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11 Productivity hacks from an ex-workaholic

A new week is about to start, and I'm not planning to work 15 hours a day like a year ago.

Here is what I've learned from a [almost] mental breakdown to building a $10mm company:

1. You shouldn't be proud to work 15 hours a day.

15 hours a day is a demonstration of bad time management/lack of productivity. You will be tired after 3days and mentally weak because of the lack of social interactions with your friends & family.

2. Money should never be your sole source of motivation.

I've always dreamed about having a Porsche.

I was focused on the car as opposed to what I should do to get it.Then, I rented one for 2 weeks.

I realized one thing. And, it reflects 30 years of disillusion. The best sensations don't come from the exhaust. But from the person on your side.

Money won't make u happy. People around you will.

3. Compare yourself with 'yourself' of yesterday.

The only person you need to impress is yourself. Be proud of yourself and learn to enjoy small victories. Comparing with people that are miles away will only demotivate you. Success comes from the compounded victories.

4. Track everything you do.

Download Trackmator or any other productivity tracking tool (it doesn't matter which one, just get one). The sooner you do it, the sooner you will be able to achieve more in less time. Work 5 hours without social networks and phone. You will achieve more than in your 15 hours of "work".

5. Set long-term goals as a north star.

Set bitesize short-term goals as your weekly/monthly tasks.

You don't climb Everest in one go. You set targets and you go step by step to the top. Looking at the top from the bottom will only demotivate you.

6. Execution is more important than planning.

I could read 10s of articles on how to write a good post.
Hire copywriters to correct my grammar, etc.

Or I could do it myself, ship faster, and iterate down the road with your feedback. In the end, execution and distribution beat everything.

7. Spend time where it matters

Don't spend it on your Investor Deck to choose the right icons, the right taglines, design.

If your project/startup sucks, it's because of its metrics and/or positioning [most of the time correlated]. Not because of the style of your deck.

8. Kill perfectionism.

You're not working at McKinsey.
Nobody cares about the style of your ppt strat file. Nor your typo and alignment.

Pareto rules the world. 80% of the results come from 20% of the input. Minimum input, maximum output.

9. There is no shortcut.

Sometimes, you may feel that what you're doing is useless.

But it's not.

It will help you to connect the dots at some point in your journey.
Don't lose faith. Success rarely comes overnight.

10. Don't rely on other people to do something.

If someone is the bottleneck, start by yourself, and iterate down the road. ie: Don't wait because your logo is not top-notch. Use a simple flaticon free logo, and change it afterward. Same for 90% of what you will do.

11. Keep pushing.

I'm a "nobody".

I'm not better than anyone.

I just enjoy the ride, in {almost} everything I do. Because obstacle is the way.

Enjoy the ride, not the destination You're not alone.
We're all in the same boat.

This was originally posted on my twitter.

Let me know your thoughts about your productivity flow. I'm very curious to know more about you and your experience :)

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