Hey there, it's Professor Bernstein, the president and founder of Get Yourself Into College,
and in today's video, I want to share with you a surprisingly simple way to be more productive
in high school, college, and beyond.
It's really, really simple.
All you have to do is minimize the number of decisions you need to make every day by
establishing fixed routines for yourself.
This is really, really easy.
Let's consider what Alexa Von Tobel and President Obama have to say about their use of this
strategy for enhancing their productivity.
Alexa Von Tobel, the young CEO of LearnVest shared her thoughts when she was profiled
in the December 2013 issue of Fast Company.
Just FYI: This issue features an extensive spread on the "Secrets of the Most Productive
People" and is definitely worth checking out if you're curious about how people like Pharrell
Williams, Anthony Bourdain, the Dalai Lama, and many other fascinating people keep themselves
in states of peak productivity.
You can even see their daily schedules.
It's pretty cool.
So Alexa's on a mission "to make financial advice accessible for millions of Americans"
and says she's "never left the office for food."
She eats "the same thing every single day--an apple, almonds, yogurt, a salad."
She explains that her "ultimate goal is to create. . .systems for [herself] that allow
[her] to think as little as possible about the silly decisions you can make all day long--like
what to eat. . .--so [she] can focus on making real decisions."
"Mental energy," as she points out "is a finite quantity.
You can only spend so much time on the really critical decisions that move your company
forward."
President Obama shares a similar belief.
As the president noted while spending time with Michael Lewis, whose article about the
experience is featured in the October 2012 issue of Vanity Fair, "You need to focus your
decision-making energy.
You need to routinize yourself.
You can't be going through the day distracted by trivia," so you "need to remove from your
life the day-to-day problems that absorb most people for meaningful parts of their day."
President Obama explains that he wears "only gray or blue suits" because, he's "trying
to pare down decisions."
He doesn't want to spend time making "decisions about what" he's "eating or wearing" and mentioned
"research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one's ability to make further
decisions."
So how do you think this approach to increasing your ability to get things done and make important
decisions can enhance your studying and academic performance?
I challenge you to come up with at least two ways you can minimize the number of decisions
you need to make and then establish fixed (or at least semi-fixed) routines for yourself.
Tell me what you think in the box below.
Head over to my blog to get even more juicy details about this simple way of increasing
your productivity.
In this blog post, I also share with you some strategies for addressing issues of productivity
in your college application essay and provide even more tips related to the college preparation
and application process.
I'm posting the link to the blog in the description box beneath this video.
Also, while you're over at my website, make sure to get on my insider's list so that I
can keep you up-to-date with the most important college preparation and application strategies.
All you need to do is fill out your name and email address in the box.
As always, if you liked this video, I'd love it if you liked it and subscribed to my channel.
I'm always curious about your perspective and experience, so feel free to leave a comment.
Take care.
. .bye!