The Science of Productivity

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.