S3E1: Earn More, Work Less - Ali Abdaal
Ali Abdaal started his YouTube channel as a side hustle while he was a medical student. He now has over 5 million subscribers and makes 5 million pounds a year.. An expert in productivity, he’s literally written a book on it, the New York Times bestseller ‘Feel Good Productivity’. So many things prevent us from being productive: fear, procrastination, boredom…to just name the ones we struggle with. If you could do more with your time, what could you accomplish? Get more money, start that side hustle, or maybe just enjoy your life more?
What you should remember from this episode
• "Everyone is a business owner, it's just that you own the business of you" is a great quote from Ali. He’s basically saying you should view yourself as the entrepreneur of your life.
• Treating yourself as a business venture means you should invest in new skills and your network, obvs.
• In his teenage years, Ali was already making strides to make money on the internet by designing websites… whilst Damo and T were chomping on refreshers and trying to find pubs that would serve them.
• Ali experienced periods of relentless work when he didn’t achieve much - and then the opposite. He came to realise that increasing productivity and success weren’t about working harder. Of course we know the adage about working smarter not harder, but what’s interesting is how Ali thinks the way to work smarter is to have more fun.
• The more fun you have, and the more playful your work feels - the more productive you’ll be. So, instead of trying to work harder, consider how you can inject more fun into your work.
• Adding fun can be as simple as adding music - in Ali’s case the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. In the case of making YouTube videos, Ali might switch up the subject matter, the format etc. because newness is fun. Or he might time himself or set other challenges which turn the process into more of a game.
• Ali also found his content creation process became more efficient and effective when he allowed himself scheduled downtime rather than pushing through when he was exhausted.
• Giving yourself space to work as hard as you can isn’t the best path. For instance, when Ali had all the time in the world to make videos, he didn’t make any. Productivity isn’t just about working harder, for longer, or having more fun - it’s about having constraints that allow you to fly.
• Ali’s first viral video was a simple tutorial on note-taking. This unexpected success taught him the value of content that delivers on real, practical needs - leading him to focus more on educational videos.
• Re: burnout, Ali found that reducing his work hours and focusing on high-impact activities, such as strategic planning for content creation, resulted in higher quality work and less stress - and less time working.
• Finally, true productivity for Ali isn’t about ticking off tasks - it’s about impact. So think before you start doing - e.g. he found that if he created a detailed script for videos, it resulted in better content and more effective use of his time.
