This short
article, The
Science of Productivity by Gregory Ciotti, covers a lot of bases
and gives good advice (I think) based on recent research on our the brain
works. Ciotti leads off with the finding that willpower is a limited resource
and "can be used up in it's entirety!" So it's important to manage
this limited resource with the techniques in this article.
Before
continuing I should note also the work of Jonathan Haidt who shows that there
is a reason why we run out of gas with willpower: the subconscious mind, based
on the oldest part of the brain, represents thousands or millions of
years of evolution while the conscious, rational part of our mind came much
later. Haidt likens the relationship between the two as an elephant being
directed by a rider. The evolutionary momentum of the ancient elephant can
often over-power or out-last the will of the rider.
I've covered
the limits of willpower in the review of Roy Baumeister's book, Willpower:
Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.
Ciotti then
talks about the role of "deliberate practice," a concept coined by
Anders Ericsson who studied the practice habits of world-class violinists
versus others. The key difference in how they practiced is that the top
performers spent more time working on the hardest tasks, not just practicing on
what they're already doing well.
This leads to
Ciotti's key point: "discipline is best maintained through habits, not
through willpower." From there he goes on to offer additional advice on
how to break up practice sessions, break up projects into manageable, bite
sized steps using an Accountability Chart and planning your next day's work the
night before. He also shows how we fool ourselves into thinking we can
multi-task when research shows that people who try to do more than one thing at
a time actually accomplish less.
If there is a
theme I'd say Ciotti recommends breaking things into small steps: from taking
the first step on a project to breaking the project into small steps to taking
breaks every 90 minutes or so.
Read the whole
thing. It’s well worth reading.
