Article Review on James Clear's "The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need"

Writing your own research paper is something that students expects that teachers will assign them to do. It is a stressful and pressuring task especially if you have no idea how to write a research paper . However, having to write your own research paper is not as daunting as reviewing an article that has been widely published or peer-reviewed. In article reviews, a student needs to agree or disagree with the author of the article – which may be scary because most authors of the articles that needs to be reviewed is renowned in their field of study. To give students an idea of how to write an article review, CustomEssayMeister will provide a free full sample of an article review of an article written by James Clear.

An Article Review of James Clear’s “The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need,” published on his website jamesclear.com. Reviewed by CustomEssayMeister.

Introduction

In this article, James Clear shared with his readers the only strategy an individual can use to be more productive. He gave examples of famous personalities using this productivity tip and emphasized how much this strategy has worked for them and has shown results. Other than that, Clear gave a brief explanation of what productivity is and how it works. He also touched on the subject of why the majority of people are not doing this strategy and gave encouragement and clarifications for those who are interested to improve their productivity.

However, no matter how well-written Clear’s article may seem at first look, there are quite a few consistencies that can be noticed in the statements he has made. The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need definitely helps people to look reflect on themselves and evaluate, although the author could have used much more consistent reasoning when building up his strategy on how to be more productive. With that, this article review will look into the discrepancies found in Clear’s The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need aside from how effective the strategy he shared is.

Summary

To open his article, James Clear talked about Ernest Hemingway, a famous American author . He shared Ernest Hemingway’s daily morning routine and how it consisted of only one activity: writing. In his article, he says that Hemingway makes it a point to start writing, especially if he has an ongoing writing project, soon after first light. He did this because he discovered that he could concentrate on his writing even more as there was nobody around that could possibly distract him from doing his job.

He then proceeds to immediately reveal the productivity tip he is hinting at the get-go of his article. Clear says that the only productivity tip everyone needs to keep in mind is to “do the most important thing first each day” (2019). He then interjects with what his readers are probably thinking: nobody does it. As encouragement, he follows up with how an individual can make astounding progress if he commits to that simple productivity tip.

Clear explains that contrary to popular belief, productivity is actually more about getting more important things done consistently at an average speed. According to Clear’s observation, this strategy is clearly more effective and efficient than crossing off less important things off the to-do list and doing easier tasks first as this gives the illusion of having more things done.

Clear states that there is absolutely no reason to push oneself to be more productive and the most important thing first thing in the morning although he followed this up with three reasons as to why sticking to this strategy is more beneficial in the long run. In his article, he says that a human’s willpower is stronger earlier in the day, that unexpected tasks are likely to come up and interfere with the already set plans, and that humans are inclined to finish a task after getting it started because humans disliked unfinished projects.

Next, Clear explains the reason why most people do not have the chance to this productivity strategy. It is because most people are more inclined to do a task that someone else has designated over the thing that is most important on their to-do list. Humans have been raised to perform tasks for the benefit of other people instead of prioritizing tasks that will lead to their own betterment.

Humans are taught to take action based on reactions, expectations, or what society dictates. This inevitably leads to the fact that humans became more inclined to put tasks that are related to their job, academics, or family members in need. Clear says that while the tasks that are given by others to an individual are indeed urgent, it is hardly ever as important as moving forward with one’s own dreams and ambitions.

To end his article, Clear makes it known that there is no need for one to become a morning person in order to do this productivity strategy. He clarifies that even night owls can be productive even if they were not early risers. He backs up his case by saying that there was no one trend that can be followed when it comes to productivity and what is truly important is that a person reserves a specific time of the day to do personal tasks.

In the end, he says that he personally favors working and doing the most important thing in the morning. However, how a person works may vary. As a strong conclusion , he rephrased the productivity strategy from “do the most important thing first each day” to “give yourself time and space to work on what is important to you each day” (Clear, 2019).

Discussion

As mentioned earlier, in an article review, the author has to take a stance on whether or not he agrees or disagrees with the author of the article. More often than not, this also implies that the article review contains reasons as to why the one who reviewed the article agrees or disagrees with it. As with most article reviews, this article review on James Clear’s “The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need” will contain both strengths and weaknesses of the article.

The strongest point of this article is that James Clear made such a strong claim about how to be productive that it motivates people to do as he says. After reading the article, people may be inclined to try doing what they consider to be the most important task of the day as soon as they wake up. This claim’s downfall is that Clear only provided himself and Hemingway with the most solid proof that this productivity strategy works.

Another strong point is that Clear did not fail to consider night owls and those who simply could not compromise their morning routine right away. He considered their situation and still made them feel included and able to do the strategy despite their current situation. This is very important because James Clear aims to motivate a person to do better. If he failed to do so, almost everyone would think that what he advises to do is impossible.

Even if that was a strong point in this article, it is also a big weakness because it leaves loopholes and made some contradictions to his strongest statements. The first contradiction in his article was when he said that there is absolutely no need for anyone to do this strategy in the morning, then listed down three reasons as to why this productivity strategy should be done first thing in the morning. From that, the contradictions piled up on top of each other.

The next contradiction is that Clear said that tasks that are assigned to people – that people are inclined to do as soon as they open their eyes such as checking their notifications or emails –  are seldom important. What he failed to include in his equation is that what if those exact tasks are the driving force or source of living of an individual? Those tasks may be considered the most important thing on their to-do list even if it was assigned to them by another person.

Finally, his claim that a person need not be a morning person as one only needs to set aside a sacred time to attend to their personal tasks will defeat the purpose of the productivity strategy he presented in the first place. This is a very clear contradiction because, in the middle of his essay, he talked about how he crosses off less important things on his to-do list but there are days that he fails to do the most important thing simply because he put it off. 

Conclusion

The author recommends that the focus and title of the article be revised to fit the content more properly. As already mentioned, there are quite a number of contradictions that need to be addressed because of how the topic of productivity was addressed right from when Hemingway’s habit has been mentioned.

Therefore, although the author recognizes the importance and impact of this article, the author does not fully accept “the only productivity tip” that has been presented at the beginning of the article because the content is much more fitting with the sentence he ended his article with which is: Give yourself a time and space to work on what is important to you each day.

This statement is a much more fitting productivity tip because although humans do have more energy to spend when the day starts, not everyone is able to do so because of the circumstances they are in. This does not only go for the night owls but those who have other tasks that simply cannot be put off for a later time in the day.

In a way, Clear’s article can also be interpreted as a tip on how to avoid procrastination . While most students aim to avoid cramming in order to free up more of their time without stressing out about unfinished school work, some students simply do not have the choice because of the amount of work they have to juggle. That is exactly what CustomEssayMeister is for. CustomEssayMeister is dedicated to helping students  write their assignments for them so that they could have more time for their personal tasks. Send us a message now so we could help you be more productive and finish more of your tasks quicker.

Reference

Clear, J. (2019, April 22). The Only Productivity Tip You’ll Ever Need. James Clear. https://jamesclear.com/productivity-tip