Summary Feel-Good Productivity: Why Working Harder Is Making You Less Productive

The Big Idea: Stop trying to force yourself to work harder. The secret to getting more done isn’t discipline—it’s making your work feel good.

Ali Abdaal, a doctor-turned-productivity expert, spent years burning out in hospitals before discovering something revolutionary: when you enjoy what you’re doing, you naturally become more productive. No willpower required.

This isn’t just motivation fluff. It’s backed by science. When you feel good, your brain releases dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins—chemicals that make you more creative, focused, and energetic. When you’re stressed and miserable, your brain releases cortisol, which narrows your thinking and drains your energy.

Here’s how to use this to actually get more done in your business:

Part 1: Get More Energy (Without Coffee)

Make Work Feel Like Play

Why it matters: Nobel Prize winners credit playfulness—not grinding—for their breakthroughs. The same principle applies to business success.

What to do right now:

• The Magic Question: Before starting any task, ask “What would this look like if it were fun?” Then actually do that thing.
  • Hate reviewing financial reports? Put on your favourite music and treat it like detective work
  • Dread team meetings? Turn them into problem-solving challenges with clear wins
  • Admin work boring? Set a timer and race yourself to finish
• Find your play style: Are you competitive? Make everything a challenge. Love creating? Add a creative twist to standard processes. Enjoy collecting data? Build dashboards and systems you’re proud of.

Real example: Instead of dreading customer feedback reviews, one restaurant owner turned it into “finding hidden gems”—discovering specific compliments to share with staff. Suddenly, a tedious task became energising.

Build Confidence Fast

Why it matters: You’re probably more capable than you think. Confidence isn’t something you’re born with—you can build it today.

What to do right now:

• Act confident first: Before a difficult task, ask yourself: “How would I do this if I were really confident?” Then do exactly that. Your brain can’t tell the difference between acting confident and being confident.
• Teach someone else: The fastest way to master anything is to teach it. Mentor a junior team member, share insights with fellow business owners, or document your processes for your team.

Real example: Struggling with difficult negotiations? Record yourself giving the “perfect pitch” as if you were totally confident. Watch it back. You’ll realise you already know what to say—you just needed to see yourself do it.

Stop Working Alone

Why it matters: Isolation drains your energy. The right people recharge you.

What to do right now:

• Find your “comrades”: Stop seeing other business owners as competition. Find 2-3 people in your industry or adjacent fields and share wins, problems, and ideas regularly.
• Celebrate others loudly: When someone in your network has a win, genuinely celebrate it. This makes them feel good, which makes you feel good, which strengthens the relationship. Everyone wins.

Real example: A group of retail business owners in Kuala Lumpur created a monthly breakfast meetup. They share supplier contacts, hiring strategies, and moral support. None compete directly, but all benefit tremendously.

Part 2: Stop Procrastinating (For Real This Time)

Get Crystal Clear on What You’re Doing

Why it matters: You’re not lazy. You’re just unclear about what success looks like.

What to do right now:

• Define the end goal: Before starting any project, write one sentence: “This project is successful when…” Don’t move forward until you can finish that sentence.
• Focus on actions, not outcomes: Instead of “increase sales by 30%”, try “make 10 customer calls every week” or “launch one marketing campaign this month”. You control actions. You don’t control outcomes.

Real example: “Improve customer service” is vague and stressful. “Respond to all customer enquiries within 2 hours” is clear and doable. Your team knows exactly what success looks like.

Kill Fear Before It Kills Your Momentum

Why it matters: Fear of failure is normal. Letting it stop you is optional.

What to do right now:

• Name your fears out loud: Literally say “I’m worried this new product launch will fail” or write it down. Research shows this simple act reduces the fear’s power by 50%.
• Use the 10/10/10 rule: Ask yourself: “Will this problem matter in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years?” Most of what scares you won’t matter next week.

Real example: Nervous about raising your prices? Name it: “I’m afraid I’ll lose customers.” Then 10/10/10 it: In 10 months, will you remember losing a few price-sensitive customers, or will you remember finally charging what you’re worth and attracting better clients?

Make Starting Ridiculously Easy

Why it matters: Starting is the hardest part. Once you start, momentum takes over.

What to do right now:

• The 5-Minute Rule: Commit to working on the dreaded task for just 5 minutes. Set a timer. You can stop after 5 minutes if you want. (You won’t want to—that’s the trick.)
• Remove friction: Put the things you need to do right in front of you. Working on a business plan? Open the document first thing in the morning and leave it on your main screen. Need to review inventory? Put the report on top of your desk.

Real example: A café owner kept putting off menu redesigns. She started leaving design mockups on her desk every evening. First thing each morning, she’d see them and naturally start tweaking. Within two weeks, the menu was done.

Part 3: Don’t Burn Out (Even When Growing Fast)

Protect Your Energy Like Money

Why it matters: Every “yes” to something unimportant is a “no” to something that matters.

What to do right now:

• The “Hell Yeah or No” rule: When someone asks you to do something, if your gut reaction isn’t “Hell yeah!”, the answer is no. This includes partnerships, new product lines, and opportunities.
• Schedule breaks like meetings: Put “Rest” in your calendar as non-negotiable appointments. Treat them as importantly as client meetings or supplier calls.

Real example: That potential partnership that requires tons of meetings but doesn’t excite you? That’s a “no”. The opportunity that makes you want to jump out of bed? That’s a “hell yeah”.

Rest Properly (Not Just Scroll Your Phone)

Why it matters: Watching Netflix for 3 hours doesn’t recharge you. The right activities do.

What to do right now:

• CALM activities only: Choose activities that give you Competence (you’re good at it), Autonomy (you’re in control), Liberty (it’s genuinely your choice), and Mellowing (it calms you down). Reading, playing sports, cooking, gardening—not doomscrolling.
• 40-second nature reset: Feeling stressed? Look at a photo of trees or nature for 40 seconds. Or play nature sounds for 5 minutes. Science proves this resets your nervous system instantly.

Real example: A manufacturing business owner schedules badminton every Tuesday and Thursday evening. He initially felt guilty about “wasting time”. Now he realises those sessions make him sharper in Wednesday and Friday strategy meetings.

Make Sure You’re Building the Right Thing

Why it matters: Being productive at the wrong things is worse than being unproductive.

What to do right now:

• The Eulogy Method: Imagine your funeral. What do you want people to say about you? “She made good money”? Or “She created jobs and was always there for her family”? Work backwards from that.
• Three daily alignments: Every morning, do one small thing for: (1) Your health, (2) Your business, (3) Your relationships. Even tiny actions keep you aligned.

Real example: A property developer realised he was chasing bigger projects whilst missing his children’s school events. He restructured his schedule: gym at 6 AM, family dinner at 7 PM, business in between. Revenue stayed the same, but fulfilment skyrocketed.

The Bottom Line: Experiment, Don’t Follow Rules

There’s no perfect productivity system. What works for someone else might drain you.

Your action plan:

1. This week: Pick ONE strategy from this summary. Just one. Try it for 7 days.
2. Notice how you feel: Did it make work easier? Did you have more energy? Did you actually get more done?
3. Keep or ditch: If it worked, keep it. If it didn’t, try something else next week.

Think of yourself as a scientist testing experiments on yourself. The goal isn’t to follow someone else’s system. The goal is to discover what makes you more productive whilst feeling better.

Quick Wins You Can Implement Today

Before 9 AM tomorrow:

• Write “What would this look like if it were fun?” on a sticky note. Put it where you’ll see it first thing.

This week:

• Use the 5-minute rule on your most-dreaded task
• Name one fear out loud before a difficult conversation
• Schedule one “Hell Yeah” activity and one rest block in your calendar

This month:

• Find 2-3 fellow business owners for regular check-ins
• Create your “Three Daily Alignments” checklist
• Delegate or eliminate one task that drains your energy

For Business Owners: What This Means for You

The cultural challenge: Business culture often glorifies the “struggle story”—working 7 days a week, sacrificing everything, pushing through pain. This book challenges that narrative entirely.

The reality: Your most successful competitors aren’t working harder than you. They’re working smarter by making their work more enjoyable, which makes them more creative, resilient, and effective.

The opportunity: Whilst others are burning out trying to hustle harder, you can build a sustainable business that energises you instead of draining you. That’s your competitive advantage.

Remember: Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what matters whilst feeling good. When you get that right, everything else becomes easier.

The question isn’t “How can I force myself to work harder?”

The question is “How can I make this feel so good that I naturally want to do it?”

Answer that, and you’ve cracked the code to sustainable business success.