Feel Good Productivity is divided into 3 parts

1. Energise
2. Unblock
3. Sustain

Here's a summary of the first part - Energise. We've already covered the 3 chapters of Part 2 - Unblock

• Seek Clarity
• Find Courage
• Getting Started

Will post Part 3 summary soon, almost done with it.

Side note: I'm so happy I've managed to finish this book and written the summaries. I've struggled with finishing tasks recently and I'll be very glad when I've done this.

PART 1 | ENERGISE

Chapter 1 - Play

One of the things that brought us joy as kids was play. Still does. So why not incorporate some play in our work. Why do we need to take everything seriously all the time? Here are a few ways to make work fun.

1. Create an adventure

Adventures energise us, that's why games like World of Warcraft and DnD are so popular.

• Choose a character - How we think of ourselves, view ourselves, label ourselves plays a huge role in what we are able to achieve. What we believe about ourselves usually comes true. So choose a character that you’d like to play in the best version of yourselves. Believe you are it - like in a play. Don't be restricted by who you think you are right now.
• Embrace curiosity - Curiosity develops your mind. Without curiosity, you might as well be a dead end in yourselves. So embrace it, learn about things you may have no need of, keep learning. It may open doors you can't even think of right now.

2. Have Fun

Don't take life so seriously. Have fun in the process of living it.

• Make work fun - does your work really HAVE TO BE dull? What if it was fun? What would it look like? You might discover that very small changes might make a dramatic difference in how you choose your work. Use them. Make it fun.
• Enjoy the process - Life is happening right now, while you are trying to achieve your goals. This it it. This is life. It’s not an end point to get to. If you forget to enjoy the process, you will feel empty when you “reach the goal”. There isn't much at the top, the journey is the part you need to appreciate.

3. Lower the stakes

It needs no saying that stress kills the fun out of everything. You can choose your actions, but you can't choose the outcome.

• Reframe your failure - often we treat every failure like the end of the world. It isn't. Most times it doesn't even matter in the long run. And no one else cares. Do not get stuck on your failures, learn from them and move ahead.
• Be sincere, not serious - do not take the stakes too seriously. Be sincere in your efforts, not serious. You can still have fun in the process, whatever the outcome.

Chapter 2 - Power

Reclaim your own power. You have an incredible amount of influence on yourself. Use it.

1. Boost Your Confidence

Confidence can completely transform how you behave. It is counter-intuitive but your outcome changes dramatically if you’re simply confident.

• Confidence Switch - Confidence is initially given by your family and friends when you’re young. But what’s great is that you can boost your own confidence later in life. Giving yourself little boosts of motivation is in itself has an amazing effect. Better yet - what if you imagine and enact a scene of how things would look like if you were confident? It works.
• If they can, you can - While you may find a task impossible, just seeing someone else do it boosts your confidence. If they can, you can. If doesn’t seem so impossible anymore. For e.g. it’s mighty hard to raise funds. But then you see your classmate doing it. And suddenly you feel you can too.

2. Level up your skills

You don’t need to be an expert form the get go. You can learn by doing.

• The Shoshin Approach - Shoshin is a Japanese word for ‘beginner’s mind’. What it means is that if you approach any task with a beginner’s mindset - with no pre-conceived notions, no set strategy and willing to learn on the go, you might be able to do better that you would with the knowledge you already have.
• Teach someone - It is well documented that teaching what you learn is a very effective way of understanding your material better. If you have to explain something and put it in words, it forces your mind to crystallise thoughts that are probably floating around aimlessly. So find a protege, offer to teach them. It will help you.

3. Take ownership

It turns out that motivation is of 2 types - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation, i.e. self motivation like curiosity, fulfilment etc. is much more powerful than extrinsic motivation like rewards, punishment etc. And the good news is we can build intrinsic motivation by taking ownership of our work.

• Own the process - There will be certain parts of your work that you cannot control. You may not have control over a task, but you certainly have control over how you do it. Exercise that control, make it more your vibe.
• Change your mindset - When you have something you don’t want to do, remind yourself that you get to do it. Not everyone gets to. You may have worked hard to even reach a point where you get to do it. So stop complaining and remind yourself of all the hardship you faced to get there.

Chapter 3 - People

People are one of our biggest energisers. Have you noticed that interacting with some people energises you, but others are ‘energy vampires’? A few people simply drain the energy out of you. How do you get the best out people’s energy?

1. Find your scene

Being among your people energises you like nothing else. Your brain experiences camaraderie and bursts with action. Don’t underestimate the importance of finding your people.

• Comrade mindset - People are much more likely to help if they feel like there’re on the same team. Plus they tend to put in more effort so as not to disappoint others. That’s the mindset we should cultivate. We are all part of one team trying to pull each other up. Not competing with each other.
• Being in sync - Even if you can’t be working on the same task, you can be working on similar tasks together. As long as you feel like there’s someone with you, the task doesn’t matter. So be with people with whom you can work together and help each other.

2. Helpers High

Helping others make you feel better, more energised and releases oxytocin in your brain.

• Random Acts of Kindness - Small acts of kindness or a kind word costs you almost nothing but they can go a long way in energising yourself and others. Keep others in mind,help out where you can, like you would want for yourself.
• Ask for help - Often people are more willing to help you than you think. Learn to ask. It will strengthen your bond.

3. Overcommunicate

When you think you’ve communicated enough, it almost certainly isn’t enough

• Share the good news and react energetically too - When you share good news, it boosts the energy of both people involved. And it’s as importantly to react encouragingly too. If you react passively, or worse, negatively, it is unlikely that the speaker will want to share more with you in the future.
• Communicate the bad too - Sometimes it’s hard to give someone bad news. But if you adopt ‘candor’ as the principle, i.e. being straightforward but without judgement, blame or condescension, it ill eventually improve the trust in the relationship.