MBA2581 Must Read: Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal

0:00What if productivity could feel good instead of draining? That's the premise of Ali Abdel's book, Feel Good Productivity. In this book, he shares practical strategies to get more done in a way that feels joyful and sustainable. And I really like this concept, this big idea that like, if you want to get more done, you really should try to enjoy the process. Kind of makes total sense. But what makes this book so productive or so helpful is the how. This book flips the script on the traditional hustle mentality and focuses on making productivity something you actually enjoy. Today, I'm going to break down this book and tell you what it's all about, who's it for, and my five favorite takeaways, the biggest takeaways I got from this book that can help you be more productive without sacrificing your well-being and just feeling good about what you're doing every day.

0:50Plus, I'm going to share where I think Ali kind of disappointed me in this book. More about that later.

0:59Welcome back to the$100 MBA show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhoff. home, or I help you start, grow, and scale your business with practical business lessons three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. My job here is to help you take action so that after every episode, you can learn something, you can implement it, and get better and move one step closer to your goals. Today's episode is a must-read episode where I share with you a book that I've read that has impacted me, influenced me, helped me in some way. So if it's on this podcast, it's worth reading. And I share with you my favorite takeaways, what you will really enjoy about this book, where you'll find benefit from it.

1:38And in this book, Feel Good Productivity is going to help you if you've ever struggled with burnout or found yourself dreading your to-do list. Whether you're in a job right now or you're transitioning out of your job into entrepreneurship or you're in full-time entrepreneurship right now, it's packed with actionable tips to help you get more done without sacrificing the joy of what you're trying to do here and without total imbalance. This book is a bit of fresh air from what we see on social media with people shouting to work harder. You're not working hard enough. You're not sacrificing enough.

2:07This is a different perspective. So let's dive in. So what is feel good productivity all about? Well, I found that Ali in this book tried to create a guide to redefine productivity. Instead of focusing on grinding harder or doing more just for the sake of it, right? Ali encourages us to align our work with our energy, with our values, with our joy. So I first want to just outline who I think this book is for. This book is going to be helpful if you're an entrepreneur looking for more of a sustainable way to approach your work. You might be a professional in a job, feeling stuck in the grind of the nine to five life.

2:44Maybe you feel like transitioning and you want to get a little bit more productive so that you have time to do your side hustle. Or I would say in general, it's for anyone who wants to achieve more while feeling good about it. I want to also mention that as somebody who's been doing entrepreneurship for over 20 years, I've been doing it full time since 2012. So it's been 13 years now. At the end of the day, even if you create your own life and your own business and your own work schedule and everything, eventually when you're doing something consistently, it does start to feel mundane and a bit like a job.

3:18and sometimes the joy of it kind of fizzles out, kind of fades away. And it's important for you to re-inject joys. Important for you to remind yourself why are you doing this in the first place and how you can have more fun with it and remind yourself of the autonomy that you have. So even if you're a totally independent entrepreneur and you're working hard on your business, you can really fall into this trap of like not feeling great about what you're doing every day. And this really makes you feel bored and doesn't allow you to be productive. And you don't have that energy you had when you first started that business where you had so much motivation.

3:49I also want to say that this whole thing about feeling good about your business and using that as motivation to be more productive, it's different for everybody. Some people have that drive. They just have that hunger for success. They're highly competitive that that flame doesn't really fade. And on the other side of the spectrum, there's a lot of people that just get bored very easily, very quickly. So whether you're on the extreme, super motivated spectrum side of the spectrum or the person that kind of gets bored very quickly, I find that this book could be helpful in just even just reminding you to have fun and enjoy what you do.

4:26So I want to share with you my five biggest takeaways from this book. And the first one is productivity isn't about doing more. It's about doing what matters. I really enjoyed this part of the book. I'm really glad it was at the start of the book because I think it's really important. I think Ali really does a good job emphasizing that being productive doesn't mean cramming your schedule with as many tasks as possible. It means focusing on the tasks that truly align with your goals and values, really getting real about what are you trying to do? Where are you trying to go? And what are the tasks and the things you need to take on, like the action steps you need to take that actually get you closer there, rather than kind of making you feel like I'm busy, like I'm working hard here, you know, that you can just kind of validate that feeling of you're trying.

5:12So in the book, he talks about how to apply this idea of really focusing on what really matters to you. And he says to start each day by identifying your most important tasks and work on that first. And I've been doing this for a very long time. So it was kind of nice to see that my practice has been validated by somebody else. What I do is I like to do a to-do list for the week. I like to just jot down everything in my notebook of, you know, if this week would be a win, these are the things I need to get done. Now, they're not like every little small task. It's just like, hey, I need to record X amount of episodes of the podcast.

5:49I need to do this meeting. I need to get on this coaching call, whatever it is. Like these are the things that are going to actually move the needle in my business. And if I get these things done, it'll be a successful week. And then it's kind of like a master list. And then I pull from that list every day and say, okay, today I'm going to work on those things to make a dent and move forward and get closer to what would be a successful week. Just side note, I actually tried to do this for the whole month and I found it to be very difficult to kind of measure how much I can actually do in a month and what is important for the whole month to be successful.

6:23I just found it easier to concentrate on the week because a week is just five days. I can really have a vision for what that week would look like. My second favorite takeaway from this book is energy is your most valuable resource. And for a very long time, even till today, I say time is your most valuable resource because you can't make more time. But I think they kind of go hand in hand, energy and time. And that's one of the things that Ali highlights in the books, how tasks feel easier or harder depending on your energy levels, right? If you feel good about it. So you actually can make use of the time you have or make more use of your time if you have the right energy.

6:56So how do you apply this? How do you actually do this in your day to day? Well, he talks about schedule high energy tasks when you feel most alert and save low energy tasks when you're naturally more kind of lethargic or tired. And this is what I do every day. So my ideal schedule is I wake up in the morning, I have breakfast, I go to the gym. I like to start with the gym because it allows me to get energy, right? And I kind of get that out of the way and the rest of the day is a win because I went to the gym already. But then immediately after the gym, I get to work, I take a shower, I get to work and I work on all the high energy tasks, high cognitive tasks like scripting videos or shooting an episode like this one, which I'm doing, you know, at this time period, just went to the gym an hour ago.

7:42So this is where I do all my high energy tasks. And then things like email, things like, you know, phone calls, things like that. I can do that when my energy has dwindled and it doesn't require me to be fully focused and high energy. And that's usually at the end of the day for five o 'clock. My third favorite takeaway from this book is the power of small wins. I'm a big believer of this. Wins and celebrating those small wins are essential to your success as an entrepreneur, especially at the start, because you need that momentum. In the book, Ali shares how celebrating small accomplishments creates momentum, like I just mentioned and helps you feel good about your progress.

8:23Just kind of that positive reinforcement that, hey, I can do good things. I can create good things. I can have wins under my belt. I am pretty good at what I do. The problem with a lot of high achievers and entrepreneurs in general, I found that we always look forward. We always look at what's next. We always look at what are we going to do, the next launch, the next product, the next million dollars we're trying to make, whatever it is, right? And we rarely look behind. We never look what we've accomplished. You know, we never kind of give ourselves a chance to kind of say, hey, I've done good things.

8:56I've actually accomplished a lot. And we don't actually stop and celebrate wins. And it's really important because this gives us the confidence and the momentum to keep going. In the book, this is how he recommends how to apply this concept is to break down goals into smaller manageable tasks and celebrate each milestone. Even if it's like, hey, I want to record two YouTube videos by the end of the day. And once you do that, you can't just like check it off the list and that's it. You should celebrate it somehow. You know, you should just take a moment, even just say, I've done it. You know, I promised myself to do this.

9:30I was committed to doing it. I got it done. I held to my word. Maybe even just go for a walk, enjoy yourself with a nice, you know, playlist of music, grab yourself an ice cream, whatever. The point here is that don't just let the time or the moment pass without celebrating it, even if it's just for a few seconds, a few moments, and just recognizing that you just won. My fourth favorite takeaway, embrace the joy of learning. In my opinion, I found this chapter quite important because I find that the through line of any successful entrepreneur that I have met or have worked with is that they are constantly learning.

10:07They're constantly willing to learn and grow, and that's how they continue to succeed. In the book, Ali argues that curiosity and the love of learning are key drivers of productivity. When you enjoy the process of growth, productivity just comes natural, right? When you just enjoy learning, enjoy the subject, if you're just enjoying the process of like, I didn't know that, now I know that I picked up a skill, your ability to continue to learn really becomes effortless. You know, Nicole recently is brushing up on her French because we're going to go to France later this year. And she's really enjoying the process of growing and learning and moving up the levels in her course and really being productive.

10:44And it's really helping her gain momentum because she's doing it every day. She has these streaks. And this is only possible because she's enjoying the process of learning. She's enjoying the process of getting better every day. So how do you apply it? Dedicate the time to learning something new every single week. whether it's a skill, whether it's a hobby, a topic that you're curious about, just spend some time, even if it's just 30 minutes, to learn something new every week. This is going to allow you to really improve your ability to pick up new skills. And if you want to be super productive, you can make sure it's something that has to do with your business, something that has to do with what you're building, whether it's a marketing skill, whether it's a tech skill, whether it's something that's going to allow you to be better as a public speaker, whatever it is.

11:29The point here is that spend 30 minutes to an hour once a week to learn something new to improve and enjoy that process. Lastly, my fifth and favorite takeaway from this book, focus on systems, not goals. In the book, Ali suggests that creating systems for your daily habits is more effective than just like obsessing over long-term goals. Systems provide a structure, provides a way for you to be consistent, while goals are just checkpoints. They're just really ambitions. One of my favorite analogies of this that I learned from Scott Adams, a great author, and he's the guy that created the Dilbert cartoons, or comics.

12:07And he says, instead of you trying to say, I want to have a six pack or I want to lose 10 pounds, those are goals. Instead of doing that, create a system where you just go to the gym every day. If you go to the gym every day, that will happen as a result, as a byproduct. The system is actually more important than the goal. So in this book, Ali shows you how to apply this by developing routines for reoccurring tasks, like a morning ritual or a way for planning your day or your week, like I mentioned before, or how to have a kind of retrospective and review how the week went. Ali's approach to productivity in this book is refreshing.

12:42It's practical. It really helps you be mindful about what you're doing when you're trying to be productive, how to get some joy out of it. The book really focuses on aligning your work with your joy, with your energy, with your time. These things are really important, and he illustrates with lots of great examples of how to apply it. And there's really a lot of actual tips and frameworks that make it easy for you to take action with what he advises. Now, at the start of the episode, I did mention I was disappointed when it came to one aspect of this book. I want to preface this by saying that I'm a fan of Ali Abdel's work.

13:18I've been following him for some time. I think he's one of the good guys in the business education world. He really teaches in a really fun and interesting way. If you don't know his style or his YouTube channel, you should check it out. It's got like over 3 million subscribers. Ali's the real deal. And he doesn't do it by, you know, flashing Lamborghinis and mansions. He does it by just being a great teacher. And that's kind of why I was so disappointed. Because he doesn't really draw a lot of examples or a lot of stories from how he applied this concept, feel good productivity from his own experience as a creator, as a YouTuber, as an entrepreneur.

13:53Like this is why he is popular. This is what people know him for, right? He's got a highly successful YouTube channel and a great YouTube course that I've taken called Part-Time YouTuber. It's a very, very interesting brand that he has, and he's really good at what he does. A lot of the examples he's giving are one from his career as a doctor, because he was a doctor before he was a full-time creator and entrepreneur, but also a lot of great examples from science and stories, and that's all good, I love it, but I wish I heard more about how these concepts have helped him as an entrepreneur, as a creator, because I'm a creator, I'm an entrepreneur, I wanna see how he works and how he applies this stuff.

14:34It was sprinkled here and there, but not as much as I wanted, right? To be honest with you. Now, this could have been a strategic move from the publisher, you know, encouraging him to say, draw from your experience as a doctor might give more of a broader appeal to the audience. I'm not really sure. But if Ali is watching, Ali, love your stuff. The next book you write, please, please, please give us a lot more stories from your own experience as an entrepreneur, as a creator. I would love that because as a fellow creator entrepreneur, I want to trade notes. I want to see what you do. And that's really something that I'd really enjoy and get a lot out of.

15:07That said, it's an incredibly valuable read, especially if you're looking for a productivity approach that doesn't feel like a grind or hustle culture or kind of working yourself to death. So if you're ever struggling with burnout or feel disconnected from your work, Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal is a must read. And just to recap, my five biggest takeaways, here they are. Number one, productivity is about doing what matters, not just doing more. Number two, manage your energy to maximize your output. Number three, celebrate small wins to build momentum. Number four, make learning a joyful habit.

15:42And number five, focus on systems to create consistency. Now, these are just my top five takeaways. There's a ton more. I like to leave something for you to enjoy and discover on your own when you read the book. So go ahead, pick up the book, Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abadal. You're really going to enjoy it. I sure did. And I got to say that I started reading this book in physical form. And then I found that there was a lot of stories in the book, a lot of examples, a lot of studies. I transitioned to audiobook. I listened to the book on Spotify, and I found it to be more enjoyable, actually.

16:16He actually narrates it, Ali narrates it, and he does a great job with it. But because of all the stories, I find that books that have a lot of stories are really great as audio, because as stories are just naturally told in an auditory form, this is how we evolved as human beings. So this is something that we're used to as tribes, right? But the point here is that you might enjoy this book on audio because of all the stories and Ali's approach to telling those stories in the audio format. Thanks for tuning into the Nerd All MBA Show. By the way, if you want more must-read book recommendations, we have a ton.

16:47I think we have over 100 over at 100mba.net slash read. I'm Omar Zinom. And if you found this episode helpful, do me a solid and share it. All right. Share it with a friend on WhatsApp, on Messenger, on whatever you want to do. on social media. By sharing it, you allow other people to benefit and you allow other people to learn and grow. Thanks so much for listening and I'll check you in the next episode.