What Male Productivity YouTubers Taught Me

And why I don’t follow them anymore.

In my early 20s, I started owning my own personal laptop and mobile phone. Finally, when I got to Canada, I was exposed to a lot of great YouTubers who are not Michelle Phan (I still love her)

I blindly followed Ali Abdaal, Thomas Frank, and was obsessed with Matt D’avella’s content. They always produce crisp, well-planned videos and are super easy to follow.

Their productivity videos are formatted in a “how-to” style. For example, listing a list of points on how to tackle a common problem that is a detriment to our daily productivities.

And the best winning part and why I got hooked is because they ALWAYS share a personal anecdote from their daily lives, nailing down on the relatability aspect.

THE PROBLEM (FOR ME)

The main takeaways from these productivity gurus are “be consistent, do the same thing every day, no excuses. rise up, grind towards your goals and be productive”.

This sub-consciously sounds like “if you can’t be consistent for one day, you’ll risk ruining a streak and making your effort worthless.”

This constant cycle stripped me of my self-esteem. Bits at a time.

And I’ll blame myself because I can’t keep up every time.

WHY I EMPHASIZE MALE PRODUCTIVITY GURUS

Because males and females have a distinct difference in the hormonal cycle.

Men have a 24-hour hormonal cycle. But women have a 28-day hormonal cycle.

Males have a regular daily variation in their levels of the most essential hormone, testosterone. At the same time, females experience dramatic fluctuations in their reproductive hormone levels on a monthly cycle.

I learned this in school, and yes, so does everyone.

But I failed to apply my knowledge of the hormonal cycle to my day-to-day life.

WHAT I SHOULD’VE DONE

I should’ve learned that biological differences between these three productivity YouTubers and me were why I always ruined my “productivity streak.”

Maisie Hill wrote a book entitled Period Power which covers how females should structure their month instead of their day.

Maisie argued that a female’s typical month should be seen like the four seasons; winter, spring, summer and fall.

THE SEASONS OF THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE

The winter (~day 1 to day 5) starts on the first day of menstruation which is when we should take a breather and take it easy. The winter is time to rest for both our mental and physical.

The spring (~day 6 to day 11) is when the energy increment takes place. Our body is ready to do more stimulating and challenging activities. The best time to start socializing after hibernating is during the winter.

The summer (~day 12 to day 19) is the superpower season where we might find some extra energy doing more stuff. We feel like eating less and sleeping less have no effect on our energy. But, we should not be overworking. Instead, we should plan accordingly, getting ready for the fall season.

The fall (~day 20 to day 28) is where the productivity slumps happen. Hill advocated that this is the best time to clean, re-organize and declutter. Not just physically but also mentally.

BASICALLY,

This guideline is merely a guideline. Some females have a 30-day cycle instead of 28. So, plan accordingly. Personalize it to your liking

I hope that this short article can provide you with more insights on productivity because this simple knowledge changed my whole perspective on planning my life.

Thank you for reading, and have a great day or night!