I don’t remember how many dawns it took

There are no magic hands, only a magic shift button

Akshayraveendran
4 min readJan 21, 2024

I don’t even remember how many months it took me to go from being addicted to social media, and gaming, often sleeping away the morning until it’s noon to someone who is productive most of the day.

Before that, you need to know what I mean by productive. I believe going to the gym is productive also believe studying a different language that can be helpful for me in the future is productive. It’s just about what I put on my calendar and need to get done for the day.

And what I did is:

  1. Phone addiction/etcc
    The books were the healers in this case, starting from “Deep Work” by Cal Newport to ‘’Dopamine Nation’’ by Anna Lembke. I’m not saying that just reading them changed me, it was all about taking action about what I learned from the book. Mainly through creating a framework and accountability, I was able to quit. It was not easy, I can guarantee you that. It took me more than 10 tries to get things under my control.
  2. 3 things, and 3 things only.
    I have made the conscious decision to do nothing but 3 things with very rare exceptions such as meeting friends, which I luckily do not have many of. The three things are 1. My health, eating well, drinking water, and hitting the gym. 2. Studying a new skill or language which is coding, is an investment for creating things that are in my mind. 3. My Business. That’s almost 100% of my awake time. Of course, I take 10 to 15-minute breaks in my productive hours. These breaks allowed me to stay in deep focus so don’t underestimate these rules. Only do 3 long-term things and never try doing more than that, it just doesn’t work.
  3. Nutrition
    I used to be skeptical about the effectiveness of following a particular blueprint for achieving happiness. However, after implementing Bryan Johnson’s blueprint as much as possible, I became a genuinely happy person. I also found that certain supplements, such as lithium (which I am not advising anyone to take), helped regulate my mood and allowed me to be more productive. It’s important not to underestimate the power of good health.
  4. Hang around with 4 drinking friends and you’ll be the 5th
    I know very well about this because I was an example when I was in college. So always remember to hang around with people who have high-level mindsets and who are also like-minded. There are a few communities on a website called Skool that you can join to find like-minded people. This really helps to stay in touch with your goals. It has helped me a lot to share and read the thoughts of others. It is also a good reminder to read about your goals daily.
  5. Redeveloped my mindset
    I used to believe that motivation was the key to success, however, my perspective on this has changed. Nowadays, whether or not I feel like studying or working on something is not as important to me as it used to be. That being said, there are certain situations where I do make exceptions. I try to avoid overworking myself and take breaks when necessary, but I also make sure to earn them. For example, I recently rearranged my entire room and then went to the gym. However, when I felt exhausted, I decided to skip the gym and take a hot bath instead and saw the movie Click (2006), literally enjoyed 4 hours of my day. It’s important to remember that we’re all human and it’s okay to take a break when needed. It’s also essential to avoid rewarding yourself too much when you haven’t really accomplished anything significant.
  6. Only do what you can
    Pushing yourself to the edge won’t be a great idea because there is a chance that you will get a burnout. Instead, do it for 10 minutes. I never started my productive journey by pushing myself, rather it was about how I maintained my consistency in doing productive things. I began my gym by doing it for 10 minutes and even if I don’t have a mind to go then I just wear my gym outfit and call it a day. Again I repeat that until I eventually made it to the gym. Next thing you know, I’m working out 4 days a week. If all you can do is touch the book you want to read, don’t worry. As long as you progress it’s great.

Big disclaimer: It may sound easy but it wasn’t. At times, I still find myself procrastinating. It took me weeks to consistently focus on my tasks. However, I got better at it. I am not promoting the ‘hustle culture’ lifestyle, but I am sharing this because some people call me insane for working from 8 in the morning to bedtime. But, let me tell you, I have never been happier in my life. If you want to spend four hours every night with your girlfriend, go ahead and schedule it. It is not about being productive, it is about living the life you want.

This is what I want, and it is hard to achieve, but the fulfillment I feel now is indescribable.

If you enjoyed this, maybe I can tempt you with a self-improvement newsletter. I write a weekly email full of practical tips like this :)

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Akshayraveendran
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Small pieces you may miss while moving toward achieving your goals!