Ben Elijah (@inkandben) is a consultant in the productivity sector and author of the book The Productivity Habits. In this conversation, we dig into the productivity sector as a whole, and discuss his origins as an author and as a not-very-productive person.
The Productivity Habits, by Ben Elijah
This episode is oddly self-referential, as we, two productivity nerds, talk about how bad we are with our own habits, and about how we continually struggle to stay productive — at least in our own eyes. Ben writes and speaks about the topic, which is an ongoing struggle for all of us. You’ll learn some of Ben’s tested habits and techniques you can use to get started down the road toward better effectiveness.
Catch up with Ben via his site, InkAndBen.com
Show Notes & Links
In case you’ve forgotten, The Busy Creator discusses Tools, Techniques, and Habits
Ben admits that he came to focus on productivity because he’s “very bad at it”
Getting Things Done by David Allen On Amazon and On Audible
The Productivity Habits by Ben Elijah On Amazon
Ben observes some of the same routines everyday in creative pros
Ben and Prescott are prone to “depressive cycles of thought”
“Really creative people care about things … but do they deploy passion the right way?”
—Ben Elijah
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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Is your pensivity turned up to 11?
A problem that affects [young] people is their inability to plan
“Education is serial; in work, things come in parallel”
—Ben Elijah
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“Who am I going to disappoint today?”
—Merlin Mann
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Merlin Mann, productivity writer
According to Ben, there are no “high habits” to which we should all aspire to
“There isn’t anybody talking about this that isn’t also a student”
—Ben Elijah
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Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous small improvements
“It takes a certain amount of self-awareness just to begin”
—Prescott Perez-Fox
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“The world that the human brain has created is very ill-suited to the human brain.”
—Ben Elijah
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“Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them”
—David Allen
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The Ether
Make sure you’re doing productivity, not “pornography”
Memento
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg On Amazon and On Audible
Reddit, a classic time-waster
The Cult of the Morning Routine, see also: The Busy Creator Podcast ep 65 w/Cathryn Lavery
Ben hates the word “productivity” because it encourages the “easy-answer people”
Prescott hates the word “branding”
“For me to become even moderatel effective has taken nearly 10 years of blood, sweat, tears, and constant failure.”
—Ben Elijah
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[n] ways to [verb][problem] — solves the wrong problem
Clickbait
Context, in the David Allen sense, is something that constrains us
“A context is a function of space, time, and thought.”
—Ben Elijah
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“Switching between tasks has overhead”
—Ben Elijah
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Ben prefers a state of flow over rapid-switching
You can’t go “from zero to Ninja”
Sixth Form
Makes Its Own Gravy
Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule by Paul Graham
Ben Elijah on Twitter
Tools
AquaNotes, a waterproof notepad for your shower
In-baskets, for a paper-full office
OmniFocus
Squarespace
Techniques
Experiment with a “system” for recording ideas, thoughts
Build a habit by using the Trigger/Reward/Routine approach
Observe your situation — mood, energy, time, equipment
Work out of order, depending on what’s appropriate to the situation
Create tasks that are “granular”, and cannot be broken down further
Habits
Carry a notebook and record ideas
Build the routine of reviewing your notes
Wake up at 5:30 to write, prepare, workout
Eat a high protein breakfast
Try Audible.com Free for 30-Days
Visit BusyCreatorBook.com for your free trial
Get The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg as a free audiobook
Get The Episode
Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 66 (MP3, 50:55, 24.5 MB)
Download The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 66 (OGG, 50:55, 21.5 MB)
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