My takeaways from Ali Abdaal's Feel Good Productivity

I've recently read Ali Abdaal's New York Times Best Seller 'Feel Good productivity' and I've taken very nice lessons for myself while reading it. Here are the most impactful highlights I noted down, I hope you can take something for yourself from my notes.

Part 1: Energise

Chapter 1: Play > Page 35

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced ‘chick-sent-me-hi’),

Part 2: Unblock

Chapter 6: Get Started > Page 149

r/ GetMotivatedBuddies

Chapter 6: Get Started > Page 151

I find that the best accountability buddies meet five criteria: being disciplined (they must stick to what you’ve agreed to), challenging (they know what it means to help you move on to the next level), patient (they don’t jump to conclusions or rush you into making decisions), supportive (they’re there with words of encouragement) and constructive (they must know how to give you honest feedback and constructive criticism).

Part 3: Sustain

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 158

Finally, there are burnouts that relate to doing the wrong stuff. Your mood is suffering because of the weeks, years or decades when you’ve put all your efforts into something that doesn’t bring you joy or meaning, and it has worn you down. You’ve been using your energy in the wrong way. I call these misalignment burnouts.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 160

We accept more work than we can do, and fail to take the breaks in our working day that we require. We sprint all the time.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 161

Jobs’ message was clear: no was just as important as yes. ‘I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done,’ Jobs said.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 162

we say yes to things in the present, but in the long term, they’re going to grind us down.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 164

If it isn’t a ‘hell yeah’, it’s not worth doing.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 165

‘Would I be excited about this commitment if it was happening tomorrow? Or am I only thinking about saying “yes” to it because it’s easier to make it a problem for my future self?’

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 167

So the goal is to spend most of our time focused on just one task–but not beat ourselves up if we occasionally lose concentration.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 170

In most aspects of our lives, if things go slightly wrong we don’t let ourselves get blown entirely off course.

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 170

‘I’ve spent five minutes on social media; I might as well continue to do so for the next three hours.’

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 171

‘If you haven’t managed to get deep into the practice, that’s ok. Don’t worry. You can simply begin again.’

Chapter 7: Conserve > Page 175

Remember Dr Adcock. Even if you’re in the business of saving lives, breaks aren’t a special treat. They’re an absolute necessity.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 178

‘doomscrolling’.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 182

quintessential

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 182

Hobbies are the first way we can integrate CALM activities into our lives.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 191

Well, the simplest way is to actively schedule moments of ‘nothingness’ into your week. Some nights, you don’t need to go for a walk or paint a picture. Some nights, you should simply let yourself zone out.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 193

The Reitoff principle is the idea that we should grant ourselves permission to write off a day and intentionally step away from achieving anything. For many of us, the challenge of rest lies in the act of stepping back from the things we think we should be doing. We’re conditioned to value self-control, grit and persistence. We equate rest with laziness, weakness or failure.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 193

this short-term ‘unproductiveness’ gives me time to reset and recharge.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 193

By doing less today, you can do more of what matters tomorrow.

Chapter 8: Recharge > Page 194

Find an activity or project that makes you feel Competent, Autonomous, Liberated and Mellow.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 199

External motivation is the form of extrinsic motivation that’s the least autonomous; instead of us being motivated by any kind of internal force, we’re being controlled by the opinions, rules and rewards offered by others.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 201

when we think about death, we get a clearer view of life.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 205

It promised to turn my vague ideas about what I wanted into a clear picture underpinned by evidence. The approach was called the ‘odyssey plan’.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 205

But Burnett’s design mindset offers an unusual way to answer the question. He invites you to reflect on:

Chapter 9: Align > Page 206

The odyssey plan inspired me to focus on growing my business,

Chapter 9: Align > Page 209

The wheel of life, Dr Lillicrap explained, was a coaching framework we could use to define success for ourselves. You start by drawing a circle and slicing it up into nine segments. Around the edges of each spoke of the wheel, you write down the major areas of your life. Below are the ones that Dr Lillicrap recommended as a starting point, although you could also come up with your own. We’ve got three for Health (Body, Mind and Soul); three for Work (Mission, Money, Growth) and three for Relationships (Family, Romance, Friends).

Chapter 9: Align > Page 211

the ‘12-month celebration’. This is my favourite method to convert dreams into actions. The idea is simple. Imagine it’s twelve months from now and you’re having dinner with your best friend. You’re celebrating how much progress you’ve made in the areas of life that are important to you over the last year. Look back over the values that you identified in the wheel of life. Now, write down what you’d want to tell your best friend about your progress in each of them.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 212

Ask yourself: ‘If I was to make the 12-month celebration a reality, what would I need to do over the next year to get there?

Chapter 9: Align > Page 214

My favourite way to integrate long-term values into day-to-day decisions draws upon a simple fact: short-term targets feel much easier to reach than long-term ones.

Chapter 9: Align > Page 214

‘Proximal goals hadn’t just helped these children solve problems–they’d changed the way they looked at math.’

Chapter 9: Align > Page 215

Personally, I have my 12-month celebration saved in a Google Doc, bookmarked on my computer’s web browser. Whenever I sit down to begin work, I open up that Google Doc and scan through it to remind myself what my 12-month celebration looks like. Then, under each of the areas of health, work and relationships, I choose one subcategory to focus on. Here’s what my three alignment quests looked like this morning:

Chapter 9: Align > Page 215

H–Gym session 15.30–16: 30 W–Make progress in writing Chapter 9 R–Call Nani (my grandma) Last Word: Think Like a Productivity Scientist

Chapter 9: Align > Page 220

At the time, I was getting all the basic tactics wrong. Instead of viewing productivity in terms of what made me feel good, I was viewing it in terms of discipline: how much pressure I could pile on myself to just do more. Instead of trying to integrate play, power and people into every ward round, I was catastrophising about my sense of boredom, powerlessness and loneliness