How I doubled my productivity for $100
Before I spill the secret of how I doubled my productivity for $100 (I am being 100% serious), I want to explain what inspired me to make this change.
Cal Newport is a writer who has a book called “Deep Work”, in it he shares his tips on how he became an extremely high output individual (I highly recommend this book). I was referred to check it out by one of my friends, I thought to myself, “I’m a pretty productive person, but sure I’ll read it.”
Boy, am I glad I read it.
The book inspired me to invest in myself, so I set aside a $100 budget, and here is what I got and why.
Noise-Canceling Headphones. You never realize how noisy and distracting the outside world is until you have a pair of noise-canceling headphones. I am a naturally weak attention-spanned individual, so I always get distracted by virtually any noise. The pair I got is pretty entry-level ($58), but they work so well. After I got them, my entire family went out and got pairs. The craziest part about noise-canceling headphones is that they showcase just how noisy the world is around us. If you walk down the street with them on and after 10 minutes you take them off, you notice all these noises that you didn't hear before. When I wore these for the first time, I was angry, because I wish I had done this years sooner. I linked the pair I got below.
https://www.amazon.com/Soundcore-Cancelling-Headphones-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B07NM3RSRQ
Brain.fm — This music player is a combination of white noise + active music. One of the things I have found is that I thought I could focus when listening to normal music, but that is not true. White noise is awesome, but it just doesn't do it for me. Enter Brain.fm. For whatever reason, it is like WD-40 for my brain. Whenever I have brain.fm playing through my noise-canceling headphones I feel like my brain functions so much better. Ideas flowing. More focus. The closest comparison that I can make to it, is being in my own fish tank where I am just alone with my thoughts. Pure bliss. If you want to try brain.fm use the link below, you can get 30 days for free (unfortunately I do not get a kickback ☹️), it is $49 per year.