A Productivity Lesson From Matt D’Avella

What’s the lesson?

Matt D’Avella (a YouTuber, podcaster, and all-around cool guy) writes that he’s been on a pretty good run lately. And apparently it’s not because he stumbled upon some magical productivity hack. It’s because he’s gotten really clear on what gives him energy and what drains it.

Because, he argues, even though systems, tools, and morning routines can help, it ultimately comes down to energy.

So, he made two lists:

Things that drain my energy:

• Managing employees

• Being on camera

• Endless meetings

• Giving people feedback

• Conducting interviews (especially over 1+ hours)

• Giving interviews

Things that give me energy:

• Being alone

• Working independently

• Lifting weights

• Writing

• Editing

• Spending time with people I love

• Long walks

And he said for him, seeing it written out, flipped a switch. Once he realized what drains him, he could work to cut it back. And once he saw what fuels him, he could double down.

Doing it myself (uh, baby)

I read it and was immediately intrigued: “That could work for me too!” So, here is my attempt:

Things that drain my energy:

• Getting up late.

• Being in a messy environment.

• Being on my phone.

• Not regularly connecting with people I care about.

• Spending time with people I don’t feel comfortable being myself around.

• Avoiding things (this could be feeling certain emotions, speaking my mind, or finally facing a problem).

Things that give me energy:

• Doing a few important things well and leaving the rest be.

• Exercising.

• Getting outside and into nature.

• Spending time with friends.

• Deliberately being bored and thereby allowing myself to process things I’ve been avoiding.

• Challenging myself.

Reflection

Wow, Matt was right. That does create a lot of clarity. For a bunch of those, I never realized that they gave me / drained my energy. Alright, now I can get to work.

Matt D’Avella suggests starting to make small changes to do less of the “drains-my-energy-list” and more of the “gives-me-energy-list”.

Which probably does make more sense than doing it the other way around.

So, let’s start. From the first list I want to focus on: being less on my phone, getting up earlier, and regularly connecting with people I care about.

• I just looked at my screen time and *gasp*, it rarely seems to be less than two hours a day. Let’s see if I can stay under two hours for the next week.

• Then, I want to be out of bed before 9:30 (which, believe it or not, would be early for me) at least five out of the next 7 days.

• And I want to have seen some friends.

From the second list, two really call out to me: doing a few things well and deliberately being bored. I think they could improve my life massively. So:

• I want to have been doing deliberately nothing (except processing stuff that might come up) for at least half an hour, also 5 out of the next 7 days.

• And I want to have no more than 2 big things on my to-do list per day for also 5 out of 7.

Let’s see how that goes.