10X YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

MEGAN SAMUEL HOLSTEIN

 CONTENTS

Contact Me If You Have Any Questions v

Introduction vii

1. Change #1: Install Time Trackers 1

2. Change #2: Optimize Your Phone for 3
Productivity
3. Change #3: Fix Your Sleep Schedule 7
4. Change #4: Declutter Your Life 9
5. Change #5: Learn to Say No 12
Conclusion 15
WORK LESS, FINISH MORE PREVIEW 19

Buy Work Less, Finish More 33

About the Author 35
 CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY
QUESTIONS

If you have any questions as you go through this book, feel

free to contact me directly and ask them. I check my inbox
frequently and respond to as many reader emails as
possible.

Contact me directly here:

https://www.meganeholstein.com/contact/

v
 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to 10x Your Productivity! I’m glad you’re here.

Presumably, you're reading this book because you want to
be more productive with your time.

Maybe you feel overworked. Maybe it takes you longer than

others to complete the same task. Maybe you're just looking
for an edge. In any case, this is the book for you.

Over the course of this short book, we’ll cover five simple
changes you can make that will vastly increase your
productivity.

Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used in this book, but the purpose of
this book is not to promote affiliate links. I've only included links
to products I honestly think will improve your life, regardless of
whether or not I make money off of it. (Which is a good thing,
because these affiliate links barely make any money anyway).

vii
 1

CHANGE #1: INSTALL TIME TRACKERS

H UMANS ARE NOT OBJECTIVE THINKERS . W HEN IT COMES TO

assessing ourselves, we are extremely biased - sometimes to
the point of being out-of-touch with reality. One of the
things we are biased about is how we spend our time.

Here's how that bias works: Someone thinks they spend all
their time working. They tell themselves they're so busy, that
they have no time for anything else, and that things would
be better if each day just had a few extra hours.

Unfortunately, this is rarely the reality. The average Amer-

ican spends upwards of six hours a day on their phone and
six hours a day watching video content. They are not too
busy, they are just not paying attention to where their time
goes. They are losing time. You know that feeling when you
look at the clock and realize "oh my God, it's already 6 PM,
and I still haven't done X/Y/Z?!" that is the feeling of lost time.

One of the easiest ways to get more productive is to find

your lost time and stop losing it. You can find that time by
installing time trackers.

1
 Phone/Tablet Time Trackers:
Screen Time (iPhone) | RescueTime

Desktop Time Trackers:

RescueTime

These time trackers will tell you how you're spending your
time. Once you know how you're spending your time, you
can make decisions to control how you spend your time. For
instance, if you find you spend three hours a day on social
media, you can take steps to reduce your social media usage.
Or if you find you spend three hours a day checking emails,
you can start batching your emails... you get the picture.

2
 2

CHANGE #2: OPTIMIZE YOUR PHONE

FOR PRODUCTIVITY

L AST LESSON , YOU LEARNED ABOUT HOW PEOPLE ARE BIASED

and often don't have an accurate picture of how they spend
their time. To combat this, you installed time trackers on
your digital devices.

But regardless of what the time trackers show, I can almost

guarantee many hours of that wasted time is wasted on your
phone. Why? Because phone apps are engineered to be
addictive. They have to be. Since most of them are free, the
companies that make them rely on ad revenue or user data
to make money. The more people use their apps, the more
money they make. So, part of what they do to make money
is come up with ways to make sure you use your phone as
often as possible. And while that may be good for their
bottom line, it isn't good for you. Irreplaceable hours of your
life are being siphoned away by companies that don't really
care about your wellbeing.

If you want to become more productive, one of the best

things you can do is take back that time from app develop-
ers. Don't let companies feed off of your unchecked mobile

3
phone use. Optimize your phone so that you use it when
you want, not when companies want. The following recom-
mendations will show you how.

#1: Turn o (Almost) All Your Notifications and Badges

Nothing is more destructive to your productivity than a

notification. If you're in a flow state, a notification rips you
right out of that flow state. Since it takes up to half an hour
to get back into flow state again, notifications are definitely
something you want to avoid.

But, most people don't avoid them. Most phone users get
upwards of 150 notifications a day. That's 150 opportunities
for you to be ripped right out of flow state.

What's worse is that most of these notifications are not even

necessary. They're from social media, mobile games, spam
emails, and other bullshit you don't need interrupting
your day.

My recommendation is, you should only leave notifications

on for the following kinds of apps:

Phone
Text messages
System alarms (the clock app)
Any sleep/wake up apps you have
Notifications to take medicine
Calendar notifications
Notifications from chat apps which concern you
directly

That's it. No social media, no mobile games, no "This

YouTuber/Twitch streamer went live" notifications, no notifi-

4
cations every single time someone posts in a Slack/Discord
channel, nothing. The only things that get to notify you are
things that concern you directly or things that need your
immediate attention. Everything else is a distraction.

#2: Move Distracting Apps o the Home Screen

Check your time tracker. Chances are you've already accu-

mulated some data from yesterday about which apps you
like to waste time on the most. Popular contenders include
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tinder, TikTok, Reddit,
Discord, and mobile games.

If these apps live on your home screen, it's easy for your
distractible little mind to tap on the icon, open an app, and
waste 45 minutes to 3 hours scrolling endlessly. Move these
app icons...

1. To a folder on the second screen of your phone, if

you have an iPhone.
2. Off your home screens altogether, if you have an
Android.

Why does this work? Out of sight, out of mind. You're far
less likely to open apps and scroll endlessly if it takes even
just a little bit more work to open them in the first place.

Instead, populate your home screen with apps you want to

use, like your todo app, calendar, email, podcast app, or
educational games like Duolingo or Brilliant.

Further Reading

If you want more information about how to optimize your

phone, check out these two articles I've written on the topic:
5
1. What My Minimalist Phone Looks Like
2. The 5 Step Guide To Breaking Your Phone
Addiction

6
 3

CHANGE #3: FIX YOUR SLEEP

SCHEDULE

W E HUMANS LIKE TO THINK WE ' RE THE MASTER OF OUR

bodies, but the unfortunate reality is that often we're slaves
to them instead. Our bodies have certain physical wants and
needs that we cannot deny no matter how much we want to.

One of those physical needs is sleep. We all need about

eight hours of sleep at around the same time every night. If
we don't get those eight hours of sleep consistently, our
bodies suffer. We might be able to push through with the
help of caffeine, but nothing can make up for not sleeping
properly.

Luckily, for most people, getting an adequate amount of

sleep is not a problem. Once you learn how to manage your
sleep routine, getting a full night's sleep is not a problem.

#1: Wake up at the Same Time Every Morning

One unfortunate reality about sleep is that we can't choose

when we fall asleep. We can choose a lot of our behaviors,
but when we fall asleep is not one of them.

7
We can, however, choose when we wake up. By choosing to
wake up at the same time every morning, weekday or week-
end, we send a clear message to our bodies that we are
building a routine. If we stick to this routine, our bodies will
respond.

#2: Turn o Your Devices at the Same Time Every Night

Again, while we can't choose when we fall asleep, we can

choose when we start to signal to our bodies that it is time
for sleep. One of the ways we can do this is by shutting off
our devices at the same time every night. If we set a routine
and stick to it, our bodies start to learn that after device
shut-off time, it is time for sleep.

#3: Stop Drinking Ca eine in the Afternoon

In the morning, a moderate amount of coffee is a pleasur-

able pick-me-up to start your day. But in the afternoon,
coffee (and other caffeinated beverages) are awful for your
sleep patterns. The very energy boost that helps you wake
up in the morning keeps you awake at night, tossing and
turning in your bed. Do yourself a favor, and don't drink
caffeine within eight hours of going to bed - which, for most
people, is around 12 or 1 PM.

Bonus: If you stop drinking caffeine in the afternoon, it will

have a stronger effect in the morning.

Further Reading

If you want more information about how to get good sleep,

check out this article I've written about sleep: The Do’s and
Do Not’s of Getting Good Sleep.

8
 4

CHANGE #4: DECLUTTER YOUR LIFE

P RODUCTIVITY NERDS OFTEN TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF

having a clean, uncluttered home. We don't do this because
we're obsessed with shiny white tabletops or minimalist
aesthetics; we do this because clutter is one of the biggest
hidden productivity killers in America.

How Clutter Kills Productivity

For every thing you own, there is an associated maintenance

and storage cost. For most items in the home, this cost is
minimal; maintenance involves Clorox wiping it once a year,
and storage involves finding a drawer to put it in. Since
these costs are often minimal, nobody thinks about them.
Nobody considers the maintenance and storage cost of a
box of pens, for example.

But as you accumulate more and more possessions, these

costs begin to grow. One box of pens isn't a big deal, but
three hundred pens scattered across five junk drawers in the
house is. One more shirt from Forever 21 isn't a big deal, but

9
one hundred and fifty shirts that take up one walk-in closet,
two under storage bed units, and one hall closet is.
Suddenly your house is somehow a mess all the time, no
matter how often you clean.

These may seem like extreme examples, but these are fairly
common examples in American homes. Take the Netflix
show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. The people pictured in
that show are not hoarders; their homes are about as messy
as any American home. (Heck, their homes are cleaner than
some American homes). But when Kondo had them pull out
all their clothes, paperwork, and miscellanea, both the
homeowners and us viewers were left in shock at just how
much stuff these people owned.

Minimalists, on the other hand, don't have these problems.

People laugh at the cult-like obsession with minimalism
many people have, but minimalists never feel like they
spend all their time on chores or housework. A typical
American homeowner may spend 10 hours a week on
cleaning and tidying up, while a minimalist spends closer to
1 hour a week on the same tasks, leaving them plenty of time
to hit the gym, read a book, or work on a side project.

Declutter Your Home

Go through your house. Identify anything you haven't used

in the last 12 months. Clothes, cookware, office supplies, you
name it - if you haven't used it in a year, it's time to let it go.
Put it in a bag and drop it off at your local goodwill.

If you can't stomach that, put it in a bag and put that bag in
the garage or a forgotten corner -- if that bag sits there
another few months without being touched, then you can
send it to goodwill.

10
Further Reading

If you want more information about how to declutter your

home and your life, check out this article I've written about
decluttering: A Beginner's Guide To Purging Your Stuff.

11
 5

CHANGE #5: LEARN TO SAY NO

T HIS IS A BIG , AMAZING WORLD , AND IT ' S FULL OF INTERESTING

opportunities. At any moment, there are interesting
Meetups you could be attending, cool new friends you could
be socializing with, classes you could be attending, local
sports leagues you could be joining, so on and so forth.

But, you don't have time to pursue every interesting oppor-

tunity. Far from it. In your eighty-ish years of life, you are
only going to have the opportunity to pursue a very small
portion of those opportunities.

The problem comes in when you consider that to achieve

anything extraordinary, you must build accomplishment on
top of accomplishment. You must start from the bottom and
work your way to the top, over a period of years or decades.
It's hard to climb up this ladder of experience when you are
constantly distracted by all the different opportunities life
has to offer you.

So, your productivity change for today is to learn how to say

no to opportunities which don't move you toward your long-

12
term goals. If something doesn't move you in the direction
of your goals, say no to it. It doesn't matter how cool that trip
to Africa would be, how much fun it would be to join your
drinking buddies every Friday night, or to start a new busi-
ness with your best friend. If it doesn't move you toward
your long-term goals, say no.

And on the flip side, say yes to things that do move your
closer to your dreams, no matter how boring they may seem
at first. It sounds like a lot more fun to spend the weekend
chilling with your friends than spending your precious few
hours of free time serving an unpaid internship at a local
company, but only one of those things moves you closer to
your dreams.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is

dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

THOMAS EDISON

At first this will be difficult. The people trying to sell you on

these opportunities will talk about all the "potential," about
how they are "the opportunity of a lifetime." And at first, it
will feel like you're passing up on total awesomeness for no
reason.

But over time, all those times you said "no" will start to pay
off. You'll start creeping closer and closer to your dreams.
That unpaid internship will turn into a paid internship at a
more prestigious firm. All those things you created while
your friends were out drinking will start to gain an audi-
ence. Five years later, you'll be the one living your dream
life, and it's those who didn't make the sacrifice who will be
lamenting how unsatisfying their own lives are.

13
In short: Identify what matters most to you, and say no to
everything else.

14
 CONCLUSION

Congratulations! You've reached the end of the book.

The end of this book is not the end of what there is to know
about productivity. Learning how to manage your time
effectively is a lifelong process.

If you want to continue your learning, check out my book

Work Less, Finish More: Productivity Lessons On How To
Spend Less Time Working And Get More Done.

15
In Work Less, Finish More, you'll learn key principles of
productivity that allow productive people to take care of all
their responsibilities with hours to spare. Once you know
these principles of productivity, you will no longer feel over-
worked — in fact, you may even have so much free time you
feel bored.

Get Work Less, Finish More for $7.99

https://amzn.to/3AgOmWK

Reviews from Happy Readers

"...no matter who you are, what your goals are, or who you
want to be, this book is choc-full of wisdom to support you
in living your best life. I'm buying a copy for everyone on
my holiday shopping list this year; it's just that good... 14/10
will read again and again."

16
 ADELAY

“If you wish to make your time matter again, regain value
and build productivity, and then begin to articulate this
better way of living in your world then you need to read
this book!”

BRUCE

To give you a taste of what Work Less, Finish More is about,

I’ve included the first two chapters for free in this ebook.
Simply turn the page to start reading them.

17
WORK LESS, FINISH MORE
PREVIEW
 1

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE

PRODUCTIVE

“Time management is about life management.”

IDOWU KOYENIKAN, WEALTH FOR ALL:

LIVING A LIFE OF SUCCESS AT THE EDGE OF
YOUR ABILITY

M ANY PEOPLE MISUNDERSTAND THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCTIVITY

advice.

At its core, productivity advice isn’t about how to work

longer hours. It’s about how to get more out of the hours
that you do work.

For example, consider two writers. Fred works 30 hours a

week and publishes 12 articles a week. Steve works 10 hours
a week and publishes 9 articles.

Fred certainly works harder, but it’s Steve who is more

productive. Steve gets nearly one article done an hour, and
Fred gets less than half an article done per hour. If Steve
worked as many hours as Fred, he would more than double
Fred’s output.

21
Productivity advice (at least, good productivity advice) is
about being Steve, not Fred.

PRESUMABLY, everyone reading this book would like to be

Steve. You would like to get more done in less time so you
can focus on your health, family, hobbies, travel, or other
non-work activities.

That’s where productivity advice steps in.

Productivity advice teaches you how to get the most out of

your working hours. How you choose to spend the rest of
your time — whether it’s on taking on more work, picking
up an exercise habit, or learning to play the guitar — is up
to you.

My passion for productivity skills comes from this freedom.

I love having a free schedule to live life on my terms, and
productivity skills enable me to break free of long working
hours to live my life the way I want.

NOW THAT YOU know what it truly means to be produc-

tive, let’s discuss two things people often mistake for produc-
tivity: busyness and workaholism.

Being Busy Is Not Productive

If you know someone who is never available to hang out

because they are always busy, you know someone who is not
productive.

22
Busyness is the opposite of productivity. A productive
person does high-quality work quickly so they have all the
free time they want. A busy person, on the other hand,
never has free time. They take too long to get things done.

It’s normal to be busy for a month or two at a time. Everyone

has seasons of busyness in their life. But if you’ve felt over-
worked for years, you will enjoy this book.

Workaholism Is Not Productive

In America, we have a cultural notion of the always-on

employee. This employee works ten hours a day and is still
available on nights and weekends. They always update their
JIRA board, get recommended for promotions, and win
monthly company awards for performance.

They’re available as a loving parent and spouse at home, of

course, but only between “short” emails and “quick” phone
calls.

We call this workaholism, and it’s busyness made cancerous.

People feel good about themselves when they work hard.

Accomplishing things is rewarding. Workaholics take this to
the extreme. Like a drug addict, they overdose on the high
of being productive and getting things done.

As workaholics add to their workload, they become less

concerned with productivity. Productivity is about working
fewer hours, and workaholics are not interested in working
fewer hours. They feel good when they work more hours,
not fewer.

Workaholism, then, is not about actual productivity. It’s

about feeling good. Workaholics use work to feel good the
same way shopaholics go to the mall to feel good.
23
Like any addiction, workaholism isn’t healthy. It unbalances
your life, it eats up all your free time, and can paradoxically
hold your career back.

NOW THAT YOU know what it actually means to be

productive, you’re ready to learn how to apply that
knowledge.

24
 2

WHAT PRODUCTIVITY ADVICE IS

ACTUALLY USEFUL FOR

“My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have

less to do.”

FRANCINE JAY, MISS MINIMALIST:

INSPIRATION TO DOWNSIZE, DECLUTTER,
AND SIMPLIFY

I F PEOPLE OFTEN MISUNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE

productive, they definitely misunderstand how to use
productivity skills.

Most people use productivity skills to get through tasks

quickly at work. What motivates them to read books like
this one is the desire to do more at work during their
workday.

Doing more work is an excellent use of productivity skills,

but it’s not the only use. Productivity skills are useful for a
wide range of things.

Stay-at-home parents can use productivity skills to

get housework and parental duties done faster.
25
 Students can use productivity skills to organize
their coursework and learn more effectively.
People planning long-term travel can use
productivity skills to organize travel research and
create a schedule.
People doing home improvement can use
productivity skills to reduce the amount of time and
money a remodel will take.

Very few of my readers want productivity advice because

they want to do better at work. They want productivity
advice because they want to start a side hustle, pursue a
hobby, or get fit.

My own interest in productivity skills stems from an interest

in a holistic life. Productivity skills have helped me as a
writer, but they have also helped me get fit, save money, and
make the most of my time with friends and loved ones.

There are some things in your life you would like to accom-
plish. Perhaps you’re a student trying to complete college
online, or a stay-at-home parent whose responsibilities have
multiplied. Or maybe you’d just like to finally start painting
again.

It doesn’t matter. If you’d like to get more done in less time,

whatever it is, productivity skills can help you.

The next section is about how.

26
 I

6 PRINCIPLES OF
PRODUCTIVITY

“Following conventional wisdom and relying on

shortcuts can be worse than knowing nothing at all.”

BEN HOROWITZ, THE HARD THING ABOUT

HARD THINGS
 1

80% OF WHAT YOU DO DOESN’T

MATTER

“The secret of life is to get lucky and stay there.”

CHARLEY ELLIS

O NE OF THE MOST UNFORTUNATE REALITIES ABOUT BEING

productive is that most of what we do is a total waste of
time.

Most of what we do is a waste of time because productivity

adheres to a mathematical concept called The Pareto
Principle.

The Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle is a mathematical concept with roots in

economics, computing, sports, biology, and almost every
other field of human learning. It says this:

“The Pareto principle states that, for many events,

roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”

THE PARETO PRINCIPLE, WIKIPEDIA

29
The Pareto Principle is a universal mathematical truth.
Across many areas of science, economics, mathematics, and
human learning, the Pareto Principle holds.

20% of pea plants account for 80% of pea

production 1
“Microsoft noted that by fixing the top 20% of the
most-reported bugs, 80% of the related errors and
crashes in a given system would be eliminated.” 2
“In health care in the United States, in one instance,
20% of patients have been found to use 80% of
health care resources.” 3

And for us, people looking to be more productive, 80% of

our results come from 20% of our actions.

Only 20% of what we spend our time doing has a significant

impact. The rest is a waste of time.

DON’T BELIEVE ME? Consider how much time you spend

checking your email.

You only need to check your email once or twice a day to be

effective. Yet most people do so dozens or hundreds of times
a day. Anytime they have a down moment, they check their
email.

And when they do, it’s full of junk. Newsletters, spam mail,
notes, you name it. These emails are a waste of time.

You waste all that time you spend checking your email on
spam.

30
If you stopped checking your email so often and unsub-
scribed from all this junk, you’d free up hours of your time
at little to no cost.

If you’re clear on what matters to you and what doesn’t, it’s

easy to identify your 20% and what is in your 80%.

There is what matters, like taking care of your family, taking

care of your body, and pursuing your line of work.

Then there’s what doesn’t matter, like Macy’s sales and video
game weekend specials.

Tracking every election cycle polling change might make

you feel like an informed citizen, but if you’re not a political
pundit or serious activist, chances are it’s the 80%.

The truly productive keep a close eye on how they spend

their time.

They know which activities are in the high-impact 20% and

which are in the low-impact 80%.

When they see something from the low-impact 80% is

taking up too much of their time, they either reduce the
amount of time it takes or do away with it.

THE MORE YOU CUT OUT, the higher impact your time
becomes.

When you cut the 80% that doesn’t matter, you are left with
the 20% that does — and then you add more things that
matter, creating a new, even higher value 20%. You create a
new 80% and 20% made up of higher-value activities.

In the end, it’s impossible to cut out the 80%.

31
In this way, no matter how productive someone is or how
essential they are to their team, the 80/20 rule is true for
them. It’s true for busy working moms. It’s true for Fortune
50 CEOs. It’s even true for the President. And even after you
read this book, it will still be true for you.

Instead of trying to purge our lives of what doesn’t matter

once and for all, we need to learn to keep a watchful eye on
everything we do.

Every day, we need to ask ourselves if what we’re doing is in

the 80% or the 20%. And if it’s in the 80%, we need to mini-
mize or cut it out.

In this way, we are continually creating new and higher-

value 20% activities, pushing our productivity ever higher.

AS YOU MOVE through this book, it will reference the

80/20 rule again and again. Of all the lessons in this book,
it’s the most oft-repeated. But as you’ll learn in the next
chapter, it’s not the only principle you need to know.

1. The 1 Percent Rule: Why a Few People Get Most of the Rewards by
James Clear
2. The Pareto Principle, Wikipedia
3. The Pareto Principle, Wikipedia

32
 BUY WORK LESS, FINISH MORE

If you liked what you’ve read so far, you can read the rest by
buying Work Less, Finish More for only $7.99.

Get Work Less, Finish More for $7.99

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33
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Megan Holstein is a Top Writer on

Medium.com. She covers
personal development, relation-
ships, self-improvement, and
entrepreneurship.

Prior to becoming a writer,

Megan Holstein was an
entrepreneur. She started her first
successful business, Pufferfish Software, in 2011, when she
was fifteen years old. For her work with Pufferfish Software,
she won numerous awards, such as the EO’s Global High
School Entrepreneur award and the YWCA’s Woman To
Watch award.

In her personal life, Megan enjoys hitting the gym, indoor

gardening, reading, and not having to write biographies
about herself in the third person.