Balance

What the Most Productive Countries in the World Have In Common

What the Most Productive Countries in the World Have In Common

If I asked you which country was the most productive in the world, what would you say?

Japan? America?

Those were my answers, but they’re not even in the top 5.

Every year, Expert Markets study the productivity of countries around the globe. Their measurement stick, however, isn’t hours worked per week.

Rather, they calculate hours worked divided into income generated toward the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In other words, how much dough the average citizen earns per hour of effort.

Which makes sense.

What Einstein’s Most Famous Equation Says About Maximizing Your Productivity

What Einstein’s Most Famous Equation Says About Maximizing Your Productivity

In 1905, Albert Einstein showed us that time, energy, mass, and speed are intertwined.

The faster you move, the more energy you need.

The faster you move, the slower time passes for you.

The faster you move, the more your mass increases.

Reaching maximum speed, the speed of light, would require an infinite amount of energy and would mind-bogglingly, for you, bring time to a halt.

His formula, E=mc^2 mathematically describes how these principles apply to our physical world. But the concepts ring true for our daily life too.

Bust your ass too hard, and you’ll fall into bed exhausted.

Bust your ass for too long, and seconds will feel like minutes.

Bust your ass for too hard and too long, and you’ll feel as though you need an infinite amount of energy to go on. The “weight” of your work will become unbearable. You’ll burn out, falling to ground zero (or below).

You don’t think of Einstein’s equation while at work, but you feel the ramifications of overdoing it. You know deep down which tasks suck your energy and which tasks recharge it. And you instinctively know when it’s time to call it a day.

As it turns out, these feelings are key to maintaining the intricate balance between Einsteins four variables—time, speed, mass, and energy—which in turn is the key to becoming maximally productive.

The 7 Best Ways to Hustle Hard, Stay Productive, and Still Sleep Like a Baby Every Night

The 7 Best Ways to Hustle Hard, Stay Productive, and Still Sleep Like a Baby Every Night

It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?

The constant hustle. The endless grind. The relentless push to overachieve.

Every other social media post seems to have some self-improvement quote floating over a well-dressed celebrity, hustle-guilting you into working harder.

They tell us to never stop, never surrender.

They tell us to wake up at 5 am, exercise, side-hustle for a few hours, then put in a full workday and side-some hustle some more before hitting the sack.

5 Simple Ways to Find Time for Yourself So You Can Worry Less, and Relax More

5 Simple Ways to Find Time for Yourself So You Can Worry Less, and Relax More

There are 24 hours per day and 168 hours per week.

That sounds like enough time to finish your work and have time for yourself. But, as the end of the workweek draws near, you often find yourself with an unfinished to-do list and having spent very little time on yourself or the activities you enjoy.

This is fine on occasion. Nobody is perfect, nor should be.

But if this scenario repeats week after a week, you may soon find that your life has become all work and no play. Something which is a chilling thought by itself.

To help you strike a proper work-life balance, here are five simple ways that should help you find time for yourself and let you enjoy life more:

The Necessary Ingredient to Leadership, Competitive Greatness, Everything

The Necessary Ingredient to Leadership, Competitive Greatness, Everything

It was a three Advil and two Tylenol kind of morning.

I should have known it would be.

You can’t drink two beers, down three glasses of wine, eat four cake pops, go to bed five hours late, and expect to wake up at six am rearing to go.

At least I can’t.

No, when I woke this morning after a night of food-and-bedtime-debauchery, you could have told me…

How to Destroy Your Limiting Constraints

How to Destroy Your Limiting Constraints

The first time I watched my grade school friend, Brian, navigate his computer, I was awestruck.

Without touching the mouse, he was switching windows, selecting menu options, and “clicking” buttons on the keyboard, his fingers slamming keys like Mavis Beacon in a Red-Bull-induced typing competition 💻🏋️‍♀️😓.

I was shocked because I didn’t realize such speed and efficiency was possible.

Watching him, a master, was transformative.

You Can’t Always Be Productive

11 Likes, 1 Comments - Michael J Mehlberg (@michael.mehlberg) on Instagram: "You can't always be productive. ⠀ Some days you crush it. Other days you feel like moving to..."

You can’t always be productive.⠀

Some days you crush it. Other days you feel like moving to Australia.

I’ve seen a lot of Instagrammers make it look and sound like every day can be your best day.

It’s a lie.

Some days you wake up with a headache. Some days you miss your workout. Some days travel throws you off your routine, forcing you to eat crap food and providing no time to settle into deep, focused work.

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Don’t let it get you down. Don’t let it kill your motivation.

Productivity ebbs and flows. From day to day. From month to month.

Flow with it.

  • Meditate.

  • Play some upbeat music.

  • Call a friend or family member.

  • Write down what you’re grateful for.

  • Get your blood moving with some light exercise.

  • Do something nice for someone else, no strings attached.

  • Write down what’s bothering or stalling you, and what you can do to fix it.

  • Relax, read a book, play a video game. Set a timer so you don’t feel guilty.

  • Strike out everything on your todo list except one thing you know you can knock out under the circumstances.

Any one of these ideas is better than stewing in guilt, and just might kick you back into gear.

If all else fails, don’t worry, and don’t beat yourself up. If you’ve built a plan for tomorrow and a system for your week, your month, and your year, you can sit the bench today. You’re already set for balanced, productive success for the long haul.

While you’re at it, keep in mind the words of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst:

It’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, day. My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.
— Judith Viorst

About the Author

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Michael Mehlberg

HUSBAND, FATHER, ENTREPRENEUR, BUSINESS STRATEGIST, AUTHOR, FITNESS NUT, ORGANIZATION FREAK, PRODUCTIVITY JUNKIE

I help high-achieving entrepreneurs live their passion and achieve their dreams by consistently saving time, getting productive, and being more efficient and organized.

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