How to escape cargo cult productivity

You've done this before.

You watch someone's morning routine. The 5am wake-up, the journaling, the cold shower. You think: that's what I'm missing. So you try it. You set the alarm, you buy the journal.

For about two weeks, it works. Then you realise you're just copying someone else's day and it doesn't fit yours at all.

So you try something else. A new productivity app. A different note-taking system. Someone's study method that "changed their life." Each time, same pattern. You get excited. You set it up. Then you stop using it.

I did this for years. Year 9, watching Ali Abdaal, I built these massive Notion databases. Getting Things Done frameworks. A "second brain." Two weeks later I realised I spent more time organising than actually doing anything. So I switched to paid apps. Things 3, Todoist, Fantastical. Wasted money, nothing changed.

I was just copying what worked for someone else.

This is cargo cult productivity.

What cargo cult productivity actually is

Cargo cult productivity is copying what productive people do and expecting the same results, without understanding why it works for them.

You see someone wake up at 5am and crush their goals, so you set your alarm for 5am. You see someone use Notion, so you build a Notion system. You see someone take aesthetic notes, so you buy the same pens and notebooks. You copy the actions, expect the results, then wonder why nothing changes.

The term comes from actual cargo cults. After World War II, islanders in the Pacific saw planes drop supplies during the war. When the planes stopped coming, they built fake runways and control towers out of wood, thinking the structures would bring the planes back. They copied what they saw without understanding how planes actually work.

That's what we do with productivity. We copy the visible parts - the apps, the routines, the aesthetic - and expect the invisible parts to follow.

Examples:

• Buying a $50 productivity app because a YouTuber uses it, then never opening it after the first week
• Building a massive Notion system because successful people have "second brains," then spending more time organising than working
• Copying someone's 5am routine when you're naturally a night person, then burning out after two weeks
• Using the Pomodoro Technique because everyone says it works, without thinking about whether 25-minute blocks actually fit how you work
• Taking notes in a certain aesthetic style because it looks productive, not because it helps you learn

What it's not

This isn't about never learning from others. Copying what successful people do is actually one of the best ways to learn. The difference is intention and understanding.

Cargo cult productivity: "Ali Abdaal uses Notion, so I'll use Notion exactly how he does and become productive."

Actual learning: "Ali uses Notion to capture ideas quickly and organise his content pipeline. I don't make content, but I do need to organise my schoolwork. Let me test if the principle of quick capture works for me."

Cargo cult productivity: "Bryan Johnson has this exact morning routine, so I'll do it exactly."

Actual learning: "Bryan prioritises health before work. What does that look like in my life? Maybe I can't afford his supplements, but I can start with a walk before studying."

The difference is you're stealing the principle, not the tactic. You're experimenting with what might work for you, not copying what definitely works for someone else living a completely different life.

How to identify it

You probably won't realise you're doing this. The failure doesn't show up immediately. You don't realise it failed until weeks later when you've already moved on to the next thing.

It starts with the mentality you have when you set something up.

Most cargo cult productivity is driven by setup dopamine. The thrill of organising everything perfectly. That feeling of "starting fresh" with a new system. That hits different than actually doing the work.

You know it, but you rarely do anything about it.

So next time, before any new bout of productivity fever, ask yourself:

• Am I doing this because it actually solves a problem I have, or because it just feels like making progress?
• Can I explain why this works for the person I learnt it from, or do I just know it works for them?
• Do I see myself still using this in a year's time?

If the answers are "solves a problem," "can explain," and "yes," go ahead with it. Otherwise, you're probably cargo culting.

A few other warning signs:

• You enjoy setting up the system more than using it
• You're switching systems every few weeks
• You feel busy and productive, but your actual output hasn't changed

Most students can't identify when they're cargo culting. If you can, you're one step ahead.

How to actually steal

Steal principles, not tactics

The tactics are surface level. What actually drives productivity are the principles underneath.

A principle is something like:

• You need deep focus time to get work done
• You prioritise health above everything else
• You need a balance of quiet time and social time

These are the guiding rules for what you're trying to achieve. Not the specific ways you go about them.

Principles translate across lives better than tactics do. Most people want similar things: good health, good relationships, financial stability. The productive people you watch have figured out principles that work toward those goals. That's what you steal.

Tactics are just how they personally implement those principles. And those tactics were built for their life, not yours.

Understand what the problem solves for them

Bryan Johnson’s morning routine works because he has basically infinite money and a specific goal of not dying. Ali Abdaal’s Notion system works because he’s managing a content business with many employees. You, most likely, are neither of those two things, so don’t expect things to translate over one-to-one.

Solutions in search of a problem almost never work out, and if their problem isn't your problem, their solution won't be your solution either.

Start simple, test one thing

Experiment properly. Only change one thing at a time. Don't overhaul your entire life immediately, it adds way too much friction and you’ll be undoing all your changes in a matter of days.

My Notion adventure didn’t work because of this. I tried to port everything over, and when I realised that it was too much for me to switch every aspect of my life around, I reverted back.

So instead, update your principles one by one, a few weeks at a time. Maybe you need more social time in your week, so you set up a calendar and block times to meet with your friends. After a month, you can move on to focusing on your mental state, so you experiment with mindfulness meditation.

By testing one at a time, you give yourself the space to actually integrate new principles instead of abandoning everything when it gets hard.

The end goal is your own system

You see someone crushing it and think your day should look exactly like theirs.

It shouldn't.

If you really want to be productive, you're optimising for a system that works for you. Not a system that works for someone else.

Don't expect something to work, just because it works for someone else. And that expectation should die even faster as time goes on. As you change, the principles you follow will change. The tactics definitely will.

Your system will constantly adapt. That's fine. Just don't be surprised when things that work for others don't work for you, and vice versa.

The productive people you're copying didn't get there by copying someone else. They experimented with principles, failed, iterated, and built something that worked for them.

You're supposed to steal their method of building systems. Not the systems themselves.

Most productivity content online is designed to be consumed, not implemented. It's why conflicting advice is everywhere. It's why you feel productive watching it but nothing actually changes.

The sooner you realise this, the sooner you stop cargo culting and start building something that actually works.