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Why do some goals energize you while others leave you feeling depleted? Could the key to greater productivity be greater self-awareness? Are you living by deliberate intentions, or simply running on default?
In this podcast episode, Joe Sanok speaks about what you get wrong about productivity and intention with bestselling author Chris Bailey.
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Meet Chris Bailey
Chris Bailey is an internationally bestselling author, researcher, and speaker whose work focuses on productivity, intentional living, focus, and attention management. After completing business school, Chris dedicated a year of his life to conducting intensive productivity experiments, testing the latest research and strategies to discover what truly helps people accomplish meaningful work. His findings have been featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, TED, and Fast Company.
Chris is the author of several bestselling books, including The Productivity Project, Hyperfocus, Intentional, and How to Calm Your Mind.
Visit Chris’ website and connect on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Substack.
In This Podcast
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Why productivity is worth being discussed
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It’s a matter of experimentation
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Elements of doing intentional work
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The 12 values
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Chris’s advice to private practitioners
Why productivity is worth being discussed
I think, for me, when a lot of people hear the word, “Productivity” they think of something that is cold, corporate, and all about efficiency and reducing the humanity in your work … But to me, I’ve always viewed productivity as being about intentionality: the more of our intentions that we accomplish, the more productive we become, because we actually complete the things we set out to do. (Chris Bailey)
The connection between all of Chris Bailey’s books, whether the ones about intentionality, productivity, or focus, is that he’s interested in learning about what supports people in achieving these states and goals.
What helps people follow through on the intentions that they set for themselves? In this way, productivity is not about being mindlessly efficient: productivity is about being mindfully intentional about how we spend our time.
It’s a matter of experimentation
There’s a reason it’s often called “personal productivity;” you need to find the system that works the best for you, and that requires experimentation and iterating on routines.
As Chris explains, start with what you can see works and maybe doesn’t work, and go from there.
To me, it has to start with the evidence, it has to start with the science. That’s the approach that I have found most conducive to discovering these productivity techniques that are effective and let us earn back time, [because] when you start with the science, and then you [can] work backwards to what your day-to-day should look like that’s rooted in that science, especially when it’s conducive to your own personality. (Chris Bailey)
Take the science and then take the following of yours into account as well when you experiment with productivity sciences:
- Personality
- Preferences
- Values
- Interests
Elements of doing intentional work
When we think of intention, we tend to think of the deliberate actions that we take, but the one thing that [the monks] made clear that’s deeply embedded within meditation practices, Buddhism, that sort of thing, is that there’s two types of intentions; there’s deliberate intentions … and then our default intention. (Chris Bailey)
As Chris explains, there are generally two types of intentional work: deliberate and default. The default intentions that we have stem from our way of being, from the conditioning, from where we grew into adults.
Our default intentions are often easily shaped by our environments, cultures, and home systems with family or guardians.
On the other end of the spectrum, there’s deliberate intention, which we can develop from our personal thoughts and specific behaviors. What bridges these two is our capacity and ability to be self-reflective, intuitive, and honest with ourselves.
Our self-reflective capacity … is our ability to look within ourselves, to ask questions [about] our inner world … This self-reflective capacity is where change comes from. (Chris Bailey)
Therefore, to truly set deliberate intentions for where you want to go, you need to go beyond the conditioning of the mind, and tap into your self-reflective capacity, which can look like:
- Journaling
- Going for a walk
- Meditating
The 12 values
- Self-direction
- Stimulation
- Hedonism
- Achievement
- Power
- Face
- Security
- Tradition
- Conformity
- Humility
- Universalism
- Benevolence
Think about these 12 values and feel out the ones that are strongest for you. Consider your goals and edit them so that they are in alignment with the values that resonate the most.
Chris’s advice to private practitioners
Nothing will motivate you more than building your goals around your values. When you live in alignment with your truest self, and make that your work, it makes it easier to be productive, because you are taking aligned action daily.
Books mentioned in this episode:
Chris Bailey – The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Chris Bailey – Intentional: How to Finish What You Start
Chris Bailey – Hyperfocus: How to Be More Productive in a World of Distraction
Chris Bailey – How to Calm Your Mind: Finding Presence and Productivity in Anxious Times
Sponsors Mentioned in this Episode:
Having the right EHR is an absolute lifeline. Joe recommends using TherapyNotes.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Visit Chris’ website and connect on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Substack.
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Meet Joe Sanok
Joe Sanok helps counselors to create thriving practices that are the envy of other counselors. He has helped counselors to grow their businesses by 50-500% and is proud of all the private practice owners who are growing their income, influence, and impact on the world. Click here to explore consulting with Joe.
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