whenever you feel stuck tired burned out and just feel like there's something wrong with your life
what do you usually do at the time most people are taught that whenever your productivity
levels aren't high your only solution is to push yourself a little bit more break the resistance
finding some solace in the hard work but how many of us have ever actually felt better by doing so
you can implement so many different habits in your life from exercising to eating healthier
doing a lot of mindful activities starting your own business reading more and even cutting some
of the time you spend on your phone and while all those habits may be nice they still ignore one of
our biggest problems we all want to live life and face productivity in a linear way the more we work
the more successful we become the more hours we put into a project the better that project will
be in our minds more time and resources equal more success but here's what we should be asking were
we as humans even created built and wired like that with cyclical living there is an opportunity
to flow with life instead of moving against it you are able to gain back control by understanding
what your body and mind need and cater to those needs instead of throwing them beneath the rug
with cyclical living you look at your day and night cycle at the month and season
to understand how you relate to those changes and what they mean to you on your productivity
sometimes when you just feel like you don't want to work or if you feel unfocused or unmotivated
it's not necessarily a consequence of laziness lack of discipline or procrastination sometimes
you're going through a stage in your life cycle where your body and mind need less work to thrive
your hormonal balance impacts your attention mood and motivation drastically and we're not
only talking about your menstrual cycle but also other hormones that are produced in a cyclical way
in your body for instance turnover of serotonin in the brain is affected by acute changes in
luminosity brighter days mean higher serotonin than in darker days so it's normal if you
experience some shifts in your mood sleep patterns energy and focus in different times of the year
because indeed your body changes throughout the year and reflects a lot of what surrounds you
while it's normal that we as a society think about time in a linear way we tend to forget
that from the periodic nature of physiological processes such as heartbeats respiration circadian
rhythms or hormonal cycles to the recurrent automatic actions and habits of the body
all life lived in a pre-reflexive way is shaped by a cyclical structure
i'm personally much more aware of these changes now and while a couple of years ago i fought them
i now prefer to flow with these changes and to change my life accordingly with them
rising with the sun for instance letting your body use nature as a natural clock soaking up
whatever natural light you can get in the morning and also allowing yourself to unwind with sunset
letting yourself rest as the sun goes down patting yourself on the back for a job well done after a
hard day of work as you prepare yourself to end your day engaging in more physical and dynamic
activities in long summer days and cuddling up with a book for longer during the winter months
eating seasonally a sustainable way of changing your diet with lots of health advantages
also respects this idea of cyclical living encouraging you to focus on in-season fruits
and vegetables preferably grown locally and with these limitations you also find room for growth
and creativity finding new ways to eat certain foods baking pies and making jam with a produce
that is available and getting all the health benefits from encouraging a varied diet that is
fresher and more high quality than out of season produce same goes with your circadian rhythm
your circadian rhythm affects eating habits body temperature alertness as well as hormone levels it
plays a vital role in regulating many activities and is responsible for our energy levels as they
rise and fall throughout the day if we learn to use our circadian rhythm to our advantage
and schedule our most crucial tasks around our circadian rhythms we can take full advantage
of the times of days that we have more energy to increase our output and productivity levels
and then of course being aware of your menstrual cycle if you have one your hormones play a big
role in the way you feel and they can impact you tremendously even when you don't notice
for instance ovulation corresponds to your highest peak of energy during the month
while engaging in high impact exercises during this stage may seem like a piece of cake
right after ovulation you enter the ludial phase and as your body prepares for a new cycle your
energy drops suddenly the foods you eat in four different stages should also vary as you're
focusing on nourishing your body as it changes overall individual productivity is incremental
each iteration of a productivity cycle allows you to reinforce re-evaluate and rebuild your habits
and tools which in turn make you more aware of your own capabilities strengths and weaknesses
this means that your downtime is productive as well your slumps aren't bad they're needed
in the economic cycle each peak is preceded by a drop and a moment of expansion each subsequent
drop is usually higher and each expansion period allows for a higher peak as well
all in all in productivity slums are actually necessary to become more efficient just like in
economic cycle productivity also comes in cycles so all in all here are your key lessons for today
productivity is not exponential it reflects incremental sublinear growth
productivity is cyclical and varies from person to person a productive person is
someone who maximized their output according to the stage of the cycle they're currently in
being cyclical productivity allows everyone to restart despite past failures as such it
is important to be flexible with your time and if you feel like you don't have enough time to learn
because you're swamped with work finding a place to learn that allows you to actually learn at your
own pace is fundamental so if you're interested in science maths and technology i highly recommend
taking a class on probability fundamentals the kind of skill you'll apply on a daily basis even
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i really hope you've enjoyed today's video i hope you've learned something
and i'll see you as always next week bye guys