so the Japanese created a system called
Ichi Gil Zama so each of y'all some mai
comes from the Zen master soon new
Suzuki then aware of my time so now I
know it's probably gonna take about an
hour and a half to two hours hey guys
welcome back to my channel this channel
if you're new is all about living life
abroad and mastering yourself these are
things that I learned while living
abroad that you can implement and your
into your everyday life as well as learn
about moving to Japan or living in this
country I love helping people do that so
if you're interested in that or you're
just interested in improving your life
welcome please subscribe if you want
more and I hope these tips will help you
in the long run so I'm working on my
productivity skills and this is
something that takes a long time to
master if you're new to it and you just
have been struggling for such a long
time like me I honestly just needed
something that would help me out so I
discovered something pretty intriguing
when it comes to being productive and it
has to do with an ancient Japanese
technique that has been used by Japanese
Zen monk in the past and has been
implemented in so many books like if
you've ever read the 4-hour workweek and
all sorts of other self-help book I'd
like to give you some solutions and how
to accomplish this easily so we're just
gonna jump right into the video and I'm
gonna be talking about my day and
talking to the camera throughout the day
this is going to be a day in my life
type video and throughout the video I'm
going to discuss what I've discovered
and what you can do to heighten your
productivity skills and levels all right
so let's begin my productive day in the
life it's the first thing that I do is
do my gratitude journal I got this
5-minute journal online I loved it so
much and then I do a visualization
exercise some days I don't some days I
just do meditation and then I go into a
yoga practice or workout today I chose
yoga with Adriene I mean who doesn't
love to practice with her also I need a
haircut so bad I do about 15 to 20
minutes of exercise in the morning
because of my gut health I try not to do
too much of vigorous exercise
and then I made myself some breakfast I
usually don't eat bread in the morning
but the other day I found some sourdough
bread so I decided to go ahead and eat
that today just as a treat for myself
with some banana Greek yogurt and a
orange and then I have some organic
coffee in the morning some days I just
have tea it just depends on how I feel
right now
so I enjoy eating while watching some
YouTube videos and checking my email and
then I answer some comments this is the
time where I use social media I don't
use it the first thing when I wake up I
try to reply to all of your comments on
my videos and everything and if I don't
I apologize there's just so many and
then I go upstairs and I take a shower
and get ready for the day so that's
basically my morning routine
it could change it could not but most
days are like this and listening to a
podcast
some days are music some days I don't
just depends on how I feel I then try to
rearrange my schedule and check my email
I think this is the time I actually
check my email and answer them so after
that I'm getting ready to go to the
grocery store I go once or twice a week
now kind of scary so have you ever
started doing something and then you
remembered that you had to do something
else so you drop what you're doing at
that moment and you go and do that other
thing and then nothing gets done well
there's a trick to stop that and slowing
it down and the Japanese have got that
solution so the Japanese created a
system called ichi gil za my so ichigio
some my comes from the zen master
soon new suzuki this is in his book
called beginner's mind so if you ever
read that book it's very good I highly
recommend so ichigio is on my is
basically focusing on one thing at a
time I know it sounds so simple but let
me explain so imagine what it would be
like to start one task and finish it
it's a very foreign concept to some
people because we're so used to doing so
many things in multitasking all the time
we don't take the time to really focus
on what we're doing so I'm gonna show
you the steps that I take to practice
Ichi Gil's on my and I'll explain what
it is along the way
[Music]
so number one is to start your day with
a to-do list of all the tasks that you
need to complete you're going to number
them in order of importance visualize
which tasks are going to make you feel
like you had a successful day so in my
task program I usually have a daily
vision what am I going to complete for
that day going to make me feel like I've
accomplished something and then in my to
do or tap I put them in the order of
priority now that doesn't mean that
going to the grocery store is not a
priority it is a priority it's something
that I do need to get done during that
day but it's not gonna make me feel like
I successfully did something productive
so that is not the focus the focus is to
put your top priority on the top of the
list and in your daily vision section so
I'm going to show you how I do this okay
so this is my task list at the top is my
today list and that's where I put my
ichigo's on my the most important things
that are gonna make me feel successful
during this day so today the three
things are write a blog post I'm going
to create work a worksheet for the
productivity video that you're watching
now and then I'm going to study Japanese
because I have been putting it off for a
long time so these are the three things
that are gonna make my day feel
successful and then the bottom part the
upcoming part is where I put all of my
other activities and for example going
to the grocery store
so everything an upcoming part is going
to be in the order that I do them today
so after you prioritized your top three
things that are gonna make you feel like
you've had a successful day but how long
these tasks are going to take you you'll
be amazed at how much you can get done
in an hour
you must try your best to get the top
three done that day you don't need to do
them first but if your day is close to
ending it might be best to move some
less urgent tasks to the next day also
another tip I try to get the shorter
tasks done first so the next thing I'm
going to do is put how long each task is
most likely going to take to complete
don't worry if it's not perfect just be
aware of how long each task takes
especially if it's repetitive that's why
it's good to practice this for a week
and just write down how long each
specific task task actually takes but I
put that for everything that I have in
my list the top part is literally just
all of the stuff that I want to get done
today to make me feel successful so that
doesn't have to be in a specific order
you can if you want everything in my
upcoming list can be moved to another
day if I can't complete them so it's
something that I don't worry about the
focus is on the today list this program
is called asana but Trello also works
very well too
another thing I'd like to express is you
can do this on traditional pen and paper
you do not have to use any program so
I'm doing one of the tests that are on
my upcoming list but I have to get this
done because I don't have any food in
the house
they have hand sanitizer at this grocery
store which is amazing I usually try to
shop as fast as possible because I don't
want to be touching everything and I
don't want to be you know around people
because of the quarantine time and this
time a day in the morning is great to
come because there's lots of people so i
stocked up and we are standing six feet
apart waiting and then I pack everything
by myself and I lug all of this home
I take my bike out of parking and then I
ride back it's exhausting and it's a
workout but that's basically how I get
my workouts during the day okay so I'm
back from the grocery store today for
lunch I'm having this salad and I'm kind
of like doing a makeshift lunch and some
leftovers so I have some broccoli and
kimchi salmon mushroom sort of dish and
potatoes and then I also have some sushi
because it looked so good so just small
little sushi rolls and there's lots of
vegetables and some rice and things like
that but like I said not really on a
protocol right now there's a lot of
things that were out of stock today so I
just grabbed what I could and yeah this
is my little makeshift lunch for today
when you make your task list and how
long it's going to take make sure you
write down every little thing including
eating lunch washing dishes using social
media throughout the day everything
counts this is me ready to study for
Japanese and we're gonna go into the
next step
alright my lips look non-existent
because I don't have any lipstick on so
next I'm going to be studying Japanese
for about 45 minutes and then I'm going
to move on to something else
but we're doing very well today next
you're going to set a timer for yourself
the timer that I use is actually so
useful I use it all the time it's called
forest so if you go into the app you
have a picture of a tree you can set
your timer to up to 120 minutes you can
set it to 30 minutes 20 minutes an hour
however long you want that task to take
so you if you want to fold some clothes
maybe that'll take you 10 minutes set
that timer you want to study for a test
for an hour set the timer so once you
press start the app is going to go into
lockdown mode it's not gonna allow you
to get out of that because if you do
you're gonna kill your treat you can
eventually bloom different trees there's
different species of trees it's pretty
interesting so once you set that timer
you're going to get to work now this is
the added advice that I have for you
that is going to take some
practice but you'll get there trust me
so in Japanese and teachings they always
express awareness that I think that's so
helpful for the mind is awareness and
bringing yourself back to Center
so productivity is a sort of meditation
we don't really label it as that it's
definitely that focus is meditation you
have to commit to your project you guys
and putting your phone on the other side
of the room and turning on some ambient
sounds on your computer or something
like that trust me you'll have so much
more time to mindlessly scroll through
Instagram or Facebook as soon as you
finish all the projects that you want to
finish that day what you're going to do
is you're going to maintain your focus
on your awareness of your thoughts and
bringing yourself back to your task back
to Center and not being perfect about it
everybody thinks everybody has thoughts
you're going to come up with thought you
can't tell yourself to not think because
we're human we're naturally thinking
like all the time but the point is to
bring yourself back to the task at hand
and back to Center when you notice
yourself drifting into a thought that
isn't that tack remind yourself that
this feeling of discomfort that you have
is going to pass we're gonna feel very
uncomfortable not thinking that thought
so remind yourself that that feeling
will soon pass and you'll eventually go
back into a flow State when you're
working so hard that time just passes if
you struggle with this I always keep a
notepad next to me if a thought comes up
or worry or something that I need to do
later comes up I will write it on the
notepad to think about later right now
is not the time to think about other
random things you should be thinking
about that one task each of yours on
mine means total concentration in
Japanese when you think about a thought
that is unrelated to the task at hand
bring yourself back to Center as if
you're meditating focus on your breath
take a moment and then get back to work
there's more to this which will be
explained later but for now this is all
you need to know to get started with
this method another thing is if you
don't finish something during the day
it's okay I have a schedule you guys so
my schedule its
but I literally use that as a guideline
you don't have to pack it up with so
much stuff you can just put those three
things that you want to accomplish
that's gonna make you feel like you've
had a successful day in your Google
Calendar and put your other tasks in a
task list you can do it so many
different ways to keep yourself
motivated and productive and not
overwhelmed but I always tell myself if
I do not finish this tap then I'm just
gonna move it to the next day and that's
gonna be my new priority do not beat
yourself up if you beat yourself up then
you're never gonna get anything done
because that's something that is just
gonna stop you from doing it because
you're just yelling at yourself and your
head all the time it's like if you were
to go to a really crap job and your boss
is screaming in your your ear all day
you do not want to be that person for
yourself
done with that little study session do
you do you want to go get someone she's
still working from home I'm going to
make some coffee because I need it and I
only drink organic coffee so we're gonna
do that right now
as you write as you clean as your cook
as you do any task on your list be
mindful and grateful that you are able
to do these tasks if you have a really
crazy project that's coming up that was
given to you by a job that you don't
like but you have to do it be grateful
that you have this opportunity to do a
project for a company or you have a job
and you're working and you're making
money and you're just helping yourself
out with bills and you know to buy that
new dress that you've always wanted be
grateful for those things be grateful
that you have hands to wash the dishes
with the piece on people can't even get
up out of a chair so always remind
yourself that these are things that a
lot of people can't actually do know how
great it is to be alive in this certain
moment whether it's something simple as
cutting your nails I sometimes
underestimate the amount of time that I
use to show up on line to be there for
you guys and to share any information or
thoughts or any part of my day so just
make sure that you are aware of that
time that you use I made a green
smoothie for a snack before I went for a
walk today so I didn't get done with my
blog in an hour it took two hours but
that's okay because I had to look for
pictures and it was a long article so I
think it's gonna vary every time I do it
I've actually never really been aware of
my time so now I know it's probably
gonna take about an hour and a half to
two hours there's a little less than two
hours but taking a walk so that's gonna
be like 15 minutes and then I'm gonna go
ahead and start creating a worksheet I
never actually created a worksheet
before so it might take me longer than
expected but then if I don't get
anything else done then I can just move
it to the next day yeah it's kind of
cold outside right now so I'm just gonna
go on a short walk because it's nice to
get outside and move my body a little
bit and then I'll go back to sitting
and pick some dinner hope you can hear
me through this so after my walk I got
to work on the worksheet for you guys to
use to practice each Aghios on my and
then I cooked a delicious steak dinner
and I finished everything that I need to
finish in my top three list when you
slow down and give things the attention
they deserve you notice things that you
never would have noticed before
we're living in an always-on society
so put your phone away when you're
talking to somebody give them your full
attention practice ichigo's on my to
create a space in your mind that's going
to make you feel more calm in the long
run I have a little gift for you if you
sign up on my website you can get a free
Productivity worksheet that I designed
myself so if you're interested in doing
a little practice session each and every
day for a week that is going to be in
the description down below I want to
create more resources for you and teach
you more about what Japan has taught me
and can you can implement into your life
hit the subscribe button and the bell
icon for notifications and I'll see you
guys next time thank you guys for
watching please comment down below
anything that you need help with in your
life or if you have any other questions
please comment down below I also have a
patreon page with more mindset tips
experiences I've had in Japan and more
thank you guys for watching and see you
next time
[Music]