99 days in. A perfect moment – not just to count the days, but to measure the distance traveled.
Back then, I knew I wanted to do something in the productivity space. Having spent two decades in services, manufacturing, and various start-ups – the mindless pursuit of busyness as a productivity solution was too good an opportunity to let it slip!
And I happen to be a perfect guinea pig too. I have been there, done that, and led others to follow the dark tunnel with the promised heaven at the end…
✅ 36-hour workdays fueled by pizza, coke, and the manager’s optimism.
✅ 90+ hour work weeks (spine-tweaks included).
✅ Weekend work-marathons. “This is what leaders do”.
✅ Building features like a kid toppling a domino tower.
✅ Bug bash → Beer bash → Product crash → CXO clash → Bug bash → repeat …
✅ Hotfixes for hot promises: “100% this feature will double our revenue”.
✅ “Guys, let’s live up to our investor’s faith” – even if it means early graves.
All of this in the name of productivity. But what does it truly mean to be productive?
The word productive means “to produce” – results, value, output.
Aristotle’s productivity focused on producing virtue as a value. He dedicated his life to this single pursuit with everything else around it.
On the modern scene, Tim Ferris’s productivity focuses on efficiency by optimizing time and resources across multiple ventures – with Elon Musk and Richard Branson as amped-up versions.
However, for most of us in day jobs, our productivity often becomes a quantitative metric – output per unit of input with the goal of how to “squeeze” some more.
Productivity is not about number of hours or things we do. It’s about finding what we want “to produce” in our lives – results, values, outputs – that will do good to us (because this life is not a dress rehearsal for the next one) and good to the community (because we are but one in the sum of whole, otherwise nothing).
I’m really excited to be working in this space – looking at productivity from various lenses, connecting dots, and identifying skills that affect modern homo sapiens.
Envisioning the STOP framework
The STOP Framework – a mindful productivity framework for intentional decision-making is a small but significant step in that direction.
Rooted in psychology, mindfulness, and evolutionary biology, STOP is not just about making better choices – it’s about making choices that align with who we are and what we truly want to produce.
The last 99 days have been about learning. The next phase? User journeys…
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Nikhil Kabadi 