My favourite way to be productive, according to science

reading time: 2 minutes

Mid-February. Melbourne. My daughter was crying hysterically, the air was dry and hot, and the washing machine broke. At the time I was doing a lot of things simultaneously. I was making content on Instagram and TikTok, writing blogs and newsletters for clients, studying full-time, doing some freelance consulting, running a bakery, and adjusting to the new-dad life. I tricked myself into thinking that busy equals productive, and productive equals happy life. Well, it turns out that didn’t work.

Looking back, I wasn’t even productive at all. I had so many half-done tasks on my to-do list that still remains open even until today. And knowing that it’s not sustainable, I committed to change how I do life. I wrote a post on LinkedIn about this change, and the good news is people really resonate with it. But the bad news is, I was in fact, mentally struggling.

Why time-blocking works, according to science

The single change that successfully calms the storm in my head was time-blocking. I dragged the next day’s first task onto a single block of rectangle on Google Calendar. Then I dropped the next task to another rectangle.. and so on.

Going the extra mile, tasks that were not related to work were also placed to a specific time block. In my case for example, I had plenty of tasks titled, “Read X number of pages of The Psychology of Money.” I was also very strict with my wind down time at night. After 10PM, my phone goes into night mode, and I place it face down away from my bed so I am not incentivised to easily check my phone out.

The first time I really followed my pre-planned day felt so weird. I found myself looking for other things to do while I was in the middle of doing something else. But with crazy amount of repetition, it eventually feels natural. Most importantly, everything is and feels “done” at the end of the day.

Back in the 90s, Peter Gollwitzer and Veronika Brandstatter ran a simple experiment with German university students. Everyone was given the same assignment: write a short report about how they’ll spend their upcoming Christmas holidays. Easy enough, right?

The researchers then divided the students into two groups. One group received general instructions in the form of, “just write and mail the report.” The other group got one extra step, i.e., they had to specify exactly when and where they would write it. So they wrote down things like, “On 26 Dec, after breakfast, at my study table, in my bedroom.”

What happened next showed that students who committed to specific details of their plan, which psychologists call an “implementation intention”, were significantly more likely to complete the task. In fact, 71% of them wrote and mailed their essays, compared to just 32% of those who had a vague intention to write.

On the original paper linked above, the researchers actually did 3 studies to analyse this phenomena. Going over all three will take more space than what I promised in the beginning of LessonsLearned, so I’ll let you have a look at those yourself. If by any reason you couldn’t get access to the full paper, reach me at [email protected]. I’ll flick you a copy. 

But why does specifying a when and where make such a big difference?

Implementation intentions are specific if-then plans that pushes our brain to act. It works by embedding intentions into our cognitive systems. If I define precisely when and where I’ll do something, Peter and Veronika suggested that my brain encodes that information into my memory, and links a situational cue (the “if”) with a behavioural response (the “then”). When situation arises, the response occurs almost automatically, just like a computer algorithm.

In their experiment, Peter and Veronika showed this at work. Students weren’t asked to rely on motivation or willpower alone. Those students displayed automating actions by pre-planned associations. It wasn’t that they cared more or had better self-discipline, it was simply because they had created the conditions that allowed their future selves to act.

For those of us juggling chaotic work schedules, this paper is a clear reminder for us that scheduling tasks in advance doesn’t only keep our days organised; it literally helps automate actions. If you wanna effectively experiment yourself, remember these three things:

1. Write the start time you wish to do that task

2. Write the end time you wish to complete that task

3. Write a designated workspace of where you wish to do that task

There are soooooo many ‘productivity hacks’ going around the internet right now. But if you want to take away one thing that essentially covers all of those hacks, it is simply doing the things you said you were going to do, and nothing else. 

See you next Saturday!

Your biggest fan,

Krish

If you enjoyed this post or know someone who may find it useful, please share it with them and encourage them to subscribe: https://lessonslearned.beehiiv.com/p/my-favourite-way-to-be-productive-according-to-science