Somehow I got invited to be part of the LifeRemix network of talented bloggers who write mostly about productivity and other elements of how to live your life (I provide the environmental contribution). Once a week we write a group-authored post, and this week it was about—you guessed it—productivity. Each of us had to offer up two tips about how to Work Like the Masters.
I thought, how am I, a guy who spends his days in the midst of this year-long experiment in extreme environmental living, supposed to come up with productivity tips? Not only that, but I’m not even sure I believe in the continual push to be more productive. Then, I realized, it is thanks to the experiment that I have become the most productive I’ve ever been—if productivity means using my time for what I want to use it for.
I bake my own bread, wash my laundry by hand, cook my family’s meals, do the food shopping, work on my book, film for the documentary, write this blog, spend quality time with my wife, take press interviews, give occasional public talks, play with my little girl every day, roughhouse with Frankie the dog and on and on. Where do I find the time?
The answer is, in part, in the No Impact Man productivity tips (though I’d rather call them take charge of your life tips):
Smash your cell phone:
I did. It dropped out of my pocket while I was riding my bike. I couldn’t buy another one because of the “no consumption” rules of the No Impact Man project. Now, I can run my own life instead of being at a little gadget’s beck and call. I let calls go to voicemail and I return them and make my own calls at 11:30 AM and 4 PM, when it’s convenient for me instead of for everyone else. Read more here.
Let your TV rob someone else’s time:
We gave ours away and now we have reclaimed the average American’s daily 4 hours 35 minutes spent in front of the tube. We have that time to spend with each other, on our work, and generally doing stuff instead of watching stuff. Plus we reduced our power consumption and carbon emissions! Read more here.
Just two example’s, I think, of how consuming fewer planetary resources can make for a better life.
PS If productivity tips are your thing, you can find a lot more of them in LifeRemix’s weekly roundup, which you’ll find at the top of the LifeRemix front page.