The power of philosophical action

To-do list apps are lacking in a fundamental manner. We can check off all the tasks and yet not do great work. The philosophical is missing.

We know from psychological research that reflecting on how our work is meaningful to us will give us a productivity boost lasting weeks. The reflection reminds us of the reason that led us to do our work in the first place. It reinforces the link between the why and the what.

This makes the routine we might be experiencing sparkle with newly re-discovered meaning. And that’s what I mean by philosophical action.

When instead of doing something because it’s on our to-do list, we do it because the task is an expression of who we are, it focuses our mind and we do better work.

Beliefs like ‘I do this thing that I do because it make the world a better place’ or ‘I can’t not do this’ are what seperates those who give up early and deliver mediocre results from those who persist and deliver exceptional ones.

That’s why every Saturday a reminder shows up on my phone screen, saying: Why is what you do meaningful to you?

So let me ask you, why is what you do meaningful to you?