zen productivity
'It is not daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away the unessential.' — Bruce Lee
The Zen way is simple: if you want something, stop doing everything else.
At our core, we're already disciplined and compassionate, but noise obscures this fundamental clarity.
Most chase productivity by working more hours, drinking more coffee, crying more in the toilets. The delusion is that this makes them get more done. But in reality? Not much is happening.
The Uncomfortable Truth
If I were to spy on most people's workdays from the moment they get up until they finish work, I have a feeling it might not be so productive as some like to let on.
How do I know this? I've coached some of the highest performers imaginable—global partners and professional poker players. People viewed externally as world-class leaders.
But behind closed doors, they tell me they sit there overwhelmed, panicking about their ability to focus. They waste hours scrolling. They struggle to do the most important things and feel out of control.
If they're struggling with this, then I'm sure the vast majority of normal people are too.
I'm a closet productivity freak. I don't limit myself to 3-4 hours of deep work daily because I want to unwind. I do it because I know with absolute certainty that working longer would harm my big-picture productivity.
Zen productivity isn't about adding more techniques or tools.
It's about systematic elimination.
Subtraction, not addition.
The less you do, the more you accomplish—provided what remains is essential.
The Formula
'Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.'
— Sun Tzu, The Art of War
End of Day: Define tomorrow's most important tasks in order of priority. Your ONE THING should be at the top. Before you log off, clear your inbox, clear your desktop, close your day. This gives you: 1) a sense of day complete and 2) a clear sense of what you need to do tomorrow morning.
Morning Discipline: Wake up and do some kind of mind-body practice, perhaps meditation or Qi Gong.
Begin Work: Work on your number ONE THING and then sequentially through your list of important tasks. Do not under any circumstances open your inbox or instant messaging until your highest priority deep work is completed.
We both know what happens when you try to fit important work in "when you find the time" after batting aside shallow work all day. It doesn't work.
If you can just do this simple three-step formula, you can get more done in one focused hour than you might otherwise do in days. I am not exaggerating.
The Corporate Athlete
Think of world-class athletes.
After a session of heavy squats, they'd never spend their recovery time doing endless light squats—that would be absurd.
Yet that's exactly how most professionals approach their workday: locked into perpetual minor tasks, exhausting themselves without meaningful progress or recovery.
The antidote isn't more activity but strategic stillness to build energy reserves.
If I Were Emperor of the Corporate Universe
I’d improve performance not by creating an always responsive, work late culture but by going the other way:
Shut down email servers before 10am and after 5pm
Ban work phones (I didn't have one for my entire four years at Goldman Sachs)
Enforce mandatory lunch breaks with computers programmatically shut down
Reserve the first two hours of every workday exclusively for deep, uninterrupted work
Create defined team meeting windows to batch shallow tasks
Train managers to prioritise wellbeing checks, stigmatising rather than applauding busyness and late-night work
Case Study
I had a client who was a venture capital partner struggling with a scattered list, saying his days were a complete mess.
After applying these principles, he ventured into his new role at a stock exchange and reports back that he is "working like a machine" and is "a totally different beast."
He closes his laptop at 3pm sharp having achieved inbox zero and having smashed through his task list sequentially. Now he has more time for quality time with his family.
The Inner Foundation
External methods are not enough. This is why there are busy productivity hackers—their nervous system is incompatible with a state of calmness and quiet. They fill the time they save with more busyness.
It's important therefore that we supplement this with meditative practice. The internal and external must align.
During my four years at Goldman Sachs, I maintained a strict morning practice of meditation and Qi Gong before opening any inbox. Colleagues thought I was mad until they saw the results: half the hours, double the output, zero stress.
My book, Zen Digital Makeover, addresses this integration: internal calm meets external clarity.
The Exciting Conclusion
Yes, indeed, you can get rich and enlightened at the same time. By developing a Zen mind, you can work at orders of magnitude more effectively than before.
This integrated approach is exactly what I offer through coaching—from big-picture strategy to practical implementation, systematically eliminating what doesn't serve your highest purpose.
If this sounds interesting, come here to check out my Mastery Coaching offering.
True productivity isn't about squeezing more in.
It's about cutting away everything that isn't essential.
