My productivity journey began around 15 years ago when I transitioned from a steady corporate job to the chaotic, exciting world of startups. Armed with a top-ranked international MBA, I was eager to dive into the world of execution and innovation.
I had absolutely no idea what I’d got myself into!
Phase 1: Overwhelm
Just like that, the structured, predictable days of corporate life were over. I was now an entrepreneur, drowning in a whirlpool of tasks and responsibilities. I was no longer guided by managers who set my priorities; I had to figure them out all by myself.
My to-do list exploded. Both, high-value business growth work, as well as the myriad of administrative chores that come with running a business, sat side by side in my to-do list.
Just a few weeks into my entrepreneurial career, I faced a daunting mountain of never-ending tasks. All I remember from that time was this constant sense of overwhelm like I had never experienced before.
I desperately needed a solution to regain control over my work and my life. A couple of searches led me to “Getting Things Done” by David Allen. I embraced and implemented Allen’s methodology, learning the art of capturing, organizing, and clarifying tasks.
Phase 2: Efficiency
This phase marked my transition from overwhelm and chaos to efficiency and organization but left me with long working hours and a sense that there had to be more to productivity than just being efficient and organised.
I was enjoying my new-found efficiency, getting things done, and enjoying the high of knocking tasks off my to-do list. I was also enjoying experimenting with various productivity apps and tools. But I was still working long hours.
And despite all the efficiency and hard work, my start-up was struggling. On the personal front, my wife and I had our first child and my family needed my time and attention as well.
I knew I had to focus on the high-impact work that needed to be done to scale our startup and I needed to carve time out for my family. This is when I discovered the ‘Four Hour Work Week’ by Tim Ferriss with its promise of ‘10Xing my per hour output’. I applied the elimination, automation and delegation hacks from this book, and I definitely became more efficient, less busy and more in control.
Through this phase, despite the added ‘baby and family’ responsibilities I managed to figure out how to balance my life and my work. I figured out a workflow, and a set of apps, that helped me effortlessly manage a high volume of tasks across my work and family life.
My startup was still middling along though. It was nowhere near the scale we had imagined we could achieve when I started this journey. It seemed like all my hard work through the years wasn’t adding up to anything. Despite being highly efficient and organised, why couldn’t I achieve my goals?
It was a strange paradoxical realisation. I was getting things done — but I was not achieving my goals.
I yearned for something more profound, a shift from being merely efficient to being effective and eventually successful.
Phase 3: Effectiveness
The missing piece of the puzzle fell into place when I read Cal Newport’s book, “Deep Work.” It emphasized the importance of quality over quantity, of focus, concentration, and reaching the state of flow while working.
Building the habit of working deeply and incorporating longer blocks of undisturbed time became the cornerstone of my evolving productivity system.
As I incorporated Deep Work into my productivity system, my effectiveness and results shot through the roof. I managed to get a reasonable exit for my startup and started a consulting practice focused on driving growth for small businesses and startups. My productivity system was finally helping me get results and achieve goals.
I now had a comprehensive productivity system that has helped me and other founders multiply productivity, improve effectiveness and achieve our goals much faster.
My Personal Philosophy of Productivity
Over time, I’ve come to embrace a personal philosophy of productivity that emphasizes not just efficiency but results. It’s about spending time figuring out what matters, aligning your actions, and then working deeply on these priorities.
I’ve learnt the hard way that productivity isn’t merely about getting more things done or optimizing every aspect of your life. It’s about understanding your priorities, focusing on what truly matters, and achieving your goals faster, with less effort.
The Nerd Productivity System
I’ve consolidated everything I’ve learnt about productivity into ‘The Nerd Productivity System’ – an online course that will teach you how to achieve your goals faster while living a balanced life and spending guilt-free time with your friends, family, hobbies or side projects.
Whether your goal is to achieve more success or to maintain a balanced life with less stress, The Nerd Productivity System can be personalised to your unique needs and aspirations.
The online course will help you take your overwhelming to-do lists, incomplete projects and anxiety-inducing open loops and set them up in a system you can trust to help you achieve your goals faster.
It will help you overcome procrastination and distractions, get organised, stay focused on your priorities and on top of your commitments.
The course has 11 step-by-step video modules showing you how to set up recommended apps, integrations and automations to effortlessly stay on top of your life and work.
Achieve your goals twice as fast in half the time
The path to productivity is an intensely personal one, tailored to your own goals and desires. It’s not about being a slave to your to-do list or working endless hours; it’s about reclaiming your focus, identifying your priorities, and achieving more with less.
Over the last 15 years, I’ve built and sold two ecommerce startups in Asia, had two kids, moved with our family to London and built a successful growth consulting business. I’ve been living in London for the last 5 years helping startup founders and small business CEOs get sh!t done and achieve their goals faster with lessers hours, anxiety and stress.
Join me in this journey of productivity, where you’ll discover strategies and techniques to transform the way you get things done, empowering you to reach your full potential.
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