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How to Be So Productive it Feels ILLEGAL | Alex Hormozi — Transcript

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0:00How do you eliminate distraction?
0:01>> Oh, this is fun. Okay. Um, so I
0:04eliminate it by eliminating it. And that
0:06sounds ridiculous, but like I think the
0:08vast majority of productivity hacks can
0:09get boiled down to remove everything
0:11that isn't work. So like my office has
0:14no outside light. Um, I try to minimize
0:17all the sound in the office. I also put
0:19on earplugs and headphones. Um, there's
0:22a great app that you can use uh that
0:24like blocks your phone so like nothing
0:26can get through. So, including text,
0:27phone calls, Slacks, everything, not
0:29just social media. Like, it's a dead
0:32element essentially. Um, and you have to
0:34physically move across the building,
0:35which is how I do it for mine. Um, to
0:37like un un mess up your phone. And then
0:42I just have a clear idea of the work
0:43that I need to do. And so, it's like
0:44when you eliminate everything else, um,
0:47and then I just set a kitchen timer for
0:48when I how long I expect a task to last,
0:51that is when I'm like peak productivity
0:54per unit of time. Uh because there's
0:56nothing else to do.
0:56>> So is this science or is this just you?
0:58Because eliminating eliminating natural
1:01light. Why light for me? Like I I get
1:04>> Oh, I get so distracted by light.
1:06>> I get boost by like seeing the outdoors
1:08and seeing greenery. It's nice.
1:10>> It doesn't work for me, man.
1:11>> Yeah. And I I'll be clear like if you
1:13find something that works for you, I'll
1:14say do that. And for anybody who's like,
1:16"All right, do do it your way. I don't
1:17care." Like I'm just saying this is
1:19what's worked for me. do think there's a
1:20decent amount of data that suggests that
1:23anything that is not the work distracts
1:25you from the work.
1:26>> How do you differentiate between
1:27distractions and rest?
1:29>> Great question. So, um I think there's
1:32there's like kind of like micro macro.
1:34So, like from a micro perspective, if
1:35you work for 60 minutes or 45 minutes or
1:37whatever and then you're like, "Okay, I
1:38need a break." If you take the five or
1:3910, you know, 10-minute like walk around
1:41the building or walk outside, to me,
1:42that's where you can get your natural
1:43light and all of that stuff, but then
1:45you come back and then you're fresh
1:46again and then you hit it. Um I see
1:48that. I see that rest as productive
1:50because it increases the overall net
1:52production over a larger period of time.
1:54So if you work like that for 12 hours uh
1:56and you worked without doing that maybe
1:58you can only work eight hours or you can
2:00work the same 12 but you don't get as
2:01much done. So for me uh it's really just
2:04the net productivity of a human being is
2:05what they get done over a period of
2:06time. So productivity has a temporal
2:08component to it and an output component.
2:10So maximizing output per unit of time is
2:12productivity as I define it. And so it
2:15is okay. Anything that uh increases that
2:18rate of of of work, which for the most
2:20part is just deleting the things that
2:22aren't work because few people actually
2:24work faster. You just don't work when
2:27you want to be working. And so I think
2:28if you just limit all the time that
2:29you're not working when you want to be
2:30working, you work a lot more. And if
2:32you've ever done the timer thing, which
2:33I would highly recommend, you see if you
2:36like you truly take your phone away and
2:37you block out every single notification
2:39and you have, you know, you have to
2:40script a YouTube video or write an email
2:42or make a script or whatever you have to
2:44do for your business or write make a
2:45landing page. Um, you'll notice that
2:48like you'll be like, "Oh my god." And
2:49you'll look, it's been like 8 minutes
2:51and you're like, "Oh my god." Like your
2:53like monkey brain like wants to reach
2:55>> sleeping when I keep looking at the time
2:56and thinking, "Oh man, another 10
2:58minutes went by. That's another 10
2:59minutes I'm not going to be sleeping."
3:00Do you ever look at the time and see 10
3:03minutes went by now I only got this
3:05amount of time and your mind's focused
3:06on the time and not the task?
3:08>> I don't think about that at all
3:09actually. If I if I like if 8 minutes
3:11goes by and and I and I worked the 8
3:12minutes and I'm like oh my god it was
3:14only 8 minutes. I'm like I have so much
3:16time. Like I did all that in 8 minutes
3:18because I was focused the whole time and
3:19I only went to go reach for my phone at
3:218 minutes. I'm like oh my god I have I
3:22have six more.
3:23>> You don't see the time as a distraction?
3:25>> No, not really.
3:26>> Do you have any distractions that still
3:27sneak past your filters?
3:28>> Oh, not I mean not on the phone. I mean,
3:30that that thing's done. Like, it's
3:32cooked.
3:32>> Twitter?
3:33>> No. I mean, when I when I'm working, I'm
3:34not going to
3:35>> What about music? You listen to music?
3:36>> No.
3:37>> Only when I live.
3:38>> Silence.
3:38>> Mhm. Yeah. I have earplugs and
3:40headphones. Like, it's true silence.
3:42>> What do you listen to when you lift?
3:44>> Oh, just like the same songs I've had
3:46for like 15 years, but I don't really
3:48change. Um, I like Lincoln Park a lot.
3:50Like little Lincoln Park. I listen to 50
3:53Cent. I like 50 Cent. Get Rich or Die
3:55Trying. I like that entire album. I
3:57still also like some of my white boy
3:58music. I'll still listen to Little Green
3:59Day, Little Third Eye Blind. Little
4:01Third Eye Blind.
4:02>> That's good.
4:03>> But yeah, I I like I I only have like,
4:05you know, 20 or 30 songs that I can
4:07listen to like in a workout. So, it's
4:09like I kind of have like a list of
4:10hundred and they randomly shuffle and
4:12that's like my life.
4:13>> How often do you skip the song?
4:15>> Uh, it depends on what kind of set I'm
4:16doing.
4:17>> Okay.
4:17>> It's like if I'm if I'm early like if
4:18I'm about to hit a work set, like I want
4:20to make sure it's a good song. But I
4:21think that's everybody.
4:23>> So, do you think distracted people then
4:25just want it less? H I don't even know
4:27how to define wanting it less. Um I
4:31would say that for whatever reason
4:32they're being more rewarded from their
4:33current path than they perceive the
4:35reward of the path that they're trying
4:36to get on. Like it's just I mean I just
4:38I think of everything in carrots and
4:40sticks. It's like they have enough stick
4:42of other people judging and enough
4:43carrot of staying the same that they
4:44don't change. They just have to overcome
4:46inertia and they just can't do it for
4:48whatever reason. And I don't want to
4:49pretend like I have some like superhuman
4:51willpower. It's just like, you know, I
4:54had, you know, it's funny cuz like when
4:56I quit my job, which was still to this
4:58day the hardest decision I've ever had
4:59to make in my whole life because believe
5:01it or not, I'm actually very riskaverse.
5:03Um, I can take bigger bets now, but it's
5:05because I have more and so like if I
5:07lose, it's not like the end of the
5:08world. Um, but at the time it was like
5:11risking everything or what felt like
5:13risking everything. And um that
5:18was was it was because I was so
5:20miserable. It was the only reason I was
5:22able to to do it. Like if if I had been
5:26employed at probably just even a
5:27different job at a different place, I
5:29probably would have been fine. And I
5:31don't think I'd ever even be here. So I
5:33don't think I had a high like
5:35predisposition towards entrepreneurship
5:36like some people do. Like I've been an
5:37entrepreneur my whole life. Like I
5:39wasn't I didn't start any businesses. I
5:41did well in school. It wasn't like a
5:42school failed me. like I did well in
5:44school like I studied hard I got good
5:45grades and I graduated in three years
5:46from Vanderbilt like I did well and then
5:48I got a good job you know in terms of on
5:50paper after that and it was only like
5:51when I had done two years there and that
5:53normally you'd go to like business
5:54school that I was like I hate this I
5:57don't want to do this again and I would
5:58rather take a shot.
6:00>> So it spurred from being discontent with
6:02where you were at. That's interesting
6:03because that is exactly what led to me
6:06trying out all these different business
6:07ideas and then starting up this thing
6:09with Graham. But I never asked you like
6:10why what would what motivated you in
6:12that beginning that planted that seed to
6:14try to you know become big in real
6:16estate on YouTube. Was it because you
6:18were discontent with where you were at
6:19or just
6:19>> Yeah. Honestly, it was just it's the
6:21stupidest thing. It was that
6:23>> uh entry.
6:24>> Yeah. With data. It was doing data
6:26entry. I wanted to be an investment
6:28banker just because I was like they make
6:30a lot of money. I just wanted to be
6:32successful.
6:33>> And I would email all of these
6:35investment firms just asking to do
6:36anything for free. I'm like, I'll get
6:39you. I'll make
6:43I'll just be there.
6:44>> And I emailed maybe like six, seven
6:46places that I found on Craigslist. Like
6:48two of them turned out to be like MLM
6:50companies.
6:52>> And uh one emailed me back and said,
6:55"Yes, actually, we're looking for a data
6:56entry position. If you want to interview
6:58it,
6:59>> come on in." And I interviewed and it
7:00looked fantastic. And they had like a
7:02sales team in the front and a back off
7:05back office uh in the back. Yeah. Uh,
7:08and they hired me to do data entry at I
7:11think back then it was like $8 an hour.
7:13>> And I was so excited to go in because
7:15they made you wear like a suit every
7:17day. And I was like, I get to wear a
7:19suit to work. That's so cool.
7:20>> And I went in there and everyone is a
7:22zombie
7:23>> and everyone just hated life.
7:26>> And the first like day was okay. But I
7:29started getting in trouble for stupid
7:31things. Like I I wanted to wear a
7:33headphone to listen to something
7:35throughout the day. lessly.
7:37>> Yeah. And they said I couldn't do that.
7:39>> And then I made a comment about they had
7:41styrofoam cups and I said that like the
7:44paper cups were better for the
7:45environment. And they said we're not
7:46changing. They got really upset that I
7:48even made that suggestion. And then I
7:49went up to the CEO's office one day.
7:51This was all in the first week just to
7:53say hi to the guy and introduce myself
7:55and I'm like I've just started working
7:57here. And he wasn't in the middle of
7:59something and he was friendly to me. But
8:01I got called into the manager's office
8:02later that day and they said, "Hey,
8:04there's a chain of command. like you
8:06can't just go up to this person and talk
8:07to them. You have to talk to this
8:09manager, get their approval, it goes to
8:10me, and then I could.
8:11>> It made no sense. But I hated it there.
8:14And the only time that people came to
8:16life was Friday at like 400 p.m. And you
8:19started seeing people
8:20>> laughing and joking around and like
8:23being themselves. And then I remember
8:24there's like they had like a casual like
8:26one day a month they had like a casual
8:28day where people could wear like jeans
8:30into the office. I thought it was just
8:32stupid after a while. Like I didn't get
8:34it. Uh but yeah, that that single job
8:37made me hate life so much that I would
8:41do anything to never return to that
8:43because I honestly thought if this is
8:44the next like 40 years it like if this
8:46is it I'm
8:47>> that you were willing to do something
8:48for free which was assistant to the real
8:50estate thing.
8:51>> Correct. Uh but also during that time
8:53they had a sales team in the front. I
8:55said I'd be a great salesperson. I just
8:57want to do sales and they were making
8:58like a hundred to like 300 grand a year
9:00doing like phone sales. I wanted to do
9:03that and I was told you have to work
9:04your way up. You have to do data entry
9:07to go into the mail room to go into like
9:10this thing to this thing and then it
9:12would that was like years away and they
9:14also told me no one would trust me cuz I
9:15was 18 at the time like no one trust you
9:17on sales
9:18>> and yeah so and then I got into sales
9:20and did well.
9:21>> Yeah. Like that didn't matter at all.
9:23>> But that for me was like the big six
9:24weeks it was only there six weeks but
9:26that made a lifetime impact. I want to
9:28highlight one thing that you said which
9:29is just for anybody who's who's
9:31listening.
9:32>> Um Graham said I'll do anything and then
9:35they said well we do have this roll up
9:36and do this.
9:37>> I would strongly recommend if you want
9:39to quote do anything then just look at
9:41the jobs they have available and try and
9:43do that. So rather than just going in
9:45like empty, just be like, "Oh, you have
9:47a data entry position. I'll do that for
9:49you." And then in all of the extra time,
9:51that's where you try and have lunch with
9:52people. That's where you try and
9:53basically build your network within the
9:55business so you can start leveraging
9:56like relationships to gain more skills
9:58and then you can start, you know, moving
9:59your way in and learning what you want
10:01to learn.
10:01>> What about applying to businesses that
10:03don't need your help or aren't hiring?
10:06One of my things I always thought it was
10:08great to approach places you'd want to
10:10work and just say, "I'll take on any
10:11role." I think it's like I think it
10:13depends on it depends on the visibility
10:16of the company. So if if the company has
10:18like a really big social media presence,
10:19they have so many people doing that that
10:21the supply demand of people asking for
10:23that specific thing is super not in your
10:25favor. If you went to a business that's
10:27not based on that, like you go to an
10:29electric, you know, like a HVAC company,
10:31you probably could find some work there
10:33that they'll let you do. And so I think
10:35it's again it's like try and shoot where
10:37like the big the big arbitrage in life
10:39is finding supply demand discrepancies
10:41uh that are in your favor. And so you
10:44have a supply of work they have a
10:45demand. Now if there's way more supply
10:48so many people offering it then they can
10:49dictate their own terms. And if they
10:51don't need it then they don't need it.

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