So sam I comes from the zen master soon do Suzuki been 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.

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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 four hour workweek and all sorts of other self help book, I'd like to give you some solutions on how to accomplish this easily.

So we're just going to jump right into the video and I'm going to 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.

Alright, so let's begin my productive day in the life.

So the first thing that I do is do my gratitude journal.

I got this five minute journal online.

I love 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 Adrienne.

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 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 sour dough 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, I'm listening to a podcast.

Some days I listen to 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.

Mhm 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 rigel zam.

My so wholesome my comes from the zen master Sun, yu Suzuki.

This is in his book called beginner's mind.

So if you ever read that book, it's very good.

I highly recommend Ichigo sam 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 going to show you the steps that I take to practice and I'll explain what it is along the way.

So number one is to start your day with a to do list of all the tasks that you need to complete, your, 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 task, 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 going to 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 itchy goes on my the most important things that are going to make me feel successful during this day.

So today the three things are write a blog post, I'm going to create 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 going to 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 in the upcoming part is going to be in the order that I do them today.

So after you prioritize your top three things that are going to make you feel like you had a successful day put 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 task 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 on my list.

Um 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 Bottrell Oh 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 less people.

So I stocked up and we are standing six ft 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 mushrooms, sort of dish and the potatoes.

And then I also have some sushi because it looked so good.

So just small, little sushi rolls and together there's lots of vegetables and some rice and things like that.

But um, like I said, I'm 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 going to go into the next step.

All right.

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 Two up, 220 minutes, you can set it to 30 minutes, 20 minutes an hour.

However long you want that task to take.

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 is not going to allow you to get out of the app because if you do, you're gonna kill your tree, 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 then teachings, they always express awareness and 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 thoughts, 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 tax remind yourself that this feeling of discomfort that you have is going to pass, we're going to 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 videos on my 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 is 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 saw my schedule, it's packed, 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 going to make you feel like you 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 task then I'm just going to 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 going to get anything done because that's something that is just going to stop you from doing it because you're just yelling at yourself in 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 ear all day, you do not want to be that person for yourself, done with that little study session.

Do you want to go get some lunch?

He'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.

Mm hmm 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 to be grateful for those things.

Be grateful that you have hands to wash the dishes with.

Some 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 as simple as cutting your nails, I sometimes underestimate the amount of time that I used to show up online 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.