How Stoicism Can Help You Become More Productive

These principles by the ancient stoics are evergreen

I’m sure most of you reading this know what productivity means (to you). However, stoicism might be a lesser-known subject. Therefore, let’s start with some background information. Stoicism originated in ancient Greece around the 3rd century BCE and was popularized by thinkers like Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism is based on the four virtues of wisdom, temperance, justice, and courage. If you want to learn more about stoicism, I recommend you visit the Daily Stoic website and its associated social media channels.

In today’s fast-paced world that pushes us in the opposite direction of what stoicism preaches through instant gratification, downplaying of self-direction, and other harmful frameworks, more and more individuals, including myself, are (thankfully) finding refuge in the Stoic teachings. I’ve recently noticed an increase in the number of my college friends interested in the topic.

However, the relationship between stoicism and productivity might not be immediately evident. In this article, I’ll connect some principles with ways to become more productive. But remember, productivity has a different definition for each of us, so spend some time thinking about how each of these teachings can be applied to your personal circumstances.

Focus On What You Can Control

This is probably the most famous stoic principle, and it encourages us to recognize the distinction between things we can control and those we cannot. When working toward something, it's critical to accept that outer events, such as someone acting in a certain way or our computer not working correctly, are often beyond our influence. But complaining about these factors only leads to frustration and wasted energy. We have to adopt the habit of recognizing and accepting this and redirect our focus toward what we can control, our reacting to what happens. However, just like any other habit, changing our way of responding to what happens is not something we can do just by thinking about it. One needs to be aware of the need for patience and accept that it will take some time to react positively to 50% of outside events.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens — Epictetus

Be Present

Stoicism teaches us to focus on the present rather than living in the past or stressing about the future. This circles back to the previous point—we can’t change the past or predict the future; they are outside our control. Why waste our energy trying to do so, then?

Something I’d like to point out before we keep going is that although the future is unpredictable, there are things we can do now that can help us down the line. If you want to get better at playing guitar, practicing for 30 minutes today will likely get you closer to your goal than dedicating those 30 minutes to watching TikTok.

Seek to adopt a state of mind where you ask yourself: What can I do NOW to increase my chances of getting where I want to be?

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. — Seneca

Be Useful

Productivity is not just about individual achievement; it's also about contributing to the collective success of teams, organizations, or communities. Stoicism emphasizes the importance of being of service to others and positively impacting those around us without necessarily hoping for anything in return.

However, being useful usually brings a reward, whether or not we are looking for it. The economy provides us with a handy example. In a free-market economy, providing services people value brings the producer a monetary reward since that individual or individuals offer value to society. Consumers give money (reward) to the producer due to one of their needs being fulfilled or a problem being solved.

Let’s imagine another situation now. Suppose a friend of yours tells you he is struggling to manage their time and get everything they need to do. He comes to you because you have set up some productivity systems to help your friend solve their problem. You meet with your friend and tell him about some tools like Notion, which you use. It saves you time and energy, as it allows you to organize your information and has a calendar that ensures you don’t miss anything so you want to share it with him.

You teach your friend how to build a Second Brain that frees mental space and enhances structures in all areas of life. Hopefully, you won’t charge your friend for your help. But you still got something out of the experience. First, you improved your relationship with one of your friends. Second, you felt helpful and valuable while helping out. Third, you further consolidated your knowledge of the topic you were teaching.

The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away. — Marcus Aurelius

Foresee Obstacles

Something else stoicism teaches us is anticipating potential obstacles and challenges in pursuing our goals. Rather than being caught off guard by setbacks, we should proactively identify what could go wrong and have backup plans. Stoics have a practice for this: premeditatio malorum—the anticipation of evils.

Preparing for the worst doesn’t mean being negative, as many would think. If we visualize worst-case scenarios and prepare for them, we can minimize downsides in case one of them happens. Instead of relying on an immediate reaction in a state of nerves and anxiety, we can pull up our prepared strategy and execute it.

Imagine this: you are planning a hiking trip with friends in a remote location. Once you get there, a storm happens, and you are stuck in a forest cabin with no service. Which of these two decisions would you be happy to have taken before the hike?

a) You ventured into the terrain with general equipment and a map.

b) You did some research into the area and its surroundings (animals, plants, places, etc.), prepared a physical list of phone numbers and addresses, and let someone who isn’t traveling with you know your itinerary and dates so that that person could call the police if they don’t hear from you.

Probably b, right? Does this mean that by preparing for the worst, you think it will happen? Of course not. But even if everything went well, the effort of being ready for the opposite is still worth it.

The man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive — Seneca

Think Independently

In today’s society, something that’s easily noticeable is the push by many individuals, groups, and institutions for dogmatic thought. If you align with a political party, you have to agree with absolutely everything they say and disagree with everything the opposing parties say. Otherwise, a herd of cult followers will point the finger at you. We can observe this in other areas, such as sports or communities dedicated to a particular activity.

The problem is that, when deciding if one agrees or likes something, some choose to see what their group says and blindly provide the same answer, with no thought progress involved. This is because nobody has time to spend one hour researching every topic they get exposed to, so they default to what others believe.

But one doesn’t need to have an opinion on everything. One can say: I don’t know; I haven’t had the time to look into this topic, or I just don’t care about it. This frees up mental space for what really matters to you. If a topic interests you, dive into it and ensure you have arguments to support your opinion.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts — Marcus Aurelius

Contemplate Nature

This last principle might sound off to some of you. What does contemplating nature have to do with productivity? There’s more correlation than you might think.

Productivity is not only about more and faster. Sometimes, you need to slow down and direct your attention to more essential things. Stoicism invites us to spend time in nature. Connecting with nature gives us a perspective on the insignificance of momentary setbacks. It helps us slow down momentarily and reflect and admire the world.

Many times, when working on a project or any other issue, going outside for a walk is a great idea—especially if you’re feeling frustrated or stuck. I often do this; it always helps me relax and get in a better mood, making me more productive and effective when I return to work. See it as an investment. You spend some time outside (which might feel like a waste of time), but these new ideas you get end up saving you more time down the line.

Everything that happens in the world happens in accordance with the nature of the whole, and this nature is a rational one — Epictetus

Anyway, these are some stoic principles I try to follow, and that helps me be more productive. Of course, there’s much more to stoicism than this, but we can discuss it further in other blog posts. It’s an exciting philosophy that I find valuable in today’s world, and you might, too, after reading this post.

I’d love to hear your opinions on these topics. Which do you find helpful? How do you think you can apply them in your life? Leave a comment or message me on X, Instagram, or Facebook, and we can chat! Thanks for reading!

See you later!