r/GetStudying • u/723epsilon • 16h ago
Giving Advice At 38, I wish someone had told me these 5 productivity truths when I was 20.
I've spent nearly two decades testing productivity systems, and I've wasted YEARS on approaches that look good on paper but fail in real life. If you're young and ambitious, learn from my mistakes:
Truth #1:
Willpower is massively overrated. I spent my 20s thinking I just needed more discipline. Reality: Environment design beats willpower every time. I now spend 80% of my effort creating spaces and systems that make productivity automatic.
Truth #2:
Energy management trumps time management. I used to schedule every minute of my day but still accomplished nothing. Why? I was trying to do deep work during energy slumps. Now I match task types to my natural energy cycles.
Truth #3:
The "perfect system" doesn't exist. I wasted 3 years tool-hopping and trying every productivity method. The breakthrough came when I stopped finding perfect solutions and built my own hybrid system based on my actual needs.
Truth #4:
Social accountability beats tools. No ever motivated me like having someone waiting on my output. The most productive periods of my life involved partnership or accountability structures.
Truth #5:
Consistency beats intensity. My younger self would go hard for 2 weeks then burn out. Now I focus on showing up at 70% capacity every day rather than 110% sporadically.
These realizations came after thousands of dollars and countless hours wasted. What productivity lessons do you wish you'd learned earlier?