Build Gratitude to Boost Your Productivity

Welcome to The 1% Better Productivity Letter, your weekly dose of simple, actionable strategies to work smarter, boost focus, and build a productive life that fits you.

Today at a glance:

• A personal story about shifting from constant complaining to living with more intention and gratitude.
• How learning to pause and appreciate small moments can fuel motivation and create emotional resilience.
• Why gratitude is an underrated productivity tool backed by science.

How gratitude made me more productive

I wasn’t always grateful for the life I have now, and honestly, it’s one of my biggest regrets.

A few years ago, I was the kind of person who complained about literally everything - from small stuff like my hair to bigger things like money. It was exhausting... for me and definitely for the people around me too. Just recently, I had a talk with my husband and told him how happy I feel with everything in my life right now. He smiled and said he remembers how hard it used to be hearing me complain about everything all the time.

And let’s say, hypothetically, that maybe the problem wasn’t just me stressing everyone out with all my complaining. The real issue was that it drained me. I was living with no real direction or aspirations because everything felt like it wasn’t good enough, worth trying, or even believable.

I was skeptical, tired, and kind of ignorant toward everything and everyone. Gosh, now that I’m writing this, I’m wondering how I still had so many friends back then, because I know I wouldn’t have wanted to hang out with someone like that.

I never really had a dramatic turning point where I said, “Okay, that’s it, time to change.” It just started happening slowly after I decided to embrace this big passion of mine for productivity and time management.

I took it seriously and started sharing it with the world. That decision to focus on something I genuinely loved helped me redirect my energy toward what was good and let go of the rest. I don’t know if that’s a real strategy, but it worked for me, and it helped me take the first and hardest step toward change.

From there, I became more intentional. I started reading personal development books to understand how our thoughts influence the way we act. I cleaned up my social media so I’d only see things that inspired or encouraged me, not things that made me doubt myself or feel small.

It was a whole journey, filled with ups, downs, lots of doubt, frustration, and even tears. Because once you start questioning the beliefs you’ve carried your whole life, it kind of breaks something in you. It’s like knocking down an old house before rebuilding a better one. That empty space in between? It’s rough. But then the foundation starts to come together - stronger, clearer.

It’s still a work in progress. I think it always will be. But once you start doing the work, it becomes easier to carry. You begin to see the good things around you. You stop giving your energy to the bad stuff that doesn’t serve you.

I don’t think about this shift all the time, but yesterday I went out for coffee with one of my best friends and we both realized: we’ve somehow learned to pause and feel grateful. For small, simple moments. A great cup of coffee, a silly laugh, a sunny day doing absolutely nothing. And somehow, those moments don’t slow you down, they recharge you.

I really believe in that idea that you attract what you are. If you walk around complaining about everything, that’s all you’ll see, and deep down, it’s probably what you believe you deserve. But when you shift into a more positive space, you start seeing opportunities, good people, and better experiences. Not because life suddenly changed, but because you did.

From Idea to Action

Here’s the deal: learning to pause, appreciate small moments, and genuinely feel gratitude does more than warm your heart. It actually makes you more focused, creative, and productive. Let me explain.

When we cultivate gratitude, we’re training our brains to pay attention to the positive. That shift does something powerful: it lowers stress hormones like cortisol and activates parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation, attention, and creative thinking.

One study even showed that writing letters of gratitude each week led to long-term increases in happiness and positive emotion - effects that stuck around months later.

Another piece of research in workplace environments found that employees who consistently expressed appreciation were more engaged, resilient under pressure, and put in more effort overall.

So, what does this mean for your everyday life and productivity? Here are a few simple ways to start:

• Pause and name it. When something small lights you up (a laugh with a friend, a cozy latte, a sunny moment) say it out loud or jot it down. Just noticing can ground you and reset your mood in seconds.
• Start a gratitude habit. Each evening, write down just one thing you were grateful for that day. It only takes a minute but packs a punch.
• Share the love. Send a quick “thank you” to someone - use a text, post-it, or DM. That little moment creates a mental freshness that spills over into your next tasks.

Your mini-experiment for this week:

Try one of these gratitude practices this week and pay attention to how you feel before and after. Notice if your focus sharpens, your mood lifts, or motivation feels easier to come by.

I’d love to hear what shifts you notice, whether large or small. Simply reply to this email or DM me on Instagram and share what gratitude brought to your week. 🫶🏼

Recommendation Zone

This week I want to recommend someone I’ve been following for a while on Instagram: @growwithlinde.

She talks a lot about confidence, healing insecurities, and how to return to the most genuine version of yourself, the kind of stuff that hits differently when you’re on your own journey of personal change.

Yesterday I finished one of her courses about healing insecurities and, even though I’ve been following her for some time and knew I liked her content, I didn’t expect it to be that powerful. The way she talks, the examples she gives, the way she makes you feel understood... it just landed for me.

Give her a try this week and scroll through her posts, see if her energy and words speak to you the same way. Let me know if anything sticks, I’d love to hear your take.

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Make this the moment you finally take control of your time.

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Remember: productivity does not mean busyness!

Loredana xx