Introducing Hack Productivity, a complete playbook to supercharge your productivity. This program is for you if you: 

• Feel overwhelmed with an endless list of things to do.
• Constantly look with guilt at your to-do list.
• Tried all the self-help productivity systems but something seems missing.

I’ve found that ex-high performers were accustomed to using a to-do list, a paper calendar, and check boxes. They survived high school, college, maybe even grad school. Likely, they grew up in a cycle of submitting assignments, following the rubric, and completing things as directed. Their job: finish their term, do as instructed.

Fast forward to now, and adulting has become exponentially difficult. Work life is a mess. Projects are open-ended. They struggle to coordinate with multiple teams and bosses; they might even be working a few extra side jobs in this gig economy.

And even after ending their full-time job late in the evening, they feel tired, exhausted, and stressed — because they still have more work to finish on nights and weekends!

Sound familiar?

You may also be carrying over old, outdated habits into your professional life. And the overwhelm feels unsustainable.

So many of us are working harder than ever, but feel like little gets done. Companies find that in 2020, workers are on their computers for more hours than they used to.

If you’re a parent, you might be caring for your children while holding meetings — at the same time! Daycares have restrictions, so there are fewer people to care for your baby. Schools are re-opening and closing again due to coronavirus outbreaks. This uncertainty impacts your work performance.

Zoom fatigue is real. Hours and hours of video calls on tiny mobile devices — juggling different online tools for different colleagues — sapping energy, leaving precious little time for real work.

Imagine feeling in control. You wake up, feeling refreshed from a good night’s rest. You didn’t even set your alarm!

You press your phone to check the day’s weather. No texts from the night before. No e-mails to stress you out. You’re feeling good.

Imagine starting your day. You head to your kitchen to brew fresh coffee. You enjoy a light breakfast, then head to your dedicated work space. Then, opening your computer, you knock out the biggest 3 tasks you wrote down last night. Check. Check. And check. You get these done in 3 half-hour time blocks.

With your morning energy, you’re feeling accomplished already!

Imagine getting into your personalized self-care routine. You conquer 60 minutes of exercise. It’s solid aerobic cardio — with a bit of weightlifting — but it comes to you so easily because you’ve made it an everyday habit for months.

It’s not even lunchtime yet, and you’re already on your way towards a winning day. You now see an opportunity to mow through the e-mails from the last 12 hours. You’re on your way towards work domination, thanks to your Hack Productivity setup. 

Imagine zeroing that e-mail inbox. You feel relaxed and happy with your work life.

I remember feeling like I was lost in a constant stream of work. When I entered my professional career, I faced numerous choices — and when I saw what my colleagues were doing, they seemed to do it all.

I used to envy those productive people. They garner recognition, list project after project on their CV, fill their social media with posts crowing about their latest professional accomplishments. Not only would they launch their own nonprofit, but they would work another job, get ahead in their training and certification...and all while maintaining a smile.

When I looked at myself, I felt like I was merely drifting, just going through the motions, trying to scrape by. I had high expectations for myself, but felt I had little to show for it.

Yet, I stared at my never-ending list of things to do. Hours pass as the unchecked boxes made me nervous. I thought to myself, “I want to get these done, but I haven’t done it. Maybe I’m just lazy.”

And then, the thought of giving up the day and relaxing for the night made me feel even more guilty — so I would try to force myself to cram in more work tasks with half the energy.

Clearly, I have been there: overwhelmed, stressed. And I know I’m not alone.

So, I spent years learning from top performers, observing how they operate. I’ve realized that top performers don’t work harder, but work differently: they live by a different playbook.

And after a decade, I’ve decoded that into a playbook and course which I now want to share with you.

You can do all this while keeping calm, and having fun in the process. I’ve learned so much over the years, and it’s made a positive impact in various facets of life:

So now, you have to ask yourself, what is it worth if: 

You could free up time for the people who matter to you in life — your friends, your family, or a significant other?

The weight of “shoulda, woulda, coulda” were lifted off your shoulders?

Wouldn’t it be nice — and freeing — to flow through your day?

You could wake up relaxed each morning, ready to conquer your tasks — and actually follow through with the conquering, without the nagging fear of procrastination over your head?

Problem 1: I’m overwhelmed. I just have too much to do already.

You have hundreds of obligations swimming your mind, and it’s hard to stop thinking about it. You feel tense, so you try to write it down. But it only makes you feel even more overwhelmed.

I’ve been there before. I remember staring at page after page of things to do. My to-do list gave me the illusion of organization, but it actually served to remind me of failure: evidence of daunting, defeating de-motivations.

Problem 2: I feel guilty I haven’t touched my calendar / to-do list / planner. I just need to force myself to use it.

You probably bought a calendar, but weeks go by and the pages stay blank. Or, you bought an expensive, leather-bound motivational planner, but writing in it is so time-consuming that you’ve just given up.

I call this the “whack-a-mole” technique. You buy tools that promise results, and hope it works. Lo and behold, it simply ends up sitting on your dresser gathering dust.

Problem 3: I've tried self-help books and apps before. Nothing seems to work.

There’s no shortage of self-help books, but reading takes time. In today’s digital world, doesn’t it feel ironic to pile on more work — to get more work done?

Not only that, but the plethora of productivity apps are designed to be open-ended. This makes it hard to get the right structure you need to get things accomplished.

Problem 4: I’m a major procrastinator. Always have been. I just need more motivation, but I’m not motivated enough.

You firmly believe that you are a procrastinator. You scramble until the last minute to pull off a miracle. And you believe that your work habits will never have a chance of improving.

This is where you fall into a trap of adopting the “I’m-a-loser” mindset. You might have the unshakeable belief that nothing can change, so you stew in mediocrity.

This is flat out not true.

Problem 5: I know I’m getting a lot of things done. But I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing much.

You’re already busy. You accomplish a ton. Yet you don’t feel satisfied. You often wonder if there’s something better in life.

Procrastination isn’t your issue. Purposelessness is.

I’ve been in situations where I’ve chased shiny objects, trying to go after the hottest new fad to fill a hole in my life. I also fell into the people-pleaser trap. My work time and free time were all dedicated towards making others happy.

The bottom line: it never fully felt gratifying. Dribbles of professional advice aren’t enough. You must go beyond tips, tricks, and motivation hacks. You need a whole new set of rules — a new playbook.

Myth #1: “Work smarter. Not harder.”

Ah, yes. Ambiguous advice. It’s easy to say you need to work differently, but how do you do that exactly? There are many systems out there. Michael Hyatt’s Focus, David Allen’s Getting Things Done, Brian Tracy, Neil Fioré — all written by an older generation, of the non-digital era, from the same socioeconomic culture.

My Hack Productivity system shows you how to restructure your time and energy. It’s a modern set of rules for today’s work world, formulated by a minority millennial who has both succeeded and struggled under numerous mental frameworks systems.

Myth #2: “Write it down.” and “Read Getting Things Done.”

For each task, either Do it, Delegate it, Defer it, or Drop it. Create 43 folders. Have a workflow in place.

Getting Things Done is a classic book. But, it was written decades ago, during a time where people actually used paper folders and kept filing cabinets. This was when Palm Pilots and Blackberries were the hot thing.

In today’s working world, you need to make sure you hit the ground running, using a fully digital workflow that moves fast when you need it.

Myth #3: This new app will solve all your problems.

Outlook. Gmail. Google Calendar. These tools are essentials. But it’s all too easy to drown amidst the information overload. No one tells you what to put in these apps, how to structure your categories, and when to not rely on such apps. 

It’s hard to focus when there are so many productivity apps today vying for your attention. Should I use Notion? Evernote? Nimbus Note? Todoist? Trello? Notion? My Hack Productivity system breaks through the noise and recommends specific, reliable tools that will stand the test of time, and serve you for years to come

Myth #4: Use a paper planner.

Paper has many benefits: it slows you down, you can see a lot of information, and it’s tangible. It’s a cute, old-fashioned traditional method.

But in today’s digital world, you don’t want to be in a position where you are handwriting things from the screen, and back again. You also don’t want to rely on a tool that can easily get lost, with no backups, and with no way to share or delegate to others.

Myth #5: “Follow these 3 tips / 5 ways / 10 methods” 

CNBC, a business channel, has featured attention-grabbing headlines like “Completing this task first thing in the morning takes seconds—and it can make you more productive all day.” And blogs like the Huffington Post also proclaim “Make Your Bed, Change Your Life.”

Wow. Mind-blowing. Or how about “The Simple Trick To Productivity? Do One Thing At Once.”

You read article after article. But it ends up stressing you out. How do you actually incorporate this into your life?

Get more sleep. Go to bed. Take short breaks.

If you’re like me, you might get caught up in an avalanche of articles that claim they will revolutionize the way you work. It’s not enough to just read random articles on the Internet. You need a trusted playbook to manage your overwhelm, your tasks, and your projects.

“With over 15 years in the financial industry, I've become used to the troughs and peaks that accompany the industry and the extreme time constraints that bankers are expected to work under. Add a young family to the mix and there sometimes don't seem to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all the goals one sets out for themselves. Steve's insights in to help cutting the “excess fat” in one's life has certainly helped shape my new vision of focusing on the thing that matter and generally improve overall quality of life”

Kamal Masud

CFA MBA, Director

I maintain over fifty open projects on any given day and am constantly looking for ways to be more efficient. After completing the course, I am more organized, focused and have streamlined my workflow to increase productivity in both my professional and personal life. This program has given me the tools I need to be more effective and has allowed me to be more creative as well.

Joslyn T. Chaiprasert-Paguio

Senior Editor and Brand Ambassador

I’m a physician, entrepreneur, mental health expert and business owner who has created and led successful technology products. I’ve spoken at world-famous companies and institutions, such as Google, Harvard University, and Stanford University, and have been interviewed for U.S. News and World Report, Wired, Washington Post, PBS, NPR, and Men’s Health.

I teach at Stanford University, and draw from my extensive training at California’s leading institutes — UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Francisco, and more.

You will learn from my own personal experience as a successful leader in Silicon Valley’s technology sector and mentor to the next generation of leaders. And, as an experienced advocate of well-being and mental health. 

Together, we will analyze the latest business management and success research, from sources like the Harvard Business Review. In addition, we will draw from neuroscience and mental health for insights into peak performance strategies. This course will teach you how to build a system that prioritizes your own needs and values so that you can get the right things done at the right time.

It has been my pleasure to know Steven as a friend and colleague for a decade. In this course, Hack Productivity, he has distilled many of the learnings he has made through his extensive academic education in medicine, business, psychiatry, addictions and informatics. He has developed a set of simple approaches, and associated style guides, for anyone having difficulty managing their life, especially in relation to the increasingly intrusive impact of the multitude of technologies that surround us all. His recommendations and techniques are based upon a combination of science and his own experiences and are described in a way that will particularly appeal to those who self-describe as ‘digital natives’ and who want to retain control of their lives and live in a meaningful way.

Peter M. Yellowlees MD, MBBS

I've been a hardworking multitasker for years. In past efforts I'd been able to juggle several projects and get it all done. However, as more and more work found me, it became challenging to do it all. Over time, my ability to perform well was challenged by my need for perfectionism and unwillingness to delegate. The Hack Productivity course put me back on track. By learning new ways to prioritize work efforts and maximize efficiency, I'm able to get more done and enjoy my work more. My mindset is changing to focus on what matters and find the balance needed to be productive without the stress.

Angela Walker,  MD

Technologist