Ali Abdaal’s feel-good productivity has changed my life. Not just in the book he’s written — though we’ll get to that — but in the hundreds of hours of videos posted to his YouTube channel and the thousands of words in his newsletters.

 

I’ve been a casual watcher for two years, and an avid one for this last year. After watching hours of his videos, I took a step into what I thought was an impossible journey. I wrote an article and published it online.

 

Although this might sound like a small goal, this was no small feat for me. I’ve grown up wanting to be a writer but was always told that it wasn’t meant to be. My parents drilled into my head that a college education, a good job, and retirement were the path to follow. Never mind those people making money in other ways, that can’t be you.

 

I’ll admit, I’m not far. I earned my first $5 yesterday, but I’ve taken several steps in the right direction over the last six months. I started writing on Medium, posting semi-consistently, running a newsletter, and finished setting up my blog.

 

All this to say. I have a biased opinion about this book. It’s hard not to when you’ve spent your life ignoring your dream, and then get your first encouragement to work toward it from a YouTuber. So, what do I think about the book itself? Let’s dive in.

 

Bottom Line Recommendation

Read if you:

– Want an easy read for productivity
– Like Ali Abdaal’s content
– Want practical and actionable advice
– You’re a beginner to productivity

 

Don’t read if you:

– Have already read in-depth articles and studies on productivity

 

Review

 

These experiments aren’t those that you roll your eyes at, mutter ‘yeah, right,’ and keep reading, these are experiments that sound fun and helpful. With tasks like creating adventure and embracing curiosity, who isn’t excited to start following along?

 

There’s another thing I like — he gives you the study where he got his idea. No more blindly following a productivity task because the author said so. This is about science.

 

Something I judge in every nonfiction book is the format. Nonfiction books can sometimes become convoluted and drone on about the same topic for too long, making the whole experience endless. Other nonfictions stick to the point and drive forward, revealing new information with each chapter and section.

 

Ali Abdaal’s book has been one of the best I’ve read in this regard. I feel grateful to both him and his editors (he did mention they were ruthless) that they kept the book centered around a main idea, and added new information in each chapter. The blurb on the front describes the focal point of the whole book; every section and chapter reveals “How to do more of what matters to you.”

 

I rated this book a 5/5 stars. It is everything I need a nonfiction book to be. Straightforward, easily understandable, and useful. I like how he takes you through the entire journey of starting something new through energizing yourself, finding what you want, and being able to chase it without burning out.

 

My Favorite Lessons

Feel-good productivity is full of fantastic information, advice, and experiments but you can’t add everything into your life at once. Three lessons stood out to me, and that I plan to implement into my life starting today.

 

Adventure

Ali talks in-depth about how adding adventure to your life increases happiness. He pulls a study from New York University and the University of Miami, which shows people who had more adventurous experiences were happier. This study shows we don’t need to change our lives to add adventure to them, we can start changing smaller things, like trying a different coffee shop, book store, or restaurant.

 

This one should have already been implemented into my life, I’m beginning a travel blog after all. I’m trying to be more intentional about approaching life with a sense of wonder and adventure; the world is vast, and I would like to explore as much of it as I can.

 

Often when I find myself in a rut, like I was several months ago, I realize I haven’t done anything new. My routines, workouts, and eating habits have stayed the same. That’s when I know it’s time to get out of the box.

 

No One Cares

Ali’s chapter on fear and courage is great. He walks you through each step of identifying, reducing, and overcoming your fear. My favorite part of the whole chapter was experiment 5: Stop Spotlighting.

 

Ali discusses how we often have a ‘spotlight effect’ in our lives. We are the center of our worlds, so it makes sense we assume every clunky move will be remembered forever. People don’t care about your every move nearly as much as you think they do. The only person who will remember it is yourself.

 

Thus, he has a no-one-cares principle. The only person who cares about your writing, YouTube videos, dancing, or outfit is you. Having this mindset frees you of others’ expectations and judgment, and can help reduce the Spotlight Effect to almost none. It’s not a fix-all for your fear, but it can help you overcome the hurdle of starting.

 

The Reitoff Principle

Feel-good productivity is not only how to get started, but also how to sustain this new productive lifestyle that you created- especially how to avoid or get through the dreaded burnout. The Reitoff Principle is one method I have implemented ever since I read the book (last week, but it counts).

 

Does any of this sound like you? You get home from a terrible day of work; you have stuff you want to do, stuff you should do, but you can’t bring yourself to do it. You spend the whole time watching Netflix, YouTube, or scrolling, stressing about how you should be doing other things. The whole evening passes, and you’ve done a relaxing activity, but you’re more stressed than ever.

 

This is what the Reitoff Principle is for. Sometimes, it’s worth it to just write the whole evening off and relax. Stop stressing about what you should get done, and permit yourself to take time off. It gives you time to rest, so you can be more productive again the next day.

 

Conclusion

Since the beginning, Ali Abdaal has been at the heart of the productivity niche on YouTube. He has grown into massive fame, started his own business, and has now written a book. This is not by mistake — he has made productivity approachable and easy to understand. He brings real-life studies into the hands of people who don’t want to spend hours understanding every science term out there.

 

This isn’t a book of earth-shaking revelations, but something even more profound is in these pages. Realism. So many productivity books want you to be productive for productivity’s sake, without ever figuring out why you should even be working this hard. Ali doesn’t discuss how to run an ultramarathon while studying to be a doctor while starting a business. He focuses on finding what matters to you, how to get started, and keep going.

 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to start. Anyone who has things they want to do and are struggling to get there. Who has started and can’t find it within them to keep going, dealing with fear or burnout. There are so many better ways to approach your life than “suck it up and keep grinding.”

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you can take away a few of these lessons and implement them into your life to make it a little better. The bookshop link to the book is above, take a look if you want more tips on Feel Good Productivity. Feel free to give me a follow if you want more bookish and travel content, stay brave!