This is the third and last post on the Productivity Equivalence. We have worked on the positive elements of the equivalence and now it’s time to work on the negative ones.
PE = Sleep + Diet + Exercise + Meditation/Prayer/Silence – Stress – Distractions
The negative elements are stress and distractions. As I said before you have maybe other feelings and attitudes that you would like to put on the side. Be my guest, please accommodate this equivalence best fits your needs, this is what it is for, so you can have an idea of what is working for you and what is working against you.
- Stress. As we know stress can be very harmful. High levels of cortisol for prolonged periods of time have been known to cause harm to the body. This stress causes also behavior changes that take a toll, most of the time a very heavy one, on our relationships. Some might be saying right now “well, be less stressed, easier said than done” Yes, it’s easy to say, but it’s also easy to do. What’s not easy is to take the right step and make the decision to do it, that’s the hard part. We have to understand that the decisions we make affect the present and the future. What we have from our past cannot be changed, it is done, it is what has brought us to where we are right now. At each present moment we can make decisions that transform our lives, make or not make a phone call, visit or not someone, write or not a story, keep or not a relationship. We have to decide what we want for us right now.If we don’t do it ourselves somebody else will or something else will. So it’s really that easy we have to deal with the stress you have to decide if you want to continue living a stressful life or not. if we decide we want to continue to leave stressful life then we must understand the price but we are willing to pay. we don’t want to live a stressful life and the only way to reduce the stress is to scale down then that is something we have to do. In the end it’s our choice, it is what we want and, as with everything else, we are responsible. I am not advocating that we have to eliminate all stress from our lives, some stress is useful, some stress is necessary. Without stress there is no excitement, no fun, no triumph. We need stress, but as we need water, too much water we drown and die, too little water we dry up and die, we need just enough.
- Distractions. Distractions are those activities that do not help us get closer to our goals. When we procrastinate and don’t do what we have to do we are getting distracted. When we were little and people told us “you can be anything” what they meant was “you can be whatever you set your goals to, and then work your ass off to get them” and distractions are what will keep us from reaching those goals. Some will start saying “you can’t be an NBA player, you’re too short” That’s true, but I can still play basketball, and work for the NBA or an NBA team, or a sportswear company that sells basketball apparel, I can still be all basketball if that’s what I want. But I have to focus on that, all the time. Distractions can take me offcourse in a big way, as would be getting stuck in a job that’s I hate because “I have to pay the bills” and never trying to build an alternate reality and then moving to that, or can take me offcourse in a subtle but constant way, as would be watching two hours of TV every night to “relax”, or wasting ten minutes on Facebook every hour. All those are examples of distractions. One of the most effective tools in our belt against distraction is the ability to focus. Yes, as I said many times before on other posts, being able to focus is one of the abilities we need to develop. The ability to focus and to regain focus quickly if it is lost for a moment is of paramount importance. An example of regaining focus quickly is being able to get back to what’s important seconds after being interrupted by a phone call, and alarm, an impromptu visit from a colleague with an unimportant question. But also being able to focus on long term goals. That focus, that has to be permanent for long periods of time has to deal with other different distractions. You get distracted when you get discouraged, discouraged because you can’t see the result of your labor and after a while you angst and question if the seed you planted will in the end bear the fruits you desire. You get distracted when you see other opportunities pass you by and you wonder if there are making the right choice. You get distracted by your entourage when they question your sanity and the value of what will be gained and instead of pushing you and helping you they want you to stop and hinder you. All of this requires courage yes, but most of all requires focus, and that’s what you have to train for, every single day.
So there you have it, we’ve taken three posts but we have dissected the Productivity Equivalence. As I said before, you might have other parameters you’d like to keep track off for your own version of the equivalence, but if you don’t, feel free to use this one, and for every action that you engage in check where it affects the most, where it puts in and where it puts out and decide on that information if it’s good or bad. As always, I’d love to read your comments on the subject, thank you for reading.
