How to stay productive when everything goes to hell

In this article, Chris Bailey will tell you how to increase your productivity and overcome unexpected difficulties in any form - physical, emotional or financial.

How it all happened: A few weeks ago I broke my ankle during a trip abroad. For a couple of weeks my productivity was limited, however, as it turned out, this did not prevent me from working further, using the opportunities that I had at my disposal, formulating my goals, meditating and tuning my brain in a positive way. To these three things, I was grateful for each day, gaining positive experience and developing my new skills.

I have always sought to study and improve my productivity . And most of all it was useful just two weeks ago, when everything went to hell.
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A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to Dublin. Working on my new book, I was going to first of all take a week to rest in the countryside and allow new and interesting thoughts about the project to be surfaced somewhere in the subconscious.

One evening, as usual, walking to my rented apartment, I stumbled on the pavement cobblestone and broke my ankle. The time was already late, and I was stuck there alone for about three hours, as the battery of my phone sat down, and I could no longer stand, much less go.

While I was lying on the ground, it seemed like an entire eternity had passed until the moment when some passers-by heard my cries and came to my aid. Further, my stay in Ireland was not enough to remind what I expected to receive from a foreign trip: a stay at a local hospital, stressful conversations about whether I have insurance, and travel restrictions from my doctor. Fortunately, everything ended up as expected: after three nights in the hospital, my insurance fully covered all expenses for the required treatment. I also had enough of the first class ticket back home and my ankle surgery, after a while.

It’s hard enough to stay productive when you are so bad - not to mention recovering from a serious injury. Fortunately, this unpleasant incident brought a positive result, having taught me to continue full-fledged work even when everything seemed to go to hell.

A few weeks after the hospital, I already feel much better, and my mental and physical energy is enough to prepare some new material every day. However, even being in a hospital bed, I was able to use three tools that helped me get back into operation and become productive: designation of a goal, meditation, and tuning in a more positive way.

1. Goal setting

In my opinion, setting goals, even the smallest, is the main key to productivity.

Definition: Productivity - the ability to do the amount of work you want to achieve

In a hospital bed in a foreign country, I struggled to feel productive again, despite the uncertainty of my position. At the same time, my main, albeit very small, goal was to simply walk around the ward, at least for 2-3 minutes a day. Making these walks, I raised my spirits, felt better and, thus, increased my productivity.

The idea of ​​setting a goal brings us back to the “rule of three” theory, which I began to create at the beginning of my project, The Year of Productivity . According to these rules, every morning you should write down three tasks that you want to achieve before the end of the day, and do this throughout the week. Over time, I became convinced of the effectiveness of this ritual, which helps you not only become more productive, but also allows you to work more purposefully on any day of the week.

After an ankle fracture, I began to set less goals for myself, as my energy was not enough to perform the same tasks as before. However, after a few days, I began to feel better when my daily goals began to not only be fulfilled, but also grow.

Regardless of well-being, purposeful work allows you to maintain and improve performance.

Many thanks to the owners of my rented apartment and friend Harry Guinness for taking care of me. Irish people are great people.

2. Meditation

If you are my regular reader, you know how much I love to meditate : not like they do, for example, hippies for their spiritual transformation, but in such a way as to focus my attention on what I'm doing at the moment. Meditation became my best friend while recovering.

Like any difficulties, the stress of my injury and other events connected with it seriously overloaded my brain, having a negative impact on it. However, meditation helped me get rid of all these problems, leading to unexpected positive results.

I think creative productivity is more of an art than a science, since it can be influenced by various positive and negative events that cannot be predicted. But when something unexpectedly happened, and you are not able to achieve your goal, meditation, like nothing else, will help you to return to the line and feel just great.



Until the injury passed, I could not go to the gym, so I took these “little ones” for myself. I strongly recommend them to everyone to keep in shape.

3. Learn to think positive

No matter how trite the phrase “positive thinking” may sound, mind training is actually the best thing you can do to improve your performance. As explained by Sean Achor during one of his brilliant conferences, research has shown an increase in the productivity of a positive mind by 31% compared with people in negative, neutral or stressful states. Simply put, a happy mind is more productive.

I had about a year or two to practice these three things, to which I am grateful for every day of creativity. I first discovered this method in Sean’s book, The Happiness Advantage . According to his research, this magnificent ritual teaches the mind to be more productive and happy. In addition, Sean proved the need for a daily positive experience in exercises and meditations, which I did, recovering from injury.

I have no idea what would happen to me now, if I didn’t do these things daily.

Unexpected difficulties in any form — physical, emotional, or financial — can be stopped in the most unexpected way. The same can be done with a decrease in productivity. Continuing to live, constantly setting goals, meditating and resorting to positive thinking, you will get the best tools for work that I can advise you.

PS We recommend another article on the topic - Awesome productivity: 5 ways to increase team productivity.

Translated by Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of MBA Consult