Small Wins

I have a strange relationship with productivity. Like most people, I am not productive every day. But I have a pattern. I am productive for around 3 days in a row. Then my productivity dips to zero, with a thud. On such days, I am not productive at all. I need to slack off. Unchecked, I can’t get anything done.

This pattern is ok when you are working alone. But when you have a team and customers, it doesn’t help at all. For such days, I have a hack. I micro dose on dopamine. Let me explain.

On days where I am feeling non productive, I try to create opportunities for small wins. I start of with a tiny task. For example, I will make some small UI changes to a page - fix a button, change the text, or update the color. I shouldn’t have to think too much about this task. Once complete, it registers as a win. I will move on to the next small task automatically. Finishing one small task after other builds up momentum. In no time, I am in the flow state and am getting shit done. Suddenly, the day isn’t going to be wasted and there is going to be a lot less guilt. As they say, bird by bird.

The big hairy audacious goals don’t get tackled on the slack days. That’s ok. I get the time and space to think a little more clearly and get in the zone for the next three days.

I had written about Orchestrating Flow sometime ago. A lot of the ‘get your ass in the seat again’ stuff is important. But it is equally important to understand how you function, and optimize for it.