Here’s some information about peaceful productivity – fodder for our upcoming teleclass/conversation!
My beef with the productivity industry (copied and pasted from the not-yet-public sales page)
You have big dreams. It’s going to take some time to turn them into reality – you know that, you get that. But where is that time going to come from? You’re so busy you can hardly find any time for your Great Work, and when you finally do… (this is the embarrassing part) you get overwhelmed, so you procrastinate and waste time instead. Then you beat yourself up and doubt yourself. You think, “If my Great Work were really that important to me, I’d be able to just sit down and do it.”
It’s enough to get you down. It’s almost enough to make you want to give up. To think you’re not cut out for this.
I know, because I’ve thought those same things myself many times.
But the truth is that there’s nothing wrong with you – there’s something wrong with the entire productivity industry.
Tell me, how many books and courses have you seen with titles like these?
- Kick The $%&@ Out Of Your Fear
- Overcoming Your Resistance By Punching It In The Face
- Tie Yourself To A Chair And Write, Dammit!
- Self-Discipline – The Revolutionary “Shame Yourself” Method
Okay, so maybe they don’t all come right out and show their true colors in their titles, but their advice basically boils down to those 3 hateful words I loathe with every fiber of my being: “Just do it.”
And when you read those books or take those courses, the message you take home with you is:
- “You should feel ashamed of feeling afraid and overwhelmed.”
- “You should feel ashamed of procrastinating and resisting.”
- “You should feel ashamed if this doesn’t come easily to you.”
- “You should feel ashamed because you can’t ‘just do it’.”
Shame, shame, shame. Animal trainers figured out that praise works better than shame in the 1900’s – why haven’t our authors, teachers, and leaders caught up to the current century?
So let’s set that shame aside. (Don’t kick it in the face – just set it aside gently.)
Let’s choose compassion over shame.
Let’s choose peace over violence.
Let’s choose love over fear.
5 topics we can discuss
Here are the 5 weeks of our upcoming Peaceful Productivity class that also serve as the main topics we have a lot to say about.
Week 1: Peaceful Self-Care
First, we need to clean out the encrusted gunk that has accumulated from violent productivity techniques. Gunk like “I’m a lazy slacker if I’m not productive” and “I must earn love and worthiness by doing useful things.” We’ll clear out that crud and replace it with peaceful truths like “I am worthy of love for who I am, not what I do” and “I am enough.”
Action: You’ll put what you’ve learned into practice by taking good care of yourself and being completely, totally unproductive for 1 hour. We’ll be there to help you work through any resistance that comes up for you.
Week 2: Peaceful Habits
You’ll learn how to establish habits peacefully, in a way that works for you. You’ll learn the 7 principles of peaceful habit-building and how to apply them to your situation.
The wonderful thing about habits is that once they’re in place, you don’t have to push. You just do it, like you’re on autopilot. And that’s the last thing you’ll learn: when it’s good to be on autopilot, and when it’s dangerous.
Action: You’ll begin building 1 habit that will help you be peacefully, effortlessly productive. You’ll continue building it throughout the rest of the course.
Week 3: Peaceful Motivation
You’ll learn the three principles of peaceful motivation – all carrot, no stick. You’ll learn why having goals isn’t enough, and what the missing ingredients are. You’ll learn when to motivate your mind and when to motivate your brain. You’ll learn how to make it easy for yourself – and how to NOT make it hard.
Action: You’ll make 3 small changes in your life (one for each of the 3 principles of peaceful motivation) that will help you feel inspired and motivated every day.
This is the topic of our own upcoming free teleclass, so we’ll steer the conversation away from being just a prehash of this topic so it won’t be redundant.
Week 4: Peaceful Time Management
You’ll learn how to find time for what’s important even if you’re super busy, which will include digging into a common time-killer: perfectionism. You’ll learn how to use Pace’s 3-tier to-do list system to help manage your time and put your perfectionism in perspective.
Action: You’ll work through a “what’s on your plate” exercise that will help you align your life with your true priorities – and then keep it that way.
Week 5: Peaceful Mind Management
You’ll learn the two most common causes of procrastination, and peaceful techniques for healing each one. You’ll learn how to stop thrashing and how to escape from overwhelm (which is not always what it seems).
Action: You’ll work through an “overwhelm management” exercise that will leave you feeling peaceful, organized, and on top of things.
We love to go on tangents and stuff so let’s keep it flexible – just wanted to give you an idea of our thoughts about peaceful productivity!