Insights on productivity from unusual places

I have been a productivity nerd all my life. Thanks to my congenital autoimmune condition, I got only 10 hours in a day while everyone else had a little more time than me. I had to cram a lot of things into that little time - studies, sports, art, quizzes, friends, and more. This taught me how to live with scarcity.

But my quest for efficiency and effectiveness took an unexpected turn when I stumbled upon wisdom in the most unusual place: a monastery.

In 2023 Dec, I went through a life-altering experience with Vipassana. I suddenly felt a lot more productive than usual. Lot more rested and relaxed as well. What takes 10 hours was complete in 2 hours in top quality. That was the epitome of productivity in my experience.

This took me into the monk world. I was intrigued by this minority bunch. When they enter the monastery they are ordinary people like us with all the bad habits, but just a few days in, they change. They wake up at 4 am. They meditate for 10 hours. They eat so little and on time. They sleep at 9:30. They talk less. They are always energetic and joyful. Isn't that what we want to achieve year after year?

I lived an undercover monk life for almost an year. I made my life so boring. I created a schedule and stuck to it religiously. My productivity skyrocketed.

Here are a few things I learned about productivity from this unusual place:

1. Modern knowledge workers like you and me give way too much importance to how we think and feel. Monks disregard that. Now I respect my mind and body as tools but I only give so much importance to them. There is something more than physiology and psychology. The key to joy lies there.

2. Monks have a super predictable boring life. This boredom helps their brain to have free space to think and act better. Awareness is cognitively expensive but awareness is the base for all actions. No wonder they save everywhere else and spend it all on awareness. That is a smart strategy for sure.

3. Monks have least cognitive load by removing decision fatigue. They wear similar clothes everyday. They eat similar meals at the same times everyday. They do similar activities day after day.

I realised: secret of being joyful and productive is simple. Just that they are in unusual places where we never look.

Hope you use these insights to make your 2025 worthy of your time. It is smartness to be productive than busy. It is intelligence to reap exponential ROI for a minimal investment.

Ready to experiment? Try this for a week:

• Choose your outfit for the entire week on Sunday

• Eat similar things daily at the same meal times

• Set specific times for checking emails and stick to them