Most people want to achieve great results in life. But results don't arise from wishful thinking and luck. They come from people consistently taking positive actions.
Are you taking actions?
If you are but don’t know where you stand compared to productive people, I have some data for you. This is what productivity looks like in numbers.
Background:
Over the past eight months, I have been running a service called Sisyphi Camps. The concept is simple, and goes like this:
Based on the results they want to achieve, campers pick an One Action Camp, where they will repeatedly take a single action for a month.
Every day, the camper texts me the result of their actions for the day.
My team and I record the result on a spreadsheet (this is mine) for the camper.
Hundreds of people participated in Sisyphi. Some went nuts, and some were completely dormant. This is like watching hundreds of people in a real-life Hunger Games… except there's no killing, only productive activities, life achievements, and mutual encouragement.
Through it all, I got an in-depth look into what real productivity looks like.
And I am writing this blog post to share the data with you. Whether you are a camper or not, you can gauge how productive you are in your life compared to the Sisyphi campers.
Data:
The following is the 75th percentile in terms of activities. If a camper is above the 75th percentile, I would consider him/her to have had a very productive month.’
My Thoughts on individual camps:
Legendary writer Stephen King set the standard by writing 2,000 words per day… But he’s Stephen King, and he's a weirdo, horror machine who does nothing but write all day. He probably smells bad too. In comparison, Ernest Hemingway wrote 500 words per day. He would fit right in as a relatively productive Flowy Writer. (Maybe I should rename this camp the Daily Hemingway).
For reference, my book, Rejection Proof, was about 50,000 words post-editing, and 80,000 in rough drafts. It would have taken me 4 and a half months to finish my book had I done the Flowy Writer Camp and kept at a 75th percentile pace. How long did it take me to finish it back in the day? 11 full months.Yeah, it would have made my publisher so, so happy.
Daily Achiever has been, and might always be, my favorite camp. Setting three goals a day is one of the most powerful productivity hacks you can do, and it’s insanely easy.
I am explosively happy to see a productive camper set goals for 25 out of 30 days. Basically, he/she sets goals every day except weekends. That's rather transformative. It also goes to show how easy this action is.
The Geico commercial says, “15 minutes might save you 15% or more on car insurance.” For Daily Achievers, it’s “3 minutes to set 3 goals might make you 30% more productive per day.”
Getting up early has many benefits - starting the day on a high note, having more time to start a routine that can include meditation, exercise, reading, journaling, etc., and sometimes even accomplishing more than your average Joe before they even get up.
That said, it’s extremely hard for many night owls to change behavior and go from getting up at 8-9AM to 6AM.
Looking at the data, I am honestly a little shocked. A productive camper getting up by 6AM 22 out of 30 days is crazy. Think about the extra hours of productivity and good feeling. That’s behavior-changing and life-altering.
If there is one camp that's disappointing, this is it. The participation was low, and the activities were low. This was the only camp that was a public one, meaning people would check in with their before and after pictures in a common Slack Channel. For all other camps, campers would check in with me privately. It hasn’t worked too well.
There could be a couple of reasons: maybe this activity by nature is not fulfilling enough - cleaning and then seeing it quickly descend into chaos is Sisyphean (lol, that’s the name of the camp) and not cumulative. Maybe having many people checking in on the same Slack group is chaotic. For whatever reason, it hasn’t worked.
It’s OK. No service can bat 1000, and there's still time to improve it.
Of all these One Action Camps, the Focused Creator is the granddaddy of them all. It’s based on timing yourself doing the work. It’s the purest form of input goal. It’s as if an artist clocks in and out of an art production factory. It sounds mechanical and counter-intuitive, but it's indeed one of the most creativity-inducing camps out there.
The vast majority of these productive campers aren't professional artists and writers. They do art creation as an entrepreneurial exercise, a hobby, or a side gig. And most of them have to do it on top of their daily jobs. For them to spend 1.2 hours/day being a focused creator is very inspiring. This is what labor of love looks like.
An average person in the United States spends 3 hours and 41 minutes on their phone every day, mostly to consume meaningless media and news, curated by tech companies to get us addicted to their content.
In a fight to get our mental space back, a productive camper spends 32 mins per day on intentional, positive, and educational content. That's a major victory against technology. More importantly, that 15.9 hours/month is equivalent to taking a major course at a university.
This camp is similar to Hungry Learner but for physical exercise. The World Health Organization recommends an average adult to exercise 30 minutes/day. A productive Sisyphi camper does that and then some.
Here's what successful people and companies have in common: they all have a board of advisors. Reaching out to people who can provide ideas and energy is a secret productivity hack that few people are aware of, but it can be career-changing. Assuming half of these outreaches turned into positive conversations, a 75th percentile Sisyphi camper can have 8.5 additional inspiring interactions they wouldn't normally experience.
That's 8.5 more chances to build relationships, seize opportunities, and receive a mental boost from the best of the best.
Action for you:
Do you take actions consistently toward a long-term goal? If so, share with me in the comments.
Jia,
Unsure if this email works to connect back with you and thought I'd try (also going to post to the comments section in Goal Getter) ... I have been following your work for a long time and was part of your rejection app testing group (winning back many of my $20 😎 back). I wanted to share how much your book, Rejection Proof and the participation in the app, still continues to motivate me. Most recently in raising funds for a non-profit for which I co-chair the Board, Nurses Peer Support Network (NPSN) https://www.npsnetwork-mn.org/. I am taking risks, asking for help and telling people how far out I'm willing to go to make the goal. Part of me hopes this reaches you to let you know your past students still use the tools learned AND to ask if you would promote the information below. I am asking, because I have nothing to lose and what is the worst you can say, no 😏?
My Post:
Imagine you are meeting with a provider and diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening illness…Your mind goes a million different directions, with worries about: your life, insurance coverage/finances, time away from work/family and who you might choose to share about your illness, especially if the disease carries a stigma, as can be found with a substance use disorder. The provider is empathetic and caring as together you develop recommendations for your care. In addition, a resource is shared to connect you to one on one &/or group support with individuals who have walked a similar journey…this is the work of Nurses Peer Support Network (NPSN), for nurses by nurses.
I remember these same fears and at the time of my recovery, NPSN did not exist to connect me with another nurse or healthcare professional with the disease. I felt alone, ashamed, afraid, and unsure of what my future might hold. Today, nurses have NPSN for outreach, education, support, connection, and advocacy.
Currently, we are 30% to the goal of $5000 to support the above continued work of NPSN and I need your help. In return, I already have scheduled the salon appointment, set for 9/7/23 to have my hair dyed bright purple, in honor of September which is national recovery month. Please help push me out of my comfort zone to embrace the color 💜PURPLE💜! Come on, you know you want to… Click the link, donate now 😊 https://gofund.me/dc9f0190
Hair Fundraiser.jpg
Your pupil,
Carrie Kappel
I'm interested in Early Riser and Focused Creator, where can I get more info?