5 HABITS

OF

INSANELY
PRODUCTIVE
PEOPLE

JASON FERRUGGIA
THE PROBLEM

W e live in The Age of Distraction, and its

becoming harder and harder to get shit
done. This causes massive amounts of
depression and frustration.

But it doesnt have to be this way. You dont have to be out

of control and overwhelmed. I was once there, myself.
Couldnt make a decision or get anything meaningful done if
my life depended on it. Then I set out on a course to change
my situation.

It took several years. I had to read a shitload of books. And I

had to spend many hours with productivity masters. But I
was able to make drastic changes. I did so by forming five
essential habits.

I nearly failed out of every school I ever went to. Im now

able to run multiple successful businesses. If I can increase
my productivity to the point where I get done in four hours
what used to take me 12-16, I know you can too.

This guide is based on lessons I learned from guys like Seth

Godin, Harry Beckwith, Tim Ferris, Leo Babauta, Greg
McKeown, Keith Ferrazzi, Steven Pressfield, Dale Carnegie,
Jason Fried, David Heinemheier, Craig Ballantyne, Bedros
Keullian, Alwyn Cosgrove, James Altucher, Jeffery Fox,
Vincent Peale, Chris Guillebeau, Sean DSouza, Gary
Vaynerchuk, Mark Cuban, Bruce Lee, Mark Ecko and many
more. Oh, and Jay-Z. Yes, the Jigga Man.

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THE ANSWER

IDENTIFY HAVE DAILY

THE ROUTINES
ESSENTIAL AND
RITUALS
WORK LESS
PLAY MORE

FOCUS ELIMINATE
ON DISTRAC-
YOUR TIONS AND
PASSIONS CLUTTER

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 Identify
the
Essential
You have limited time and resources. Trying to do
everything is a surefire recipe for failure.
Take a look at your day, your week, your month
and your year. Identify the things that are essen-
tial in helping you get closer to your goals. Think
long and hard about this. Determine what is
worth your time and pays you a huge return on
your investment.
Simplify
Everything
The ability to simplify whatever you are doing is
crucial. It builds trust. Albert Einstein said that if
you if cant explain it to a six year old you dont
understand it well enough yourself.
Bruce Lee said, simplicity is the key to
brilliance. Its also what people desperately
crave.
Do fewer things better. Apple is a master at this.
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Create products, services
or art for a specific audience,
1
and then define that audience. Dont try to please
or create a product for everyone. Exclude.
When you know your audience and your mission
it makes you much more productive. Doubt and
second-guessing are no longer part of the
equation.
3-5 Things
Limit your to-do-list to 3-5 things, MAX. Then cut
out everything else.
This is scary. We all have the fear of missing out.
We think we should be doing everything and
trying to be everything to everyone. But thats
flawed thinking. Its impossible to keep up, let
alone thrive, when you attempt that.
To accomplish more you have to do less.
Read that again and let it sink in.
In my business there are a million things I could
do.
Check stats, run split tests and micromanage my
team. I could have Google alerts set up and read
every single thing of importance to my industry
that pops up every day.
I could respond to all blog comments and tweets
and Facebook questions all day. I could have a Be the Best
bigger store and offer more products and
services. I could do more seminars, live events Ask yourself, If I could only do one thing what
and videos. would it be?

And the list goes on and on. But to grow my
business there are only three things that matter.
Everything else doesnt make that much of a
difference. It isnt essential.
Cut out more stuff. Dont add.
If I or my company could be the best in the
world at one thing what would it be?
Focus on that. Let all the other stuff fall by the
wayside.

Develop
Meaningful
Relationships
Few things are more important than being a
master networker and connector. Your ability to
develop and maintain meaningful relationships
correlates with your level of success.

Make the time to seek out people you want to

know and spend time with. Surround yourself
with people who are living like youd like to and
who are doing things you want to be doing.
Always make time in your schedule to be around
people who make you better.

And, like Keith Ferrazzi implores, you must

always follow up. This should go without saying,
but the majority of people never follow up.

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 Have
Daily
Routines
or Rituals
The most successful people all have rituals or
routines they follow each day. Thats because
doing so allows you to be in control. Being out of
control is what ruins you.
Having a routine forces you to be productive and
eliminates a great deal of wasteful, unproductive
time.
One thing that makes a huge difference is using
timers to keep your routine on track. You allot a
certain amount of time to task #1 then, when the
timer goes off, you move on to task #2. You must
be very rigid about this and go about your day
like a cyborg. That is if you really want to get a
ton of work done in a short amount of time.
To give you some ideas about what should or
could be part of your daily routine I will share
mine.
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Meditate
2
This is the first thing I do when I wake up in the
morning for 30 minutes. Ive been doing it for
years and its increased my ability to focus and
deal with stress.
Caffeinate
Without high quality coffee my productivity and
creativity suffer. Its a crucial part of my routine.
Give Gratitude
I spend five minutes writing in my gratitude
journal. I list things, people and opportunities
that I am grateful for. This gets the day off to a
great start. It forces me to realize that no matter
how bad things can get at times, theres always
something to be thankful for.
Read
The old clich is true- the difference between
you today and you five years from now will be
the people you meet and the books you read. The
other is that there is an inverse relationship
between the size of your library and the size of
your bank account.
Reading life-changing books is crucial to your
growth. You have to make time for it every day.
And as soon as you finish one you start the next
one.
Most Important
Task (MIT)
Next up is focusing on my most important task.
For me that usually involves writing for 60
minutes. I block out all distractions and do only
this, and see it through to completion.
Daily Document
Review
After I read a great book I go through all my
highlights and type them up in bullet form on a
one-page document that I laminate. Each day I
pick a different one out and review the notes.
This helps to reinforce the lessons learned.

Walking
University The Second Half
When I finish my MIT I go for my daily walk.
of The Day
During this time I listen to a podcast that will help After all that I take a break, train, and get outside
better me in some way or at least add some for a while. The important stuff is done. When I
entertainment and laughter to my day. return to work later I can focus on the second
and third most important tasks or anything else
that has popped up.
Answer Questions
/Write Programs But the morning ritual is the most crucial part of
the day and what matters.
When I get back from my walk I dedicate a
specific amount of time to answering questions
in my various levels of coaching programs. And
writing new workouts or strategic life plans for
people Im working with.

Process Inbox
to Zero
I dedicate a small block of time to email in which
I force myself to process my inbox to empty. This
is crucial. Going into an inbox full of 379 emails is
crippling and overwhelming. Deal with it immedi-
ately then delete it (or file it away somewhere if
necessary).

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 Eliminate
Distractions
and Clutter
You cant get meaningful work done if youre
distracted. The first step toward a productive
workday is to cut physical and mental clutter.
And never, ever multitask. It doesnt work. Its
code for wasting time or fuckin around but
not getting anything done.
Focus on one task and do only that one task until
its completed.
Clear Your
Workspace
You can't work in a pile of papers, with books
stacked, office supplies scattered everywhere,
and knick-knacks and pictures covering up every
inch of your desk.
If you're doing that you need to stop right now.
Stand up and doing a Raging Bull move and wipe
all that shit onto the floor.
This environment is not conducive to
productivity.
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www.jasonferruggia.com Copyright Jason Ferruggia
A clean desk with one or
two pictures, a computer, maybe
3
a notebook and a phone (?) is all you need and
want. It should be sparse and Zen like. That will
increase your ability to focus.
Unplug
Before you start working you should turn off the
internet and your cell phone. Theres no way you
can complete a task in short order if you are
answering emails, calls, texts and tweets every
two minutes. Not to mention logging into YouPorn
to check out the latest Big Booty updates.
Eliminate all distractions.
I use the Self Control app for Mac. I set it to
block access to email, social media, stat check-
ing sites, blogs I like, and anything else that
would distract me. I cant access them until late
in the morning. Then I get in, do what I need to,
and reset Self Control until tomorrow.
There are other apps like this for Mac and PC.
Google that shit. I cant recommend it highly
enough.
Master Email Dont
Email is a huge time suck. To have it work more Micromanage
effectively for you learn to keep each communi-
If you have employees you can fall into the trap
cation clear and concise. When you want
of micromanaging. If you dont have them you
someone to do something write it in terms a five
can still fall into this same trap if you hire some-
year old could understand. Use numbered lists or
one to do something for you.
bullet points. Write in crayon if you have to.

Give them ownership over the tasks and let them

But for the love of all things good, keep it short
figure it out as they go. You dont hover over the
and sweet!
cable guy when hes in your living room, telling
him exactly where each wire goes. So dont do it
Copy and paste this into your email signature to
with anyone else youre paying to do something.
let people know you dont have time to fuck
around:
Its a huge waste of time for everybody.
--------------------------------------------
Q: Why is this email five sentences or less?
A: http://five.sentenc.es

Thanks to Tim Ferris for introducing me to that.

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www.jasonferruggia.com Copyright Jason Ferruggia
 Focus on
Your
Passions
The Ultimate Warrior once said, Passion is my
fucking passion! I ran through a wall after
seeing that YouTube clip.
If youre not doing work youre passionate about
chances are pretty good youre phoning it in. Or
at least not doing the best job you could do.
Everyone deserves to be excited to go to work
each day.
Make it Your #1
Priority to Create
Great Work
Determine what that is for you and let nothing
get in your way. Dont do busy work, dont check
Facebook; just get the task completed. And make
it great. Like fucking amazing. Something you
can be proud to put your name on.
Follow Seth Godins advice and set a ship date.
Thats the date when the product or service has
to be ready.
No matter what. Even if its not perfect.
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Its done and its going
4
to market. You can perfect it later.
Just Say No
Opportunities present themselves every day. But
if you say yes to something youre not passionate
about youre saying no to something else. Its
short-term reward versus long-term happiness
and fulfillment.
If its not crucially important to you and not
something youre passionate about just say no.
As Greg McKeown says, If you dont prioritize
your life someone else will.
Powerful words.
Be a Quitter
Many of us have stuff on our to-do-list that has
been there for weeks, months, and maybe even
years. Delete or erase that shit right now. Theres
a reason you keep procrastinating on it. Youre
not passionate about it. And just seeing it on your
list causes you stress and maybe even makes
you feel like a failure for not being able to finish
the task.
Dont worry about it. It wasnt important enough
for you to do. Move on. Its weighing you down.
In cases like this, the smartest move is being a
quitter.
Fuck Opinions work, know when to change course and move
on. Learn from your mistakes and start the next
If youre passionate about it, thats all that
passion project.
matters. Most people ask fifty different friends or
colleagues for their opinion on something before
Not everyone will agree with you and not every-
pulling the trigger. Those who know how to get
one will like you. Thats okay. The only thing that
shit done follow the ready, fire, aim, mantra.
matters is following your passion.
Make a decision and stick with it. See it through
If youre doing meaningful work that will help
to fruition based on your passion. If it doesnt
people in some way, youre on the right path.

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www.jasonferruggia.com Copyright Jason Ferruggia
 Work Less,
Play More
We pride ourselves on working harder and
longer than everyone else. Its a badge of honor.
Its a way of impressing people. Always grinding.
Always hustling. Always stressed-the-fuck-out.
But thats an operational flaw. Not something you
should be proud of.
The most successful people I know work smart-
er; not longer. Theyre always doing cool stuff.
When youre out having fun with them theyre
present. Theyre in the moment and loving life.
Not checking emails 24/7 and worrying about
tomorrow.
I have friends who make well into the seven
figures, and if you hung out with them on a
Saturday youd never have a clue. They dont fit
the clich. Theyve turned off. Which is precisely
why they are so successful.
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Set Boundaries
5
Have a set time when your workday begins and
ends. After that youre off the clock. Turn off the
computer. Silence the cell phone or turn that off
too. Enjoy the time with your friends and family.
Show them the respect they deserve, while giving
your self a chance to recharge for tomorrow.
Let People Know
Youve got to condition people to know that you
dont work at XYZ time/hour/day. You dont
return emails or phone calls after a certain time
(or whatever rules work for you). If you dont do
that early on they will come to expect it. Then
theyll get pissed off when you try implementing
this later down the road.
Have Hobbies
Work cant be your hobby. Its very important to
schedule in time for creative activities like
drawing or playing an instrument. Not only does
this impact your ability to think more artistically
and see things more clearly, it also makes you
interesting.
Whos more interesting to talk to at a cocktail
party? The guy who works 24/7 and has little else
hes capable of discussing?
Or the guy who plays the piano, speaks multiple
languages, is incredibly well read and has a
long-standing undefeated streak in chess?
Just a word of warming
Dont try to change everything at once. Leo
Babauta has said that there is a 100% failure rate
when trying to develop multiple habits at once.
Pick one and spend 21 days making it a habit.
Then move on to the next.

It also puts Parkinsons Law to work for you.
Having classes and lessons scheduled for your
hobbies makes you work more efficiently. If you
know you have to be at martial arts at 6:30pm on
Tuesdays and have a guitar lesson on Thursdays
you wont putz around at work. Youll be forced to
work smarter and faster so that you can fit
everything in.
And dont get down on yourself if you screw up
from time to time. There are plenty of days when
my daily ritual goes to shit and that I hardly get
anything done. But I force myself to get back on
track the next morning.
Live Steven Pressfield says, the battle begins
anew each day.

Most people think they dont have the time for Weve got to constantly strive to get better.
hobbies. But thats a lie we tell ourselves. We
really just have poor time management skills.

Scheduling the hobbies is a great way of instant-

ly improving this common problem. And it helps
you get shit done.

Thats a Wrap
I hope you found this information useful. But
more than that, I hope you implement it. I hope
you start to form some of these productivity-dou-
bling habits immediately. And when you do
please give me a shout on Twitter to let me know
how its working out for you.

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www.jasonferruggia.com Copyright Jason Ferruggia