The Impact of Falling Off The Productivity Train
“So much attention is paid to the aggressive sins, such as violence and cruelty and greed with all their tragic effects, that too little attention is paid to the passive sins, such as apathy and laziness, which in the long run can have a more devastating effect.”
~Eleanor Roosevelt
During the past few months my productivity has been on point. I was consistently waking up at 6am to write, exercise and be productive. I eventually ended up switching my schedule to wake up at 4:30am to be even more productive. By 9am I had accomplished more than most people did in their entire day.
The past couple of days have been the complete opposite of this productive behavior. In fact, yesterday all I recall doing is eating and sleeping. Nearly 16 hours of sleep to be exact. Seems like I have my wires crossed. Thinking back on this I can’t help but feel guilty because I know there are so many extraordinary things I could be doing. None of which involve sleeping more.
The Extra Tiredness
I’m not the type to bask in guilt for too long. I like to get to the bottom of why things happen, and to uncover who I’ve been being in order to have taken the specific actions that I did. Was I overworked? Sick? Malnourished? This covers the physical reasons, but could there also have been psychological ones? Could it be that I was depressed, making my mind think about tiredness, frustrated about something, or around negative people? These could all be reasons for tiredness.
As I’m writing this article I think the issue is a combination of several factors, with one main factor domineering over the rest. I can’t remember the last day I’ve had the right amount of water. When I don’t get the right amount of water my body feels like a car that ran out of oil. Sluggish, clunky, and overheating. I haven’t been eating as many greens or fruits either.
The Impact
The impact of falling off the productivity train has both a positive and negative affect on us. In one sense it caused a breakdown of my body and my routine. In another sense it gave me the opportunity to think about the real issue and have the chance to correct it.
Since life is really a huge collection of habits and routines, whether in our actions or thoughts, it’s always good to see where we stand in our progress and what we’re actually doing. My goal is to build as many health habits as I can so that I can live a longer and healthier life and enjoy the greatest vitality and vigor that I can. With this energy I plan to motivate and inspire the people around me into taking action and being happy.
The impact of not being healthy and productive, for me, is to lose this ability with other people. If I do not have the energy to lead by example and stay productive than I do not consider myself a great role model. Due to these rules and limitations that I put on myself I do not feel awesome unless I am being and acting in this certain way. The divide between being and action is what destroys us.
If I’m being Alex The Sloth and getting nothing done instead of being Alex from AlexShalman.COM then my world is turned upside down. My body says one thing while my brain says the other. Like turning the wheel left and the car going right.
Have The Train And Eat It Too
“Everything in moderation — including moderation.”
~Harvey Steiman
Experiencing every carnal pleasure in excess would not be very satisfying. There just isn’t enough time to have those experiences in such great quantity while doing other things that we need for fulfillment. Besides you oversaturate your pleasure receptors and do not get the same amount of pleasure from repeatedly doing the same thing over and over again.
It’s interesting to note that you can’t be a great humanitarian and change the world if all you do is stay in bed, eat chocolate, have sex and sleep all day long. There is a disconnect between what you are doing and who you want to be.
On the other hand, you can’t work 90 hour weeks, neglect your friends, family, health and spiritual needs and consider yourself a great success. You might have traded in enough of your time for money, but the quality of your life is going to suck.
You can choose your actions but you can’t always choose the consequences of your actions. The law of gravity states that everything that comes up must come down. If you’re jumping off a bridge be prepared for the fall. If you’re going to eat that whole train cake, you’re going to get a stomach ache.
However, in moderation and balance we are capable of so much more. By aligning all the pillars of our life and giving them their due attention we are able to synergize our lives and propel ourselves to the top.
Next Action
One of the biggest take home lessons from this article is to constantly evaluate our progress. Which areas of our lives are lagging behind the rest? What can we do to live the best life possible? Let us know in the comments what’s lagging and how you can improve it. I’ll start.
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Photos by woodleywonderworks and lady-bug
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Posted by Alex Shalman in Goal Setting, Productivity | April 28, 2008 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 19 comments
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So I’ve been feeling very sluggish lately. The action that I am going to take is to be conscious of drinking 2 1-liter bottles of water each day. They will be waiting by my bed when I wake up from the night before. This added water, which is the bare minimum, will let me body run like a well-oiled machine.
You were tired. That is a perfectly normal, human response. You would not be human if you didn’t feel that way from time to time.
Just relax a bit, unwind a little bit, do some different activities. Go for a walk, do some gardening, visit a nursing home and talk to some people. Do whatever. Just do something different and allow your batteries a chance to recharge.
MrAchievement
Stanley Bronstein
Attorney, CPA, Author, Blogger & Professional Motivational Speaker
Hey Alex,
Similar thing has happened to me recently. I think there were a few reasons for it, but one of the major ones was not taking a break from my routine, which includes waking at 5am most days. I have had a few extra long sleeps over the past 3 days, and I am back to feeling fresh and full of energy.
Something so similar happened to me last week. As personal growth people, we tend to be very regimented, and sometimes we just need a good old fashioned break from doing what we do.
Did you guys see that special on 20/20 on the terrible effects of not getting enough sleep? It turns out that being under slept is one of the worst things that you can do to yourself, health-wise.
Honestly, I think it happened to half the world this past weekend.
While doing my typical blogging activities on Saturday and Sunday, I noticed that no one else was blogging. People weren’t making comments. Website traffic was down.
Half the world seemed to be focused on other stuff.
What I did was get all of my Sunday work done on Saturday. Then I had the whole day off and spent it with my wife doing other stuff.
MrAchievement
Stanley Bronstein
Attorney, CPA, Author, Blogger & Professional Motivational Speaker
I’m not sure if half the world was suffering from this phenomenon or not but I would have loved to finish all the work on Saturday and spend Sunday doing other stuff with my wife. However, do to lack of wife, I just spent the whole day sleeping lol.
I missed this special… but who would have thought sleep deprivation to be the worst… I would think eating bad food to be worse.
Your font is very blurry. I can’t read it. Try testing without font aliasing, not everbody uses it, especially not Windows XP users who do not have it.
I don’t know what font aliasing is, but I’ll have Nate look at it when he gets back. Thanks!
Hi Alex, you are correct about physical and mental effects of changing your routine from proactive productivity to reactive productivity. I just published a post on getting back on track and improving your balance yesterday. See it here and let me know what you think.
Hey Alex!
This is an awesome article!!!! I have also observed some lapses in my routine and I can’t wait to get back on it! Right now!
Marina
I feel like you and I are on the same waves of being super productive and slacking. We must keep each other accountable!
Is there something to the idea of drinking a load of water when you wake up in the morning? Like first thing when you get out of bed? I’ve heard it does something like “cleanse” you or something. I’ve been doing it, and it does feel good.
I’m convinced that productivity is all about how much water you drink. At least for me. That has to be my number one productivity tool… lot’s and lot’s of water!
Hi Alex,
I’ve recently stepped up the time I’m dedicating to myself through mediation, nutrition and exercise. I am experiencing a different kind of tired now, than I was expeiencing about a month ago. The tired I’m feeling now is one of satisfaction from working out so much more than previously. Even the exercise I did get from just walking was not as fulfilling as spending 45-60 minutes in the gym at work.
WOW, what a difference real exercise and more healthy nutrition is making in my life.
I’ll try the water thing in the morning and see how that works.
Have a glorious day.
HI Alex,
I was trying to put my finger on why I’d felt more sluggish and apathetic this past month, and I figured it out. This morning, I went running…something I’d done sporadically over the past month. What a difference!
When taking a shower and getting ready for the rest of my day, I felt alive, strong, energized, and my mind was racing with thoughts and ideas. Just like it was in January, February, and March, when I went running every day.
It’s amazing what a little investment in physical activity will do for your productivity and well-being. Great article!
And don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need 8 hours of sleep per night. Maybe you haven’t heard of that study where people who were taken underground, with no clocks, no reference to time, and plenty of creative things to do ultimately slept about 5 hours per night (the number 4.22 hours sticks out in my mind, but I can’t find the study). Even more interesting in Steve Pavlina’s diary on
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