A Performance Expert's 5 Nonnegotiables For Productivity That Lasts

If you're in a slump of some sort (be it work-related, academic, or a mere dip in creativity), you're certainly not alone. Everyone can feel unmotivated at times, and while it does take some work to get back on track, the venture isn't impossible. In fact, you can actually biohack your way to peak productivity with a few lifestyle shifts.

Take it from Steven Kotler: According to this performance expert, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Impossible, and founder and executive director of the Flow Research Collective, enhancing productivity requires both a physical and cognitive approach. "If you're interested in peak performance, you have to be doing these things. Otherwise, you can't even get into the game," he says on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. 

We'll start with the most physical: According to Kotler, sleep is paramount for productivity (and other experts would agree). In fact, lack of sleep has even been associated with cognitive decline1.

"You actually need social support," Kotler adds. Studies have shown loneliness is associated with more than double the risk of cognitive decline. In terms of everyday performance, this makes sense: "Think about getting in a fight with your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, brother, or boss," says Kotler. "Think about your energy levels the next day—you're tapped. It's a big break on peak performance." 

"Anxiety is a huge break on people," he says. That's why Kotler says you need tools to manage your anxiety. He cites three specific ways to approach those feelings: mindfulness, gratitude, and exercise. "The research shows you need one of these a day." 

The next step, says Kotler, is to set manageable goals. Now, you do need high-level aspirations, but the key to productivity is to set process-oriented goals. Those long-term desires have their time and place, sure, but everyday performance relies on those mission-level, tangible goals. 

Take this long-term goal, for instance: I want to be the greatest author in history. "That's a moving target. It's an aim," says Kotler. "You want to chunk those down into hard, one- to five-year goals." Try something like: I'd like to write a New York Times bestseller. Tangible, specific, and process-oriented. 

"There are five major intrinsic motivators that matter," says Kotler. Curiosity, purpose, autonomy, purpose, and mastery: "Curiosity is our basic fuel that builds into passion. [Then] passion is attached to a cause greater than ourselves, which becomes purpose. Once you have purpose, your body literally wants the autonomy and freedom to pursue that purpose. And once you're pursuing that purpose, you want to master the skills to really pursue that purpose."