This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Happiness Equation" by Neil Pasricha. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What hinders productivity? How can you reduce the burden of trivial, insignificant tasks and free up the space to focus on what really matters?
One of the most common hindrances to productivity is being occupied with trivia. Trivial tasks contribute to stress and overwhelm as they waste your time, deplete your energy, and slow down progress on your goals. For example, deliberating over how to start an email uses up time and energy, distracts you from productive tasks, and eats into your relaxation time. But the result offers no benefits.
Here’s how to improve productivity by eliminating or streamlining tasks and decisions that deplete your energy yet offer little benefit.
How to Be More Productive
The key to being productive is to have your priorities in order. Reserve your energy for things that truly matter to you by reducing the time spent on trivial tasks through planning and automatization. Here is how to improve productivity by reducing the burden of trivial tasks and decisions:
Tip #1: Establish Routines for Regular Tasks
Pasricha suggests restricting time spent on regular tasks by automating as much as possible and creating routines and tight schedules for everything else. For example, if you currently check your blog stats multiple times a day, automate this task by opting to receive a single notification once a day. Alternatively, check your blog stats at a specific time each week instead of multiple times each day.
| How to Restrict Time Spent on Regular Tasks Productivity experts expand on Pasricha’s advice by offering a step-by-step approach to apply automation to your regular tasks. Track what you do: Log each task you perform, how often you perform it, and how much time you’re spending on it. Separate your tasks: Isolate low-value tasks—these are regular actions that don’t advance your goals and don’t require intense focus. For example, transferring information across applications or scheduling meetings. Research scheduling and automation tools: Consider what apps and tools you can use to reduce time spent on your low-value tasks. Ensure that they’re easy to set up and manage, or else they’ll end up wasting more time. Evaluate your productivity: Track your tasks again once you’ve comfortably adopted your chosen tools and assess their impact on your productivity. Regularly repeat steps 1-3 to refine your approach and free up more time. |
Tip #2: Cut Unnecessary Decisions
Write down all of the decisions you make in a day and consider which ones are insignificant wastes of time and energy. According to Pasricha, a decision is trivial if the outcome doesn’t increase your happiness or contribute to your goals. Then, come up with ways to remove the necessity of these decisions. For example, deciding to eat the same breakfast every day saves time and energy each morning and every time you go to the store.
(Shortform note: In addition to eliminating unnecessary decisions, reduce mental clutter by making necessary decisions as soon as possible. Dale Carnegie (How to Stop Worrying and Start Living) explains that mulling over decisions at length clutters your mind with a waiting list of concerns and makes you feel busier and more stressed. On the other hand, immediately resolving questions and problems prevents them from taking up space in your mind. If you can’t immediately resolve them, decide on a time to deal with them to prevent them from distracting you.)
Tip #3: Avoid Multitasking and Limit Distractions
Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Switching between tasks or giving in to distractions uses up mental energy and slows down productivity. Therefore, Pasricha suggests focusing on one thing at a time and limiting potential distractions to get more done in less time. For example, switch off your phone and email alerts until you complete your task.
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Happiness Equation summary :
- How to overcome the four common obstacles to happiness
- The five methods to reduce the toll of trivial tasks and decisions
- Why you need to stop chasing external validation
