Lose a Pound, Gain an Hour
How exercise can teach you to work smarter
If you have been reading my previous articles, you can tell by now that I am a freak of productivity. Every day I wake up and I think about better ways to get my work done faster and with less stress, and in a way that works. If you’re someone who does any kind of exercise — cardio, strength training, muscle toning, HIIT, etc. — then you can attest to the fact that trying to exercise is a lot like getting any work done.
I’m going to show you the few ways I’ve seen the principles that work for exercise work for productivity as well. So in case you’re scared that this is just some mumbo jumbo talk on how to be productive, don’t forget that these principles are also akin to exercise, and there are thousands of studies that have shown the effectiveness of exercise on better health.
#1: The more you do today, the more you will do tomorrow.
The effect of exercise builds over time, and this means that if you can get a 10 minute workout done today, you will be able to get a 12 or 15 minute workout done the next time, other things being the same. My workout is something I do five times a week, three consecutive days, one break day, another two consecutive days, then another break. So I need to consistently increase the pace of my exercise if I want to see improved results over time. I adjust to the difficulties and keep pushing because I know the results are coming.
This also applies to how you work, especially in terms of mental strength. If you can focus today and work on a job for 30 minutes straight before taking a break, you should be able to increase your work time he next day (as long as you get the same adequate rest and energy needed).
The key is to plan how you will consistently increase your workload. When I started writing, I decided that I would work on my articles for just three hours a day, and no more. In that three hours, I would write at least three pages of content, whether awesome or nonsense, I would just make sure I put something down.
At the end of the week, it became a norm and I was more comfortable doing it than I was at the beginning of the week. The next week, I decided I would get four pages of content down in the same three hours. Honestly, it seemed almost impossible the first day, but I was still able to do it.
#2: You won’t always feel like doing the work, but you must do it.
These days, there are so many advocates of self-care on the rise. You know, the ones that try to make you feel like you can take a day off even when you didn’t do anything the day before. I am an advocate for self-compassion, and trust me, it doesn’t mean I work based on how I feel. No one should ever do that.
Always remember that your brain and your body won’t like work at first, most times. Forget about those days when you’re filled with good vibes and positivity and a motivated spirit. I’m talking about the rainy day when it’s cold and you wake up late and you’re tempted to sleep in again. That’s when I need you to remember this:
“Being a professional means doing the things you love to do, even on the days you don’t feel like doing them.” -Julius Erving
I learned this the hard way from exercise. If you need 14 hours of cardio to lose 2 pounds in a month (just a hypothetical statement) then nothing else will do. If you now feel like doing only 10 hours instead, then the equivalent of that time is what will show on your body, and you would shed less than 2 pounds.
With productivity and exercise, what you give is exactly what you get. There’s no magic involved. So get it done even on a rainy day. Learn to work, because you have to work. You have a reason for your work, and if that reason doesn’t justify your ability to stand up and get the job done, then I doubt if that reason really matters to you.
#3: One small act of productivity mentally builds you up for others.
Now this is what happens when you move past the previous point. When it looks difficult but you have decided to start it anyway.
Take it slowly.
In the first moments of work, you may feel so lazy and induced to quit. But if you can push past the first few minutes, the next few hours will be golden. When I first started doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) in May this year, some days I would have to literally push myself off the bed. When I’m sitting on the floor, the first thing I see by the side of my bed is my workout shoes just waiting for me to slip them on. On some occasions, I even started my workouts half asleep, and I get fully awake after the warm up or halfway into my first set of reps. It’s funny, but it works.
The so called motivation that we are constantly searching for will not come every single day. All days are not created equally. But you need daily consistency to get the best of your work done at a measured pace. This is where this trick comes in.
Whenever you have a daunting task to perform, don’t start thinking of it. Thinking of it can easily lead you to develop excuses which you might validate and eventually you won’t do that task. Once it’s time for your task, get up and start doing it. Don’t ask yourself if you really should do it: trust me you will hardly want to, unless there is some form of pressure. But the point here is to get you up and working even on the days that you feel like relaxing.
And once you start, you build momentum. That’s what we want, the ability to start and be able to sustain that energy, until we get the work done. While exercising, you get more energy when you feel that inner heat, and you start sweating. That’s your energy burning. You need to burn energy to sustain a longer workout. But you won’t get that done by sleeping, so roll of your bed every day if you have to, but get the job done.
#4: You need full concentration for hard tasks.
Before you start any serious work, completely shut your mind to anything that is not linked to that work. Turn off your phone, go to a quiet place, don’t snack, just work (I know why I said don’t snack).
You don’t see athletes snacking when training, so why should you?
And it’s not just because they don’t want to get fat, it’s because the brain needs full concentration to optimize productive efforts. They know that, and you should too. If you get distracted easily from your work, take a minute or two to write down every single thing that’s rambling through your brain — I can guarantee it’s not as much as you would think. Then keep that paper aside ant tell yourself that you will attend to it when you are done working. Obviously, if there is anything urgent and important there, then that’s what you should be attending to first.
If you don’t do this, you won’t get a good job done. Also, worrying about other things doesn’t mean they will be solved, so you’d just have a bunch of tasks lying around unfinished because you can’t focus and get even one done.
Be honest to yourself, and shut out all forms of distraction when you need to achieve the most important tasks. Your adequate concentration and effort will induce better results.
#5: Don’t focus on short term goals
Fitness coaches and nutritionists often say that constantly checking your weight while trying to shed a few pounds could have a negative effect if done too often. It takes one month to shed just one inch off the waistline of an average person, with a calorie deficit of 500 calories every day. That means you have to burn 500 calories more than you eat every day. For 30 days. That’s a long period of time. But if you want to lose and inch in just one week, you might get frustrated and give up.
Same goes with your tasks. Remember the task sheet I talked about in my last article? Well the days are just for simple tasks. It’s at the end of the year that you get goals achieved, sometimes at the end of 5 or 10 years.
So why would you stress your brain thinking about achieving a 1 year goal in just one day?
Stick to the script. Do the hard work now. Forget the benefits, and remember that if you do the small everyday jobs right, you’re on your way to your goal, even if you may not see it.
#6: The work itself is painful but the benefits come when at rest.
The fat paycheck comes after the work has been done.
Well, sometimes it comes before the work but you still have to get it done, so you get my point.
And for workouts, your body burns fat when you’re resting too, especially for HIIT. That means you need to get the difficult tasks done before the benefits arrive.
#7: Don’t stop when you are tired, but when you are finished.
If I decide to look at my tummy every time I do planks, I will just get depressed because it might look like nothing is working.
Instead of trying to measure your progress every day, just tell yourself that smart people work hard. So if you’re smart, you get the job done, till you’re finished.
Because a half work gets you half pay.
And trust me, you don’t want to expend your energy just to be given half pay. So roll of your bed of unproductivity and let’s start jogging!
