so?
Have I understood the concepts of “when” and applied some of them? How so?
The first 1,000 hours
Learning plan
Learning material
Created with Emberly. Click here for interactive version
Expectations
In your first 1,000 hours of learning Productivity, you should be able to:
✅ Master your “why” and all the steps required to reach it
✅ Master most of the techniques that relate to priority management
✅ Become very good at the mental models that relate to time management
✅ Not waste time with anything that relates to meetings
✅ Audit and block time like a pro
✅ Figure out how to “cut” waiting time
✅ Mostly master resting
✅ Workout and walk effectively
✅ Become very good at nutrition and, optionally, fasting
✅ Create and maintain habits
✅ Improve your mind
✅ Master “when”
How to go from great to unstoppable in Productivity
Prepare
There isn’t much to prepare in this phase as most of what you’re going to be doing is pushing what you’ve learned in the previous phase to the next level.
However, an important addition to this phase is to learn how to improve your mind, but practicing positivity and meditation. The latter being quite the skill on its own. In this phase, you’ll learn to be good enough at meditating. For the preparation phase, check out the resources we’ve included in the skill tree about the mind.
Another addition is about understanding and applying the 5-hour rule and 1–50 rule, but included in the skill tree above. The former will help you stick to your self-improvement and the latter will help you accomplish things in much less time.
Also, review the different things you’ve previously learned to keep it fresh in your mind. For each new concept you learn, review it after a day, a week, and a month. This will help you retain it for longer.
Practice
This phase is pretty much all about the practice of all the techniques you’ve previously learned. Continue journaling. Continue updating your Map of Life monthly. Continue figuring out your Ikigai quarterly or yearly. Continue building your good habits. This idea is to make this all feel automatic.
By the end of this phase, you should have no problem sleeping and power napping. These two will make a huge difference in your energy levels. Keep reading about it and experimenting with your schedule until you find the right one. This may take a while but it’s worth it.
Power napping should be something you strive to do daily for 15–25 minutes. There’s no reason to ever stop doing it once you’ve mastered it.
If you’re dealing with projects that may take a lot of time to do (most people are), carefully look at the 1–50 rule. During your 1,000 of practice, I strongly recommend you implement it for up to 10 projects, leading for up to 100 hours. The 1–50 rule really changes how you think about your approach to long-term projects.
During this phase, carefully think about how you use your waiting time. It’s okay to have time when you’re doing nothing, but there are times when you’re also waiting needlessly. Make the difference between the two. When waiting needlessly, find a micro activity you can do to occupy that time. Here are a few ideas: meditate, write down things you’re grateful for, read an article, read pages of a book, listen to a few minutes of a podcast, and many more.
Another big chunk of this phase will be about improving your mind. If you’re still having negative self-talk, spend more time on positivity to try to suppress it. If that was habitual for you (it is for many people), it will take time to get rid of it, but it’s possible. Otherwise, you’ll want to practice daily meditation. It doesn’t have to be long at all. The more you’re used to it, the shorter your sessions can be. I know people who meditate 5 minutes a day and it’s enough for them. Experiment and find your sweet spot.
Ponder
With every week, month and quarter of practice, reflect on the usual questions:
What went right?
What went wrong?
How can I improve?
In addition, near the end of your 1,000 hours, reflect on the following questions:
Do I feel more productive than I was when I started learning about productivity? How so?
Am I really more productive or is it just a feeling? What makes me think I’m more productive?
If you are more productive, what has your “added” time and energy allowed you to do?
What activities have helped the most? How so?
What activities will I keep doing forward? Why?
What activities will I not pursue? Why not?
Do I have more to learn? What is it?
Is there anything you wish you would have done differently? What is it?