Happiness, productivity, abundance, and the ONE thing to rule them all

By Sam Alvarez | September 9, 2016

Sometimes we look back and it feels like we’ve not achieved anything, in spite of having hustled and ending up completely worn out at the end of the week.

In times like these, happiness and abundance, that we so desperately seek, seem so far away that it just doesn’t feel like it’s worth the effort. Looking back, we realize we’ve just been busy hustling from one thing to the next.

I have suffered through days like these. Many times.

When I was working as a Nurse Practitioner in Tucson, I had a series of unproductive, unfulfilling days. At the end of every week I would feel worse than the week before, yet I couldn’t seem to claw my way out of the hole I had dug for myself.

I would arrive to work and immediately become caught up in a hurricane of things to do. There were patients to take care of, charts to fill out, colleagues and students to guide and mentor, and a hundred other small tasks. I was giving all my care and attention to these things, and couldn’t even find two minutes to eat lunch. I knew it wasn’t good for me, but there didn’t seem to be any way out. I mean, wouldn’t it be selfish to abandon my patients and colleagues?

Well, after 3 months of trying to keep my head above water, I sunk. I couldn’t fake it anymore. I was forced out of my normal routine by burnout, and finally had to abandon my patients, my colleagues, and my job to recover.

The most important life lesson

My burnout-induced break gave me time to think and introspect. As I thought about what had led me here, I saw a common pattern emerging.

Bolting down my breakfast and rushing to work
Skipping lunch on most days; even on the days I did eat, it was mostly junk food
Spending all my time either in the clinic or inside my house
Not having enough downtime to decompress and relax
Not getting enough sleep

It had all been normal for me and I lived it like I could do it forever. I realized that I had ignored my physical and mental well being, just so I could somehow get all the things done that were being dumped on me. I had let myself be swept away by the tide of busyness and had been sinking all the time without even realizing it. The irony of being a health professional and neglecting my personal health isn’t lost on me.

I learned one of the most important life lessons after burning out — self care is everything.

After an extended period of introspection, I walked calmly but decisively into my job with a fresh perspective… and promptly handed in my resignation. As a Nurse Practitioner I had no control over my time or schedule, and it did not align with my newfound philosophy of a life focused on self care.

But I still had big dreams and wanted to go on adventures

Quitting my job was step #1, but it was what came after that really excited me. I bought a one-way ticket to Okinawa (Japan) to live there, soak in the culture, learn the language, and live my dream of traveling the world.

It might seem like the worst thing for someone fresh out of the burnout ward to do. The culture shock, the unfamiliar people and food, and with no job to return to it would seem I was digging an even deeper pit for myself.

I won’t lie, I was anxious and jittery for the first few months. But I felt alive again, and since then I have created a life for myself that I love. I have lived in 10 countries around the world, learned 4 languages, and am able to earn a living working remotely.

From the day I left for Okinawa to today, as I sit here writing this post in Berlin, self care has been my touchstone in the crazy nomadic life I have chosen for myself.

If you have big dreams and feel like hustling is the only way to achieve your goals, you may think that you don’t have time for self care. But what if you could use self care to become more productive and accomplish great things?

The 2-step tango for living a happy, productive, and abundant life

There are 2 main strategies that I use to make sure that I am being as productive as I can be, while making sure my mental and physical health doesn’t suffer. Both these strategies are centered around the theme of self care and you can put them into practice immediately.

Step 1 – Take self care breaks

I have talked about how we do our best work when we have high energy and quality time to dedicate to it, and how the Pomodoro technique helps me stay productive over longer periods of time.

I have found that the key to using the Pomodoro technique effectively is to practice self care during the breaks.

Now, 5 minutes may not seem like much, but there are plenty of self care tasks I could do in this short time — deep breathing, mindful body relaxation, getting up to drink a glass of water, humming a tune to myself. These tasks take my mind off the work, re-energize me, and are perfect for the 5 minute break between Pomodoro sessions.

For the 15 minute (or longer) breaks, there are other things I could do to practice self care. One of the important things for me is to eat healthy, and if I don’t put things like “eat a salad” on my to-do list I forget to eat at all. No wonder I was skipping lunch when I was a full-time Nurse Practitioner. That is why I have a green smoothie for breakfast, even if it takes more time. For lunch, I prefer to have green salads.

It doesn’t have to be about food all the time though. Being physically active is another way to replenish my energy levels, so I might go for a 15 minute walk after 3-4 Pomodoro sessions.

I keep my energy up by taking these self care breaks, and still manage to stay productive throughout the day by using Pomodoro sessions to get s**t done. Who says you can’t have a win-win?

Step 2 – Use only 80% of your maximum effort

When I was in my hectic job, I used to give 110% to it everyday. Then, on the weekends, I would go out with friends or attend social events, instead of taking the time to recharge. Now, I know that if I use 100% of my effort for even a few days in a row, it will leave me completely drained of energy and I will need a day or two to recover.

That is why I make sure that the tasks I put on my to-do list will only consume 80% of my maximum capacity. This little bit of energy gives me additional mileage on the days that I have to deal with some urgent task or an emotional storm.

Now, you might be thinking, “how do I even know what 80% of my maximum effort looks like?”

I don’t have a scientific answer for this, but you have to think of it in terms of your energy. A simple way to do this is to check in with yourself when you hit the bed or wake up in the morning.

You may be using up more than 100% of your maximum effort if:

You fall asleep as soon as you close your eyes, but still wake up feeling groggy and unrested
You have trouble falling asleep in spite of how exhausted you feel

And if you feel you are using more than 100%, a simple solution is to stop working one hour early. Do one less thing in the day, and see how it feels. Or you could go the whole way and adopt the ONE task rule.

Over time I have figured out what percentage of my effort each task will take, so I schedule to only 80% of my maximum effort. And I use the Pomodoro breaks to practice self care and recharge my energy levels.

None of this happened overnight. It has been a journey of a few tough years and a couple of burnouts. I still have the occasional low period and need to recover by focusing only on self care, but I know how to bounce back and stay happy, productive, and abundant most of the time.

You must learn to walk before you can dance

It may be overwhelming to think about all the things you would have to do to take back control of your life. Especially if you if you you are just rushing from one task to the next, staying busy throughout the day, and reaching the end of the week exhausted and wiped out.

All you need to do is just step back and relax. Let go of everything and focus on the ONE thing that energizes you.

For me, that ONE thing is self-care. It may be the same for you (hey, everybody can do with a healthy dose of self care), or you may be able to replenish your energy in other ways.

Maybe you like to read or learn new things; maybe you love doodling in a notebook; maybe you feel re-energized by spending time with friends and family. Whatever it is, find that ONE thing and make it a part of your life. Schedule it and practice it daily.

Happiness and productivity don’t have to be mutually exclusive in your life. It is in the joyful interplay between these two things that abundance exists. Once you figure out that ONE thing and shape the rest of your life around it, everything else just falls into place.