How to base your productivity methods around what inspires

I base my productivity methods around how I’m inspired and what I do to keep feeling my inspiration to be productive. For me it works like the swell of an ocean. A swell is formed thousands of miles away by storms from weather pressure systems. I like this metaphor as it’s a way to help remind me about my passion and purpose.

I know that being productive is a ebb and flow pattern, ride the waves while they are there and take advantage of flat spells to absorb and contemplate.

To be productive it helps to be inspired to fuel your passion and purpose towards your goals. Your goals are made up of lots of small steps, doing small repetitive and sometimes boring things can be a drag so it’s important to remember why you’re doing them and help unify them to your overall goal. This will help being productive.

So get inspired and stay motivated is your best chance to being productive. Think of it like waves in an ocean.

1. Make a storm

Waves needs storms to be created. A storm for you can be an intense moment of activity, so shake it up and get moving. Look for inspiration, feel it, don’t think too much. Use your intuition to gravitate towards things that inspire you. Collect and keep investigating, follow paths of interest and drop them when they become boring, but keep moving forward, searching and following.

2. Ride the waves

Ok, you now have some areas of interest, like being creative it’s about broadening your choices then narrowing in and focusing. Try to form some shape to these ideas and interests. Like a wave taking shape it will start being a bit clearer. This will be exciting and move you towards being productive as you get more inspired. As the waves break your ideas will take full form, these could be then projects that you work on.

3. Calm before the storm

This is the time for contemplation and reflection. You may have been very productive and worked on a few projects. It’s time to start over and reflect on what went right or wrong. Notice subtile patterns and how you feel. This is where ideas get generated and then will in future germinate. It’s important to be patient. Don’t consume too much and try to get some time away from the screen. In this phase it might seem like you’re not that productive but contemplation and reflection with a clear mind is the fuel to make you productive and is an essential phase within the process.

These 3 tips will ensure you are productive by thinking about productivity in a bigger picture and relating it to an overall metaphor. You can’t always be super productive. Your mind and soul needs rest and times to reflect rebuild your purpose and passion or you will burnout.

Following these methods will insure you’re more productive when the surfs up!