I can’t do it.

This one line has helped me a big way in using my time productively. This one line, “I can’t do it” is the biggest productivity hack I use very frequently.

Let me explain this to you. If you can’t do something then noone will ask you to do it and when noone will ask you to do it, you have one less thing to do. You can use the same time for something that’s important to you.

So if I try to give a personal example. I don’t know how to drive. No vehicle whatsoever. My family wants me to learn it because everyone should know how to drive.Right? But I refuse to learn. You know why? Because once I know how to drive, my mother will tell me to go and fetch vegetables from the supermarket. I’ll be asked to go get the guests when they arrive. None of it I wish to do. So I simply say “I can’t do it” because I don’t know how to drive. Once I know, I’ll have to do all this.

There are a hell lot of other things that I didn’t learn because that would lead me to doing things I don’t want to spend my time on.

I only learn skills that help me grow as a person. That’s it. Nothing more.

I don’t know if it’s the right approach to take or if it even is advisable. But it sure saves me a lot of time and mental space.

“I can’t do it” is my weapon for productivity.

-ChoubeySahab

PS. I hope my parents don’t read this, else they will force me into driving school.

The curious will win the race.

With formal education losing value with each passing day. The value of college degrees are dropping at unprecedented rate. This is because with time more and more people have got access to college education, which means more degrees given out, which means we are moving closer to the point when everyone has a degree.

But this leaves us with a problem. When everyone has a degree, how does one differentiate the good, the better, the best. There has to be another metric to judge someone’s worth.

In my view this new metric will be curiousity. The one more curious is better than one less curious. A knack for gaining new knowledge will highly be valued by corporations in the coming days.

This is because with time, change will be the only constant. Change in technology, change in procedures, change in the way things work. To adapt to this change, corporations will need employees who can quickly learn these new technologies, processes and ways of doing things.

The people needed for this are the ones who have a knack for learning. Not just learning, but learning fast. The people who know how to find answers to their questions will be winning the race.

Do you have this in you? Are you curious enough? Can you learn things fast?

If yes, you’re winning. If not, you can still catch up.

-ChoubeySahab

Done is better than perfect.

This is a lesson which you all should learn. A task not done is failure whereas a task done, even if not perfectly, is success. Getting done a task is what matters.

It has occurred to me several times, when I had to choose between perfection and completion of a task. Choosing perfection would mean not doing the task at all. While choosing to go for completion atleast gets the job done.

If I give you a personal example, today I don’t feel like writing a blog piece. So I’m left with 2 choices, either I go with how I feel and not write a blog or put my head down and write something even if it’s not perfect or good enough.

As you can see, I choose the latter. Because writing one blog everyday is more important than how I feel. Don’t let your feelings drive your actions because what has to be done, has to be done.

Don’t chase perfection, chase completion.

-ChoubeySahab

Go through the bad days.

We all have good days and bad days. But I see that most, including myself, do some really bad stuff on bad days in our desperation to make that day good.

But it doesn’t work more often than not. The more we try to make it better,the worse it gets. So what’s the right way to deal with bad days? I thought about this for a while and now I think I’ve found a way.

The trick is to acknowledge the bad days as bad days. Once you get a slight hint that nothing seems to be going your way on a particular day, label that day as a bad day. But how’d that help? It would prevent you from trying new things on that day. Because the chances of failure would be high on that day.

Play it safe on this particular day. Try to say less and listen more. Judge less and observe more. Just try to go through bad days.

So the next time you have a bad day, don’t panic and try to make it good. Just wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be good.

-ChoubeySahab

You have enough time.

At times, I feel I don’t have enough time to do a lot of things I really want to. So I took out some time to think about the way I’m spending my time now.

It turns out I still don’t do anything productive with 60% of my time keeping sleep aside (because sleep is productive).

Then I thought about, what do I do in this 60% of time. I just sit and scroll on random things on my phone. Maybe I use 20% out of this 60% for interacting with people around me. Which is again important.

Now we are left with 40% of time. I’ll give myself 10% of this for wasting, that is 24/10= 2.4 hours. Here 2.4 hours might seem enough to you. But it is far from what we actually waste everyday.

So now I’m left with 30%, that is 7.2 hours. I can do so many things in this time. Learn new skills, read books, reach out to different people. The possibilities are endless.

Before doing this analysis, I was thinking that I don’t have enough time to pursue things that I really wanted to. But as you see, it was not true.

We all have enough time. We just don’t know how we are spending it. Sit down and try to know this and once you do, you’ll have more time than ever on your hands.

-ChoubeySahab

Don’t “Stay the same”.

It’s a cliché these days, people tell their friends to stay the same, to make them feel good about what they are. But the reality is much different and for one to be good, one has to keep changing for the better.

A better thing to say is “Stay good”, to stay good for the changing times one will need to change according to the changing conditions. The world is dynamic and if one “stays the same” then s/he will become irrelevant after a while.

Every now and then someone pops up and tells me to stay the same forever. No man, that’s not the advice you give to people. Not even to make them feel good.

Instead, tell people that they’re doing good but will need to keep changing for the better.

I only consider my true friends for the people who aren’t scared to tell me on my face where I’m going wrong, what needs to change.

You have the world to seek validation from. But your friends, the people around you, should keep pushing you to become better version of yourself.

Assess the people around you, do they really help you grow or are they just saying things to make you feel good.

Differentiate the 2 wisely, then keep the true ones close to you always.

Don’t stay the same.

The world is changing and so should you.

But remember, change only for the better.

-ChoubeySahab

PS. Get these in your inbox everyday, register your mail at choubeysahab.substack.com

Breaks are scam.

Every now and then when on an important task, I take a break when I complete a considerable part of the task. For eg. Doing an assignment, break after 5 questions. I did this as a reward for completing those 5 questions but the problem is I don’t get back to the assignment after the break.

As a result I end the day with just 5 questions done, and regretting for not completing my task. This is with most of us, we take breaks very frequently in the middle of an important task and end up procastinating it all the way to the deadline.

But then what can we do about it? How do we fix this? The answer is pretty simple, don’t take breaks. Try to finish your task in one go when you get started with it. Initially it would feel like a lot of work and make you uncomfortable but with time you’ll make this habit of completing the task on time.

Trust me the feeling you get in doing it in a single shot is a lot bigger then completing it somewhere near the deadline.

Breaks are scam. If it’s important, do it in a single shot.

Once you understand this, your life will change for the better.

-ChoubeySahab

What’s your next big move?

This is one question that I keep asking myself from time to time. This question keeps me on track of constant growth as a person. It forces me to think beyond limits.

What’s something that I can do that can get me amazing results. It can be risky or whatever but even if it has a 10% chance of big return, then I’d go for it.

While I’m writing this, I’m simultaneously thinking of what my next big move will be. I love thinking about this question because whenever I do, I challenge whatever preconceived unnecessary limits that hold me back.

Everytime I come up with an idea that I feel insanely excited about and want to jump onto it’s execution right away.

You know what, I have got my idea for my next BIG move. You’ll get to know about it soon. Meanwhile I want you to think about your next big move. Something that has the potential to change your life.

Once you get this idea, do share with me. I’d love to hear from you.

-ChoubeySahab

Make your actions more powerful.

One question that has bothered me since childhood is why is a hardworking rikshawala poor and someone who just sits in front of a laptop earns much more.

If hardwork is what makes one successful then the rickshaw puller has to be the most successful. But, interestingly, that is not the case.

Recently I figured out how this all works. The formula for what one earn is equal to effort times skilled knowledge.

Or if I put it in a mathematical equation:

Effort × skilled knowledge = money

The rickshaw puller puts in a lot of effort but his skilled knowledge is very less to make him good money or successful. While in the case of person sitting at a comfy bean bag starring at a laptop, the effort is very less but there is skilled knowledge here. Hence, this effortless job ends up paying more.

The point here that I’m trying to emphasize is that hardwork alone won’t fetch you success. Hardwork married with a good skillset will.

Build your knowledge and skillset and keep updating it in order to live a comfortable life while making good money.

If you get this formula in your head right now, you will be set for life.

-ChoubeySahab

How to attract good luck?

Good luck is one necessary ingredient in the delicious dish of success. But this one isn’t related to our actions. We can’t work hard to get lucky.

Many believe that one should leave luck to god and do actions as perfectly as possible. Which is a fairly good approach to take.

But presently I’m reading a book which tells a way to attract good luck. I’ll try to give you that in this blog.

The author believes that luck favors the prepared. You need to be forever prepared for good opportunities and once they arrive, be quick to latch on to them.

Read that again because that’s all there is to attract luck. You just need to be prepared at every moment, so that when luck arrives you don’t turn it down because you were unprepared.

I believe the author makes good sense when he says that luck is for the prepared. If there’s an opportunity to show your talent but you stay put because you’re afraid to face the audience, here you are unprepared and are turning down luck.

This is what most people do. They keep turning down luck when it arrives and then keep complaining about not being lucky.

You are lucky, everyone is.

Most turn it down while few use it to their leverage.

Which category do you fall in?

-ChoubeySahab