An Antidote to Burnout

Dr. Ali Abdaal, “THE” productivity guy on YouTube; doctor turned entrepreneur. Very epic stuff…

If you don’t know who Ali Abdaal is, this is his journey (so far) in a nutshell: while studying medicine at Cambridge University, he launched a successful tutoring business helping aspiring students get into medicine courses in Oxbridge, as well as a YouTube channel. With the dream of becoming a surgeon, after medical school, Ali became a junior doctor, and worked tirelessly around the clock. It is without a doubt that Ali had a lot on his plate, and the way he was able to do everything he did, as he noted in his recent talk, was simple: “just work harder.”.

This simple productivity technique worked. Discipline, Ali noted, is what got him into Cambridge, into studying medicine and becoming a doctor, an entrepreneur and YouTuber. So, amongst all his achievements, how did someone like Ali become averse to the attitude of modern-day hustle culture?

All the pressure would eventually come crumbling down on Ali months after he became a junior doctor. During a particularly stressful night shift on Christmas day, he kept reminding himself of a quote by Muhammad Ali as he managed an entire hospital ward by himself, “I hated every minute of training, but don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”. It was already midnight, Ali was reciting this quote over and over again during his bathroom breaks, but he still wasn’t getting through his paperwork any quicker. In his new book, ‘Feel Good Productivity’, he mentioned that he felt “completely underwater” by the end of that night. His years of discipline were failing him on his toughest day yet. But then, out of nowhere, Ali remembered some words of wisdom from his old tutor, Dr Barclay: “If the treatment isn’t working, question the diagnosis.”. Slowly, and then all at once, Ali started to question all the productivity advice he had absorbed, “Does success really require suffering? Do I need to trade my health and happiness for, well, anything?”.

In this week’s post, I’d like to share a couple of ideas I took away from his recent ‘How to Academy’ talk in London, and from his new book ‘Feel Good Productivity’. Ideas that, I think, may elevate our fulfilment in our work, and hopefully change the mindset of ‘I have to do…’ to ‘I get to do…’.

1. 12 Month Celebration.

2. Integrating ‘play’ into work.

12 Month Celebration

The idea is simple: What would you like to be celebrating with your friends/family at the end of this year?

More specifically, which elements of ‘Work’, ‘Health’, and ‘Relationships’ (which covers most aspects of life) would you like to celebrate? For example, personally, in terms of work, one of the things I would like to be celebrating is the opportunity of sharing my work at the Encounters Film Festival in Bristol (and networking with fellow filmmakers would be a juicy bonus >:)). In terms of health, I would like to be celebrating how I am in the best physical shape I’ve ever been. In terms of relationships, I would like to be celebrating that I’ve spent more time with my family and friends back home in China.

The 12-month celebration allows you to gain a vague idea of your ‘goals’ as it encourages you to imagine yourself at the end of the year. 12 months is plentiful in that there is enough time to make significant change, while also having a sense of urgency (as you only have a year to achieve those goals).

The 12-month celebration can be done in a shorter timeframe as well, let’s say, in the next week or month. For example, to get me closer to my 12-month celebration, over the course of this week, I will learn the basics of Krita (an animation software), I will also work out three times this week (and stay on track with my nutrient intake), and I will video call my parents at least twice.

With that said, it is important to note that your goals can change as, well, life happens. They are not set in stone, and more importantly, are a reminder of where you want to go. You can look at your 12-month celebration and think, ‘this is where my life is going, and that’s pretty exciting’.

Also, by the way, if you are going to try the 12-month celebration, write it down. It is a lot better than just thinking about it (source? Trust me bro).

Integrating play into work

When we feel good about what we’re doing, we tend to do it more effectively.

Personally, when it comes to school/uni work, I had only recently discovered that I really enjoyed working around other people. During A levels last year, I would mostly revise with my friend in our school library. I enjoyed the walk there as we would chat about random things. I also enjoyed sitting in that library, packed with people working hard, typing away at their laptops, and scribbling rough notes. The smell of old books, the echoing footsteps in the stairwell, and the trees outside rustling in the summer’s wind: the scenic setting for a summer study session. After all the talks about how to use the school facilities to study effectively, it was curiosity that eventually brought me to the library. I simply thought, ‘why not give it a go?’.

In his new book, ‘Feel Good Productivity’, Ali notes that having a sense of adventure is one of the aspects to feeling good when we work. “When we’re kids, our days are filled with a sense of adventure… We’re not striving for goals or trying to boost our resume. We’re following our curiosity and enjoying activities without worrying about results.” (p.23). A simple question that Ali asks himself, one that I think we can integrate into aspects of our own lives, is ‘What would it look like if it were fun?’.

For me, during the A levels, that was going to the library to revise, then going on a short walk at the end of the day with my friend and talking about what we’ve learnt that day (and crack random unhinged jokes). The library isn’t for everyone, many of my friends in university think the main library is ‘too quiet’ (which I agree with). Perhaps putting on some Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter music makes you feel like you’re on an adventure. Why not give the local café a go? Or maybe text a friend to ask them if they want to come for a chill study session this afternoon? How about the local park when it gets sunny?

Not only can we integrate play into work, but also most aspects of our lives. And just by asking the question, ‘What would it look like if it were fun?’, a mundane task could turn into an interesting and fun adventure.

With this being said, not everything ‘has’ to be fun. For example, I am currently sitting in my room, alone, writing this section of the blog. I have the option to go to the library, but I don’t have to go to the library to make this task ‘fun’. You don’t have to go or do anything to get on with your task, but isn’t it nice to have the option to choose? “In video games like Zelda, The Witcher, and Elden Ring, there are dozens of side quests waiting to be pursued. These side quests don’t affect the main story of the game, but are driven by the curiosity of the player.” (p.30). Going to the local café doesn’t directly improve or speed up the writing of this blog, but it does fulfil my curiosity and encourage that sense of adventure (‘I wonder what that old wooden café looks like on the inside?’ is the question I thought about for a couple of weeks before Christmas holiday).

Questions to take away.

1. Which aspects of work, health and relationships would you like to celebrate with friends and family in 12-months’ time?

2. What would this task look like if it were fun?

Hopefully, some of this was helpful. I would strongly recommend Ali’s book ‘Feel Good Productivity’ as he offers a massive range of different ideas, experiments, and action points we can try to improve our daily productivity, and do more of what matters to us, whether that be school/university work or playing video games.