we’re living a life we will regret (and it needs to stop)

This video is for those who always feel like they are running out of time, being chased by something and wanting to spend more time on what's important. Because I'm quite sure this is not your first time management/productivity video. You've probably watched a bunch of videos, tried different tools and methods, only to get disappointed in yourself.

I feel like the more methods we try and the more we fail, the more we start to doubt our ability and potential. I mean, at least that's what I experienced. It seemed like everyone figured out their method and I was the only one who was struggling to get things done without losing my mind.

However, after years of trying and learning new methods about how to manage my time and be productive, I realized that most of the productivity techniques are based on the assumption that a person can almost limitlessly control their productivity. In reality, that's not the case. Yes, we have some control, but our willpower is limited and my willpower is almost non-existent.

So today, I'm going to share with you a different approach. You're not going to find a magic method that's going to guarantee success and motivation and suddenly change your whole life. But you might get ideas on how to structure your day differently so that you won't regret your actions at the end of your life. Dramatic, isn't it?

This might be controversial, but time can't be managed. You can only ever manage yourself and where you place your energy and attention. As a content creator, what I and what I assume most of you actually care about is this: the result. And result is not a direct output of time. Just because, let's say, I spend 4 hours writing a script for a video doesn't automatically mean it's better than the one I spend only 1 hour on. Sometimes that 1 hour script gets more views and engagement compared to the 4 hour video script.

So most of us are putting a lot of work into trying to manage something that is impossible and unimportant for us to manage. Then what's the alternative, right? What it all comes down to is something we don't talk about nearly enough, and that is focus and energy. So 1 hour of highly focused work can outperform 4 hours of distracted work.

In other words, the results we create have less to do with time and more to do with the focus and energy we have on the work. This means that instead of always working toward time management, we should instead always be working toward focus and energy management. So how can we manage our focus and energy?

If time management is about allocating time slots for specific tasks, focus management is about priorities and the order of tasks. So in other words, when you're putting together a schedule or a list of tasks, don't just set aside time to complete each task. Instead, set aside a period in which you will give your full focus on the task at hand.

What I do is I schedule 60 minutes of a distraction-free focus period on my calendar. Now, I'm all for using our phones; I love it. But when it comes to serious work, I switch to my computer. One issue that I used to face was getting bored super easily. Like, I get bored super easily! I would go on YouTube, turn on some Lo-Fi "study with me" videos, but because of YouTube's feed, I would find myself easily getting distracted and watching other videos. Sometimes I re-watch my own videos and the same thing happened with Spotify too. Like, my ability to distract myself will probably shock you!

But I hate when I try to make an excuse for myself, saying like, "Oh, I get distracted because it's my ADHD." No! So around 2 years ago, I finally found the best tool to cut down on distractions and make my focus sessions more fun, and that is Brain FM. I've been a genuine fan and core user of them way before today's partnership.

So listen, I'm honest, okay? What makes Brain FM unique is it's not just about any background music; it’s designed to boost your focus. Whenever I want to be fully present in the moment and focus on what's in front of me, I turn on my phone, open my PC, and go to Brain FM. I use a setting on the app that's made specifically for ADHD brains called high neural effect level. It's like a turbo boost! Also, they just released a motivation mode with music that gets you energized and makes it easy to start working.

The cool part is that all their music contains their patented brain wave technology, which is funded by the U.S. government's National Science Foundation. So whether you have ADHD or not, you got to try Brain FM! And I really want you to try this, so I worked out a deal to get you all a full month of free access. Just go to brain.fm/Dy, turn on the music, start your work, and you will find your flow, I promise! Like, I genuinely love it.

Okay, so in the beginning, it might be hard to figure out how to plan according to your focus and energy. But once you understand this, which is your chronotype, everything becomes easier. A chronotype is a type of system that helps us know when we sleep best and when we are most active and alert throughout the day, which can impact our productivity tremendously.

There are four types. You can figure out your type and how to schedule your day more in detail accordingly from the link in my bio for free. No worries, I'm not going to charge you! The first one is the Bear, which makes up the majority of the population. These types usually don't have much trouble waking up in the morning or sleeping throughout the night, and bears are the most productive in the morning usually. They will typically struggle with an afternoon slump after lunch, generally like around 2 to 4 p.m.

If you are the bear type, your ideal schedule looks like this: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. is focused on deep work, because this is where your peak performance happens. And then from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., work on lighter tasks. Next we have the Wolves, which is the group I belong to, and we make up 15% of the population. The wolves are most productive at night, and they are usually creative too.

So for wolves, the ideal schedule would be: working from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., you know, focusing on lighter tasks; 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., deeper creative work; 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., focus on lighter tasks; and from 5:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m., complete deep or creative work. For wolves, key productivity times are late morning and late afternoon, which is when we should prioritize important tasks that require problem-solving, creativity, or critical thinking.

As you can see, the typical 9 to 5 schedule is almost like a nightmare for us. But these are just general guidelines, so you don't need to worry if you can't adjust to the schedule 100%. Just keep in mind that these times you can be more productive and creative so that you can allocate your tasks accordingly.

Now we have the Lions, which is a type I've always tried to become, but I couldn't, so I gave up. Opposite to the Wolves, they feel most alive in the morning, and their energy peaks before noon. They are typically able to complete massive amounts of work before lunch. Like, I start to work after lunch—like, literally, how? So for them, their ideal daily schedule would look like this: from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., focus on deep work; from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., focus on lighter tasks; and from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., daily unwind and relax.

Lastly, we have Dolphins, who struggle with insomnia. I feel really sorry for you if you struggle with insomnia. Dolphins have a hard time waking up in the morning, but once they get going, their productivity reaches its peak around mid-morning. If you identify with the characteristics of a dolphin, your ideal schedule would look like this: from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., engage with easy tasks; from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., focus on demanding tasks; and from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., complete less demanding tasks.

And I highly recommend that whichever group you belong to, just experiment with it for 2 weeks and try to adjust to your own schedule. Because depending on the work that you have, obviously, you're going to have different patterns. Even though we have these chronotypes, everyone has different responsibilities in their life.

So I would just put all these focus things on my calendar as a time block; you know, rather than time blocking for individual tasks. I would first block my focus and then I would group each task and how much energy and focus it would require me to do so that I can put them in the right time block for the day. When putting the focus required, it's also important to prioritize based on their importance and also their urgency, like the Eisenhower metric.

Just because one task requires you to be more focused, it doesn't mean you should always prioritize that about something that has a super strict deadline and you don't have much time for, right? So I know all these might sound overwhelming and confusing, but don't worry because I have the priority and focus feature of my Notion template, which will help you figure out which tasks to tackle first.

Shameless plug! You can simply time block focus time on Notion calendar, which is free, and then drag and drop the tasks you assigned for yourself on my Notion template to your calendar. This way, you won't forget about your deadlines and maximize your ability to focus. So if you're interested, check out the link in my description below. This is a really good shameless plug!

After I figured out my chronotype and aligned my daily schedule accordingly, I started to perform much better, actually, and found myself focusing for longer hours, which was unexpected. Then I started to aim to get more things done every day, and I felt super productive. I felt like a robot, and it sounded like a dream to me. But I was absolutely wrong.

After a few weeks of aiming to get more things done every single day, I found myself nearing burnout and struggling to get out of bed. It made me realize that it's not about quantity; on the opposite, we need to minimize the amount of time we split our focus and spend most of our time and focus on the things that actually matter.

This will apply to every area of our lives: like fitness, relationships, work, and finance. For example, if you spent all day replying to emails, getting small tasks done, but didn't spend any time on the important project you're working on—even if you get more tasks checked—would you say you spent your time more effectively?

So every time I'm about to assign myself a new task, I ask myself, "Do I actually need to do this today?" And if the answer is not "hell yeah," I cross it off and don't write it into my template. Another interesting thing I've noticed after years of trying to be productive and trying to be as effective and as fast as I can is it usually made me less creative.

And this is actually backed by a study from Harvard. They realized that those who cared strongly about their efficiency, speed, and productivity were 45% less creative than those who… and interestingly, their decrease in creativity lasted for two to three days. I can definitely see this in Italy too.

So I'm studying medicine in Italy, right? And people don't care about productivity in Italy—at least in Rome, which is like the middle of Italy. Maybe in the North they care more, and it allows them to be more creative, more artful. You know, Italy is known for their designs, their fashion, their architecture. So I can definitely see that, which is quite interesting.

Apparently, the reason is that we actually have two types of thinking. One is focused thinking, and the other one is diffuse thinking. Focused thinking is the type of thinking you access to understand and solve familiar problems as well as study a concept. And diffuse thinking is what happens when your mind relaxes, providing space for daydreaming and wandering thoughts.

So rather than being focused on a defined path, diffuse thinking allows your subconscious to make unexpected connections between disparate ideas. And creativity is all about connecting two relevant dots to each other, right? So you often experience diffuse thinking when you go for a walk, have a shower, meditate, or just stare out the window or at the wall.

I do quite a lot! We can't use diffuse and focused thinking simultaneously, so if you turn one of them on, you can use the other one. So when we try to be more efficient and fast, we eliminate diffuse thinking, which decreases our creativity.

So how do we balance the two types of thinking and manage our focus and energy effectively? After I discovered that these two types of thinking, I started to separate the time I worked that require my diffuse thinking—AKA creative tasks—and focused thinking. For example, you might dedicate your mornings to focus thinking tasks and your afternoons to diffuse thinking tasks.

If you think you're more creative in the afternoons, during your focus thinking periods, you would work on tasks that require a lot of concentration and problem-solving, such as writing reports, essays, analyzing data, or strategizing for a project. And during your diffuse thinking periods, you could work on creative tasks, brainstorming, or even take time to relax and let your mind wander.

This is just a reminder: your creativity and productivity aren't determined by how many hours you put in, but by how effectively you manage your focus and energy.

In conclusion, the key to effective productivity isn't about managing time, but managing our focus and energy. So understanding our chronotype and planning our tasks accordingly can help us make the most of our days. So instead of trying to do more, aim to do what really matters and eliminate the rest. And it's okay to take a break; let your mind wander and come up with ideas.

You're creative with it. I mean, I come up with video ideas that way! If you found this video helpful, you might find this video helpful where I explain the actual reason you procrastinate and how to fix it. See you!