Productivity is Power: Five Liberating Practices for College Students by Hillary Rettig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

The most important time to put your Inner Compassionate Adult in charge is when you’ve “failed,” experienced a rejection, or had some other kind of setback. It’s a natural temptation, during such times, to get self-critical, but nonperfectionists have better ways of coping. They know that:
Everyone fails. It’s an ordinary part of life. In fact, successful people probably fail more than most because they take more risks. To be precise: they’re successful both because they take the risks and because they react productively—meaning, in the ways described in this chapter—to the inevitable occasional failure.

“Success is often as dangerous as failure.”
Perfectionists often gloss over their successes—or, worse, reframe them as failures (Chapter 13). But nonperfectionists are careful to acknowledge and celebrate their successes. Doing so not only helps neutralize perfectionism, it fixes your successes in your memory so you can call on them when needed for motivation. (“Okay, I’m feeling stuck—but I remember that, a few weeks ago, when I felt equally stuck, I persevered and everything turned out fine. So I guess I’ll persevere now.”)
Take a moment to acknowledge your successes—and not just the outcome itself, but the broader success (e.g., what you learned or what barriers you overcame) and any personal qualities (courage, kindness, perseverance, etc.) you demonstrated. And if you want to celebrate—say, by treating yourself to a dinner out, a new outfit or piece of gear, or some other splurge—go for it. It’s okay to be generous with yourself.
Be Sure to Acknowledge and Celebrate Your “Small” and Partial Successes

Poets, philosophers, and others have been pondering the mystery of inspiration for thousands of years, but all “being inspired” means is that you’re ready and motivated to do the work. And all “being uninspired” means is that you’re not—yet. So what does it take to be ready? A few things, including an understanding of the process you need to follow, confidence, a detailed knowledge of how to do the next couple of steps, and abundant preparation. Let’s discuss each individually.

Productivity is Power: Five Liberating Practices for College Students by Hillary Rettig is a handy self-help guide on how to become more productive and inspired in your study/work/life- especially when it comes to for setting and reaching goals which will help you reach your full potential. It is full of handy tips, insights, techniques, exercises, examples, and strategies on how to gain more productive habits.
Everything you might want to know, from what to do if you have urgent deadlines, to overcoming obstacles/challenges/blocks, resolving conflicts, how to get and stay inspired, interrupting the disempowerment cascade, overcoming a punishment habit, budgeting and investing your time, planning/management/scheduling, giving boredom the boot, building resilience, how to handle criticism and rejection, and how to stay safe and healthy on social media…… just to name a few.
Ms. Rettig provides exercises, links to resources, offers solutions, resolutions, insights, and other helpful tips that will overhaul your study habit and help you become more productive.
But she doesn’t suggest that you ‘crack the whip’ the whole time, she also suggests being kind and compassionate to yourself- with taking breaks, learning the art of success, and to let go of the crushing ‘perfectionist’ ideals that can be detrimental to healthy, fruitful outcomes.
Another helpful guide that has step by step instructions to help you fulfil your goals.
Happy Reading…

Thank you, Hillary Rettig!

Reviewed by @angelahayes

View all my reviews