#51 Elon Musk and Leonardo da Vinci Superhuman Productivity Tactics

Siim Land (0:00)

Some people can be very productive, and they can get a lot of things done.

If you look at how much Leonardo da Vinci accomplished in the 15th century with no internet, no Uber and no technology, then I think we're all forced to ask ourselves, what the f*** are we doing with our time? Some more examples. Isaac Asimov was a 20th century writer and professor who wrote or edited more than 500 books and over 90,000 letters. Now, compared to the average college student who can't even seem to finish their 3000 word essay just in time, Elon Musk is also able to run several billion dollar companies in many industries, while at the same time taking over the leading role of space colonization. No pressure.

SPEAKER_2 (0:49)

90% of the time I have no idea what the f*** I'm talking about.

Siim Land (0:54)

What's the secret to these people like Leonardo, Elon Musk, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many others? They seem to accomplish a lot more with their time.

Are they superhuman? Or is Elon Musk an alien who wants to return to his home planet?

SPEAKER_2 (1:12)

Hello, I'm Elon Musk.

Siim Land (1:13)

Most of this superhuman productivity results from these people having higher priorities and standards for their goals, but they also have more productive routines and systems for those goals. Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Welcome to the Body Mind Empowerment Podcast. I'm your host Siim Land and that's what we'll be talking about in today's episode. How to reach superhuman productivity levels like Leonardo da Vinci and Elon Musk.

No pressure. Body Mind Empowerment.

SPEAKER_3 (1:43)

Get stronger, faster, smarter, quicker, friendlier, more helpful, more driven.

Siim Land (1:49)

Everything the body needs.

SPEAKER_3 (1:50)

Control your mind.

Siim Land (1:54)

I think I'm quite a productive person because I published over 300 videos on YouTube over the last year. I read a few hundred books last year as well. Written several books of my own. I run a podcast. I write about three to five blog posts a week. And I also keep myself in good physical shape.

With that being said, I'm definitely no Elon Musk or Leonardo da Vinci, but I do think that I can give you some superhuman productivity tips that can help even mere mortals get more things done.

SPEAKER_2 (2:24)

Where are the aliens?

Siim Land (2:25)

According to Elon Musk himself, he's not an alien, but let's leave that option open for the time being. What I'm going to tell you now are these 10 routines or methods for superhuman productivity that will drastically make you more productive.

SPEAKER_2 (2:41)

Maybe they're among us.

Siim Land (2:44)

All right, method number one, pre-plan your day.

Benjamin Franklin said, if you fail to plan, you're planning to fail. That's a very important point because being productive isn't just about working hard and grinding your face off. It's about working smarter and more effectively. If you want to reach your goals, then you have to know what needs to be done and how to do it. Otherwise, you're simply clueless and you're expecting something to happen.

Nothing ever happens just in of itself. How much time do you waste on thinking about what you should do? Whether that be after waking up or whenever you get an empty gap during the day. Most of your time gets probably wasted on commuting, setting up your workstation, waiting to get motivated or simply procrastinating. On the flip side, if you're clear about what tasks need to be done and you create an action plan in advance, then you're more likely to go through it faster as well. In the example of Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the founding fathers of the United States, an inventor, an entrepreneur and a politician, you would want to plan out the next day the day before already. Benjamin Franklin's evening routine consisted of preparing his environment for tomorrow.

He also asked himself, what good have I done today? Which means, did what I do today actually move me closer to my goals?

This forced him to objectively evaluate his behavior and assess his results so he could implement changes wherever needed. What I do is write out the most important things I need to do for the day the previous night already before going to bed. This is going to prime my subconscious mind to start working on them while sleeping already because after I wake up, then I don't have to think about what I need to do. In the morning, Benjamin Franklin would ask himself, what good shall I do today? Which means, what are the things I need to do today to get closer to my goals? That's the power of having a strategy and an action plan of the daily activities you need to do. It's gonna take out the guessing and makes it easier for you to stick to as well.