Lose Your Headphones (A Quick Creativity Hack) - #103

The Formula Podcast with Trevor Carlson

If you’ve ever lost a pair of headphones, you know the feeling - a short burst of frustration followed by the realization that you won’t be able to block out distractions anymore. In the Netherlands, I lost my headphones. But it didn’t bring me down - it raised up my creativity. Sometimes, in order to achieve clarity and true productivity, we need to lose our headphones or our biggest distraction. In today’s world, it’s easy to become a workaholic and pursue that #grind - but does that help us create a more fulfilling life? Today, I’ll be sharing a brief story about the things I learned from the time I lost my headphones while crashing in the Netherlands.

Quotes

2:04 [Losing my headphones,] I felt very present - I felt like I was actually there, instead of my face being in my phone or my mind wandering to other places as I heard someone talking aboutthe latest marketing hacks or travel hacks.”

3:28 You and I live in this world where we have constant bombardment of what I’ve heard called productivity porn’ - videos and articles glorifying working to the point of killing yourself; addictive learning... and then it’s like the 24-hour consumption of Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and on and on... and things that tap into [our] precious time.

4:27 Spending all this time constantly learning, constantly thinking, constantly on - it really becomes counterproductive.

4:47 Losing my headphones and being brought back to reality was a nice reminder of how easy it is to fall into the workaholic trap. It becomes a way to feel important when you have to say, “Man, I’d really love to, but I’m working.” Or posting on Instagram #LivetoGrind.

5:14 To increase focus and create space for my work, [I]: 1. I take breaks, 2. I take space to think things through and process things, 3. I step away for a while on non-productive things, 4. I recognize when I need to recharge or call it a day when it becomes counterproductive to keep working

6:18 I know you want to be the next GaryVee or whoever the productivity ‘flavor of the week’ is, but why should you sacrifice being you and the relationships you have, and really just your health in the process? Our hobbies and extracurricular activities define us as much as our hustle.

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