So you’re interested in productivity hacking, eh?
You’ve thought deeply about your goals, planned them out and committed to an ambitious schedule…
…you’ve broken down your intimidating projects into small tasks that you can apply a strategy like The Tomato Timer Technique to…
...and you’ve successfully started and stuck with some new, productive daily disciplines by "Wedging" easy win targets into your daily routine.
WELL DONE!
So what’s next? What can you do now to take your productivity skills to the next level?
Are you ready for this monumental productivity game changer? You are? Awesome!
Alright...here’s the big secret:
More...
DO NOTHING!
Cultivating An Awareness Practice For Productivity Gains
By do nothing, what I mean is that you should (if you haven’t already), start cultivating a daily awareness practice as one of your most important daily rituals.
Let me briefly share the 2 types of awareness practices with you that have helped me learn to tame my inner anxieties and cultivate inner creativity to ultimately boost my productivity daily.
Seated Meditation Techniques
Start small with the Headspace mindfulness meditation app. Once 10 to 20 minute guided meditations have become a natural part of your daily routine, consider taking it to the next level by...
Signing up for a 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat.
The retreats are free (in fact, students are only eligible to donate both service or money back to Vipassana meditation centers if they have completed a course).
Vipassana meditation training may prove to be one of the most difficult yet most important self-growth endeavors you could ever undertake for yourself!Sign-up to learn Transcendental Meditation (TM).
Personally, I have no experience with TM, but have heard lots of anecdotal evidence from people I really respect singing its praises.
Learning TM with a trained teacher can be costly (>$1000 USD), but epic entrepreneurs, thought leaders and cultivators of world class cultivators of idea meritocracies like Ray Dalio attribute their success to TM.
Float Tanks (Sensory Deprivation Tanks)
Float Tanks have become one of my favorite tools for diving deep into my subconscious mind...effortlessly!
With Float Tanks, you lay down and “float” in a lightless, soundproof tanks with around 1 foot (30 cm) of extremely dense water that contain almost 1000 pounds (453 kg) of dissolved Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate).
You can view my favorite "Ferrari Experience" float tanks here: The Zero Gravity Float Rooms.
The water is heated to around 94 degrees F (about 34 degrees C), what’s agreed to be your Skin Receptor Neutral temperature, so you can’t perceive the difference between the float water below you and the air above you.
This extremely low-stimuli environment allows the conscious mind to automatically ramp down while the subconscious mind starts to emerge without much conscious effort or focus...I guess that goes without saying.
Floating will become one of your favorite creativity tools too if you begin to experiment with the practice.
Like TM, the only real downside to floating is the cost associated with it. 60 minute floats can range anywhere from $40 to $100 USD, depending on the quality of the tank system as well as the total experience offered by each float spa.
Plan to at least give Floating a few tries if a center is available in your area...most Float Spas offer an introductory discount for your first three floats to get you HOOKED!
You can search for a nearby Float Spas in your area here.
Ready...Set...Sit And Introspect...
I hope this quick post helps you get started integrating some sort of meditation or awareness practice into your daily routine and weekly schedule.
Even though it can be hard to spend some quality "quiet time" with your mind (especially if you're a "go-getter" type of personality), you might find that "doing nothing" each day is just what you need to crank your productivity up a gear!
P.S. I’d love to hear about your experience with meditation, float tanks or perhaps even a physical movement practices like dancing or martial arts. Leave a comment below to share how such practices have influenced your overall productivity!