The Productivity Hack That Is So Effective It Will Blow Your Mind

Someone showed this to me about 10 years ago. Here's what happened when we taught it in a group

Just landed on this in my inbox today…

It was in from an email list I’ve been on for a few years now, an account called Grow With Colby who writes about productivity. I initially found him on Instagram, one of the true gems I have found there over the years. (holy crap, he has over 550K followers now!) I complain a lot about IG and FB here, but on Instagram I really have managed to curate a pretty good feed over there. I really like how Colby mixes productivity and inspiration and just general feel-good vibes.

Anyway…

When I read this thing about “closing loops” it reminded me of something from around 10 years ago that blew my mind, and I want to share it here.

At the time I was a total NEWB with online content creation and business, and I wanted to turn what I was doing (my podcast and writing) into a business… but I wasn’t totally sure how to do it. I had a friend who was a partner on a “chat” series we had on my podcast… she was also unsure how to monetize. But we gave it a go and made this offer.

We created a sort of productivity challenge and she knew about this “closing loops” thing. The concept is this (like the image says):

ANYTHING you have left undone, go do it. Start knocking things off your list. See how you feel afterwards (it’s almost impossible not to feel great after this.)

Here’s the story how it went:

As she led the challenge group of about 25 people to start closing loops, I realized I had a lot of open ones myself.

We had recently done a renovation with a room addition and it was painfully undecorated. It looked SAD. But I had a story in my head that it would cost thousands of dollars to get it to look how I wanted it to.

Every time I walked through the room, I saw how sad and unfinished it looked and just got more bummed about it.

But during the challenge, I had a shift in my point of view. Why was I making it true that to decorate the room it would cost thousands of dollars??

So later on that day I went to Target. I found a bunch of sale items: a cute lamp, a rug and a few throw pillows that all tied in together. Everything was on clearance. I ended up spending maybe $200 bucks.

These things transformed the room.

Not only that, I felt SO MUCH BETTER.

After that I became addicted to closing loops.

I made dental cleaning appointments I had been putting off.

Looked at my desk for simple things to take care of that I hadn’t done.

I even transformed something that was bothering me about how we managed our dog’s food (we were feeding him raw food and our system was painfully disorganized and gross. I solved it with a few new food containers and a plan).

Everyone in the challenge was doing the same thing. Then they were coming back to the group (we hosted it in a Facebook group) and they were “reporting their wins”.

The energy was insane!

Everyone was getting stuff done, feeding off of each others’ positive energy and just getting high off of their productivity. It was really fun to watch.

Years later I had a client who was working with me to get more coaching clients. But her time was spread really thin and she was having trouble finding the time to create an offer and share about her work online.

So we looked at what was taking up her time. She admitted that she was doing a gig (as a pianist) that hardly paid her anything, and used up a ton of time in travel and preparation. She had wanted to let it go for years.

Once she said it out loud, she knew what she had to do.

On our next call, she shared with me that she let the director know that she wasn’t going to be able to work with them anymore.

She felt positively free. She found so much extra time for the projects she wanted to create and the business she was building.

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I suppose it’s a little bit like tabs running on your computer…

I admit, I’m a tab-aholic. I keep tabs open because my mind works fast and I have a few things I’m working on at once.

But after seeing this reminder this morning, I’m going to start closing them out.

I realize, I have a LOT of digital clutter. I need to start working on clearing that out, too.

As I look at my desk, there are loops there, too.

There are so many productivity hacks out there, AI tools and agents and whatever else, promising you organization and productivity.

What if the hack is this simple?

Just close your loops.

I’m curious… have you ever experienced anything like this? Have you consciously done it and seen results? What loops might you be able to close today that will kick off your Monday on the right foot?

ALSO: if you take on the challenge, I’d love to hear about it! Join the CHAT and share your wins!

And if you know someone who feels super overwhelmed… maybe this post and simple suggestion might help them? 😃