5 Productivity Principles I Use That Actually Work 

1) Work with your biology, not against it. 2) Find the minimal viable action. 3) You only improve what you measure. 4) Don't fight your emotions, leverage them. 5) More is not always better.

“Or maybe you’re just a fucking human and you need a break” is the best productivity hack I have heard in the last decade

1) Work with Your Biology, Not Against It: Understand that different productivity advice works for different people. Listen to your body and find what works best for you, as this may change over time. 2) The Minimal Viable Action: To overcome procrastination, start with the smallest, most manageable action related to your task. Motivation often comes after taking action, so just getting started can help you keep going. 3) You Only Improve What You Measure: Tracking your progress is key to improvement but be cautious about the metrics you choose. They can sometimes lead to focusing on quantity over quality. 4) Don’t Fight Your Emotions; Leverage Them: Optimal productivity comes from working on things you care about. Passion drives you to work harder and overcome obstacles, so try to align your work with your interests. 5) More is Not Always Better: Putting in more hours doesn’t always lead to more output. Beyond a certain point, additional effort can lead to diminishing or even negative returns. It's important to recognize when to stop.

Man this is the only guy I will take motivation and productivity advice from on the internet.

You helped me decide to get sober. Now it's been 2 months alcohol free and I feel great.

Secret Pathway To Triumph blew my mind. I’ve shared them with friends, and they’re all amazed at the shifts in their mindset.

YES! I've been noticing that there's so many different terms for the same technique. What you call the minimal viable action, my dad would call "just get one foot out the door" My friend would call that "just show up and then see what happens" And I always called it "just peck away at the problem a little"

The minimal viable action one is a massive one for me. Getting started is always the hardest bit

Dude is exposing the real stuff out there....! Protect him at all costs! 🎉❤

Once again, Manson's simplicity and brilliance shows me the light. Simple is very hard to do my friends.

only thing that worked for me was 'Unveiling Your Hiidden Potential' by Bruce Thornwood

Sometimes I have to stop reading self help books. If I read too much, I get this sense of "Why haven't I done this for my entire life?" Then I start to feel discouraged instead of encouraged. I agree, more is not always better.

#6. Weed is not helping your productivity.

Regarding the last point: I love Cal Newport's idea of "fixed schedule productivity", where you have a set amount of time available to do your tasks and when it's time to stop, you stop. You did what you could. Of course, sometimes it's not possible to stop (because of deadlines), but the majority of workdays should have a clear limit.

I will be forever grateful to you, you changed my entire life and I will continue to preach on your behalf for the whole world to hear you saved me from huge financial debt with just a small investment, thank you Charlotte Miller.

I went through my phone and DELETED conversations that irritated me. Then I poured a glass of vino, happy about my decision. I had been overwhelmed by other people's agenda's that did not coincide with mine, and NOW the only thing that matters is what I'm comfortable doing. I didn't tell them to go to hell, I did tell them I no longer give a f**k! Thank you Mark, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Mark Your BOOK (Subtle Art) Changed my LIFE. Love From India

As someone with adhd no matter what I’ll always have issue with productivity. Can you bring someone on your podcast who has adhd and have them talk about what works for them? That would be a different topic “how to be productive when your brain works against you”

Thanks for reminding me how much time I’ve wasted on all that BS. I’m glad there’s at least one person out here doing the good work.

So basically, figure out what works for you and don't hate yourself when you infallibly don't manage to do everything the instagrammers tell you *they* do (even though everyone knows instagrammers lie).

Marks efficient way of teaching is a productivity hack in itself

Love how you're challenging the productivity cookie-cutter approach and emphasizing individuality. 🎯 It's refreshing to hear a successful creator remind us that it's okay to pave our own path and listen to our own rhythms instead of blindly following the crowd. Really resonates with me!

What has helped me in working with my biology was finding out my MBTI personality type ... so many pieces came together that help me expand with far less effort! Thank you for this :)

Mark i really really love and respect you men...!!!!....you are one of the most creative person i see on RU-vid and on your books.....YOU ARE REALLY CREATIVE....!!!! thanks.

Damn, That Office workplace looks delicious. I can be productive there all day

Lots of great truth here. Especially, "go with your biology". I'm a night person and click off any video as soon as I hear the ubiquitous BS: "Wake up at Dawn's crack or you'll never be successful ".

4:32 Mark watching "Let Me Solo Her beats Malenia!

Thank you for existing 🤍

This cant be more true. Thanks so much Mark. You defined the problem completely right.

Hallelujah!!! I’m favored and blessed with $60,000 every week! Now I can afford anything and also support the work of God and the church.

Mark Manson is the only RU-vidr who's advertisements I watch and even listen to. Thank you for the productivity hacks and all that you do Mark!❤

Mr Mark Manson. I have recently found your videos and everything you say seems to get scrambled eggs into my brain. I know this is a business but I your advice is greatly useful.

This came out an hour ago, yet I’ve been looking for this video for a year.

Anyone else here obsessed with Secret Pathway To Triumph? It's like discovering a secret treasure map for wealth!

Sound bath meditation! Perfect!

I started giving my self Minimum when I'm starting something new it started when I wanted to get back in to the gutair but I keeper quiting so I gave my self a Guarantee of 15 minutes and now I'm playing the gutair I have moved this mind set to ever thing I do and it has worked wonders

What a great spitted fact, mark! I somehow are correlated with all of it, and you just put in into words! Im grateful for it and thanks to you,Mark! This should be the should-be-heared productivity advice by anyone who have been searching for key of productivity.

thanks man, for me its one of the most useful videos you posted recently

#3 is my nemesis because of the impulse to game the system mentioned. I've recently been tracking tasks done per day, but that directly contravenes #5 because it incentivises busywork. The struggle is ongoing!

Finding the banned 'Magnetic Aura' ebook should be your top priority, even if it's the last thing you do in life

Did someone talk a lot about insurance adjustments? 😂 Thank you for summarizing the tendencies and "productivity porn" that pervade. I experience too many managers measuring cognitive work the same as small tasks, when the required focus and effort are different.

Excellent! This aligns with my life experiences over fifty years of being an adult. Well summarized.

He just explained what I've been feeling lately. Medical school is quite tough, nothing new there. Lately I've been feeling exhausted, parasites after parasites, the fucking brain, Pathology, geez. I have lost track of time and myself. And I thought the "extra hour is going to do", well maybe, but not always as I noticed that I would wake up and realize I don't know anything about the physiology of vision, now I have to study it again, and re-write the notes or something. Which is anti-work, as he explained. I've been watching Mr. Manson for some time now, I've read the books and I can say mostly I live by some of the things he says because honestly, it just sounds more honest than anything else on RU-vid. Thanks for everything big man

Oh my god!! Mark was watching "let me solo her" fight Malenia ....oh my god!! You are an Elden Lord!!

am somewhere between: you're that guy who wrote the famus books i stole the other day! i didnt know u make videos and you are this young you're that guy that gave me insights on how to gamify my life!, and you play league of legends and elder ring games you're so wow man, much love and thank you for the knowledge

I’ve started free writing in the morning to help identify where my subconscious is pulling me when I feel a bit burnt out or overwhelmed. Often times we put all our effort into one aspect of our lives and neglect another. Eventually we can’t reach the farthest areas of the little box of life that we are developing because we aren’t centered anymore. Our focus is being pulled in the opposite direction. So identifying what’s up and addressing it often helps free up that energy to be used where you want to put it.

Employers... and the majority of working 8 hour shifts model has not caught up to the understanding of biology. When I was a kid I visited Spain - the concept of a siesta was an eye opener. Not just because it was hot as F at midday and nobody wants to work through that, but because it was legitimised that people are at their best when not under additional stress from the environment in general.

You are the realest! Love your newsletter and videos!

It's aaaaaall about passion and what you actually like to do. That's basically it. Everything else will seemingly just fall into place as long as you love what you're doing. We're in what many refer to as "burnout culture" these days because everyone's trying to "be the best" and literally working themselves to death to achieve arbitrary goals and rewards, which are generally just based on what the public on social media says about us anyway. Do what you like to do, and take some fucking breaks once in a while. Thank you again, Mark.

This made me want to work towards something when I can

youre the best mark manson thank you for posting meaningful stuff!!

I really enjoy your videos cause it all feels real and relatable. Part of that is the language but the expressions, the images, the content, is an absolute enjoyable mix of sensations that makes want to watch another one. Great job, keep going.

Secret Pathway To Triumph is so unique. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it sooner. It’s amazing how life-changing this can be.

Another unique video Mark, isn't it a game of Work Hard Play Hard, in the sense that you work very focused for a few hours, on your craft and then take a nice break. Sort of.

bro is a god in word play,best relatable ,and actually making sense motivation video i've ever watched,lets give a f**k about productivity this time

You are a genius with a very human approach! Love your wittiness … great job, Mark!

“Maybe you’re just human and you need a fucking break” amen brother

I used to hate this guy, but now I love him!

Thank you. Especially for the writing advice. Most writing tips are like "churn out as much as you can!!! Always!!" resulting in a pile of stuff that need aeons of editing (if it can be saved at all)

MY FAVORITE REMINDER. "Shut up and do it anyways idiot". I say this to myself when I start to procrastinate or make excuses like "I need to so more research" or "After this one video" or whatever. Just shut up and do it anyways. We never are motivated to act, we have to act to find our motivation.

I still rememer when you didn't like social media and youtube and all that sh*t. You yourself are the example of your personal growth message. Kudos! and thanks for explaining in simple ways the complexity of human behavior. Are you going to record The Subtle Art yourself for the audiobook version?

Watching this while eating a late dinner after royally screwing up my work at hour 10 and left it like that for next time. The header goes over the hero not under it. Shit now I remember setting the Z-index at like 700 and not moving it back. HA! this helped me solve my problem. Sometimes you need a break and a laugh..this was brilliant, love all the clips. Thank you

Yazio is very good. Since I use it I'm on diet :) I don't want to see on app that I ate more than I should, so I don't eat 😅

2:21 schedule your minimal viable action in your colander so your schedule can be fresh and tasty. In your calendar so you can see the easiest thing to do. Put it on easy mode 3:26

LOl, I love you Mark!! I totally feel you and I am so tired of the productivity porn! Let's go team minimal viable action!!!! Love from Taiwan!

The concept of Secret Pathway To Triumph blew my mind. It’s like finding a cheat code for financial abundance.

Last part was the actual problem with me. Thank you

Thank you,mark!l struggled in other's productivity hacks.

I actually got to that part in your book (tsaongaf) the other day before I finished it. (Regarding how you can be motivated by action) that in itself was motivating to me. Because it gave me a reason to try.

Yes these principles ring true 😊

we are living in simulation, from i understood this everythink is going how i wish...everythink what i imagined with calm and confidence is happening.

Princípio 1: Trabalhe com sua biologia, não contra ela - 00:47 Princípio 2: Ação mínima viável - começa em 00:02:18 Princípio 3: Você só melhora aquilo que mede - 03:22 Princípio 4: Não lute contra suas emoções - 06:04 Princípio 5: Mais nem sempre é melhor - 08:09

This was so great and helpful really going to make me rethink things.

Lol. This is much better than those self proclaimed productivity gurus.

These videos have really been helping me. Thank you

Great advice. A few thoughts: 1. Know yourself, be honest (don’t tell everyone on social media, just write it down and reread regularly) then do what makes you tick. 2. Deliverables are the most important. The time, place, medium, etc are just the details of the final result.

What I heard: 1) Do whatever you can think of as long as it works. If it doesn’t work, your body will tell you. Be flexible and do whatever. 2) Just do something. It doesn’t matter what. Anything - AT ALL -will suffice. This will get all your work done! 3) Track your behavior to get better. Except don’t, because it can be ineffective. But track, track, track. Except don’t rely on it. Capiche? 4) If you’re passionate about your work, you’ll flow and get more done. It’s the most important, that’s why it’s number 4. 5) Don’t overdo it. Otherwise 1-4 won’t work. Do less! It’s always more!

Your video editor is genius, love those ridiculous captions you add on these royalty free videos you put in between your points

Awesome. 4 is great because so many life coaches try to sell the idea that motivation is not important and discipline is key. Like push yourself to death to keep on going even if it makes you feel miserable.

Completely right about overworking.

i love the last line.

Set a timer for 5 - 10 minutes and do it. No distractions. Usually you think the worst and really not that bad.

Thanks for being such a precious Man.... ❤️🥰🌹

Lets go its better than podcasts

I come. I liked the video. Then I watched the video. Because he gives fresh ideas.

Mark, if you can change only what you can measure Measure your feet first then the distance from f to k In order you to be able to change foot to meter and kilograms to stones - if you can !

Idk the statistics but when I search for your podcast I'm writing "mark manson podcast" and the new channel doesn't show up in the top results, idk how many people search for subtle art podcast (which brings the desired result) but since your brand is mainly "mark manson" you might get better results by renaming the channel into mark manson podcast But idk it's only speculation

As always, fun and to the point. Thanks & cheers from sunny Austria !

Amazing video, really helpful, thanks a lot Mark!

You are an amazing actor Mark! Thanks for these videos!

I also suddenly became a morning person. Thank you for letting me know that I am not the only person that has happened to.

there's a book called Secret Pathway To Triumph, and it talks about how using some secret tehniques you can attract almost everything in life it's not some bullshit law of attraction, it's the real deal

Love this, Mark! Insightful, entertaining and helpful.

To be honest, point 3 is not very clear to me. I think you talked about it in the subtle art book too, but I never really understand the way to find the correct metrics for my actions

i can relate with ALL of these principles ! Thanks for making this video :)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, EXPLAIN THIS POINT TO EVERYONE. DIFFICULT DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN BETTER

Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services

Love this episode! Practical and realistic information! Thank you for sharing this with us!

I think you're forgetting one aspect of procrastination. Main reason I procrastinate is because the tasks are simply too BORING.

Please help! I'm trying to find the story of two groups of people in an old age home; One group people came in and watered the plants for them and took care of them. The other group had to water their own plants and take care of their own things and only had people check in on them on a limited basis. One year later, the group that had to take care of themselves were still thriving, but the other group had many more deaths etc... I'M PRETTY SURE THIS WAS YOUR STORY, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I READ IT AND I'D LIKE TO SHARE IT WITH MY SON WHO NEEDS SOME ENCOURAGING, BY BEING "FORCED" TO TAKE ON MORE PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!