Update: After finishing and reading this post (ok, I skimmed through it), I updated the title to better reflect its content.

So this is going to be one of those serious posts where I tell know how to live your life to “enlarge” your happiness. This is all going to be bulletproof advice that I may or may not follow myself (but really, trust me, I'm just putting that disclaimer there to please lawyers).

On second thought (ok, on initial thought, I hadn't really did any thinking before writing this out), scratch that, I'm not going to tell you how to live your life.

I am, however, going to tell you exactly, precisely how to do stuff.

I've done research, experimentation and just plain thinking (transit time equals free thinking time) over the course of the last few years. I'm not putting any references here but I wouldn't just say things so, trust me.

What I've come to believe is that the key to doing great work consistently lies in two elementary rules:

1. The Seinfeld Chain

It doesn't have to be daily but you should have a schedule with outputs and you should stick to it. Of course, if you're just a slacker constantly putting off tasks, that won't help. You might get some things done once in a while but your chain will look like a bunch of stupid rings. You will look at this and think back at this Seinfeld chain and since your efforts are so pathetic, you'll just give up and never get anything done.

Ok, now that we got rid of the self conscious slackers, let's get to the second point…

2. Don't overwork. Do work and celebrate

This is pretty intuitive really. You get some good work done and you enjoy the satisfaction. That's it. When you do that, you've got something to be proud of and something to look forward to for next time. Now, you rest or just do something else. If you're reading this, you're currently in leisure mode so get ready and go back to work (but finish reading first).

The reason we feel like just going on a continuous non stopped stretch is just the structure of work life. Work more, get more done, right? Well, as much as we would like this to be true, this doesn't seem to be generally the case. It's less easy to apply this to a 40 hours job where work time is crucial. Don't go using that as an excuse though. If you learn to split tasks into smaller tasks, then it is possible to eventually get to a point when you can leave work everyday having accomplished stuff and feeling good about it.

Ok, that last part was pretty dry but it's the key to something so it had to be said (and read, I really hope you read it).

Until next time, stay curious and don't let you phone run out of battery (unrelated advice but it's really not cool if someone needs to call you and you can't get the call).

Coming next: how to master a second language as a grown-up?

(okay, it won't be my next post, it's more of an actual question from me to the world! I don't know how, I'm so horrendously horrible at this).