Faris Mubarak

Googling “how to increase your productivity” was absolutely no help.

Everyone was writing about ways to save time. One talked about reducing the consumption of coffee to reduce bathroom breaks… This isn’t the Pursuit of Happyness.

Others swore by sticking to a google calendar: I’ve tried that in the past with no luck. Empty calendars were created, meetings + to do items were scheduled in, reoccurring line items were added in… It turned into a never-ending symphony of notifications, beeps, and vibrations. SSSSSHHHH!

I came across another interesting article. It was talking about how to increase productivity by following a process. A paragraph later it delved into a complicated integration of Asana, Slack, and using your email as a to-do list… I wanted something basic that I could stick to like clockwork.

Not getting anywhere, I was endlessly scrolling article after article until I came across this article about the Pomodore principle. It was simple. It was basic. And over time, I could incorporate it into other SOP’s. Beautiful.

Pomodore is about boxing your time (& mind), focusing on one thing at a time.

The set up is simple. Start the day with a to-do list of items that can be broken down into 25-minute segments. If you have big line items, find a way to break them down into smaller, bite-sized pieces that can be accomplished in 25 (or worst case 50) minute segments.

Get yourself a kitchen timer, a timer app, or if you’re feeling fancy… One of the gazillion Pomodore Apps. (There is an app out there that gamifies the Pomodoro principle, allowing you collect “points” used to redeem stuff.)

Set the timer for 25 minutes and get cracking!

If you finish early, spend the extra time tweaking your work or learning something new. You just reclaimed extra time, use it productively!

If you don’t finish when the timer rings, move on to the next task.

If something comes up, record it for later and get back to the task at hand.

After each Pomodoro, give yourself a 5-minute break to reorganize, collect, and prepare for the next task.

After 4 Pomodoro, give yourself a longer break. No mentally intensive tasks, you want to save the brain power for the next set of Pomodoro.

Doing the Pomodoro for over a week… Whoa, I’ve gotten a lot done!

It’s the strangest feeling.

Putting together the todo list acts as mental preparation for what needs to get accomplished today. It’s an exercise in weeding out time-intensive tasks that aren’t really a priority (as of this moment).

When you start that timer, you only have 25 minutes to execute. No time to dilly dally. No time to hop on Facebook. It becomes tunnel vision, eye on the prize… “I got to finish this in 25 minutes.”

At the end of the 25 minutes, it’s a feeling of accomplishment. If I didn’t finish a task, I started to question… Why? Was it because I got distracted, was over-ambitious, or does the task really take more than 25 minutes?

Knocking out 8 Pomodoro’s in a day, its a feeling of “I got shit done.”

At the end of the week, I realized just how much i accomplished. Plus… I was able to measure forward progress with numbers – unlike most calendar systems.

As entrepreneurs we go through it all the time. How many times have you:

• Felt like if I just had an extra $xx,xxx things will be much better?
• Been told “Business is hard. Maybe you should just get a job instead?”
• Thought to yourself… “Am I making the right move? I could be sacrificing everything.”

On top of all this, we deal with internal pressures from our friends, family, and other loved ones. We make sacrifices to be better, do better, or to hit some other sort of personal goal.

People on every level feel this type of pressure all the time.

Start up founders always worrying about something or another (usually how to consistently generate revenue, cashflow, or handle execution).

Established business owners are always worrying about employee productivity, quality assurance, or how to sustain / increase their growth rate.

Even stock listed company CEO’s have serious stresses: How do they increase profits / maintain stock investor satisfaction?

Working with business owners, I’ve realized Mindset Is Everything.

If you pay attention owners / founders that have a consistent track record of winning – they protect their mind.

They don’t let others dictate how they should feel.

Most importantly, they don’t care what others think.

They just keep on DOING.

With consistent effort, Winning will come.

A positive mindset lets you work better, think creatively, and really focus on the goals that matter.

So, how do you protect your mindset?

Take a deep breath, we’re about to do an exercise.

Think about your last BIG win. It doesn’t need to be a professional win, it can be a personal win.

The moment you bought your first car.

The moment you got married.

The moment when you told your boss you’re leaving and walked out like a badass.

Now really think about it…. How did you feel? You probably felt invincible.

Now, remember that feeling.

It’s a human thing – we usually let our emotions flow like water. For some reason, we always gravitate towards negative feelings & thoughts that we feel. Right. This. Minute.

We never really think about the GOOD moments that we had and how we felt. On the off chance when do, it’s usually because something triggered (person / object) that triggered it.

So remember those good feelings. Tell yourself it’ll happen – it’s just a matter of time & consistency.

Collect the good things that Trigger positive emotions.

Most of us have things that trigger positivity whenever we look / touch them.

I have an iPhone album with pictures of every win I’ve had so far. From giant paychecks, to emails from clients going “Whoa”, to the first business class flight ticket that I bought.

I even have a photo of Zikria (my co-founder) and I signing our first office space lease.

I’ve been adding to it for years.

So when the walls feel like they are closing in, I can remind myself just how far I’ve come.

Don’t give a HOOT about what others think.

This one is the hardest thing to do.

We tell ourselves we don’t care. All things said and done, we do actually care.

We go on social media, look at other people’s feeds and think “I wish I could be like them.”

It’s hard as hell – But, can you imagine the type of person you would be if you really didn’t care?

That’s real, true freedom.

Be very careful with what you consume online.

We spend soo much of our time online these days, our digital selves are dictated by artificial intelligence and advanced algorithms.

When we click, read, or engage with negative content on the internet – our computer overlords are watching.

It shows you more content similar to what you consumed in the past.

Over time, this turns into a never-ending loop…

Yes, artificial intelligences are pre-programmed to “forget” with time, but that takes time and concerted effort your part.

Your mindset belongs to You.
It’s your Responsibility to protect it.