There are eight pitfalls that will stop you from being productive

In his role at the helm of countless productivity workshops, the author has worked with thousands of people who've helped him identify eight pitfalls to pragmatic productivity. You can think of the tips to avoiding these pitfalls as the ultimate tool kit for keeping you on the road to Intelligent Achievement.

The first pitfall is accepting gifts. As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch, because chances are the person picking up the tab is looking for a favor. This doesn't mean you need to be cynical and think everyone is selfish, but if you do get invited to lunch, it doesn't hurt to question the motives and wonder whether it isn't, say, just a ploy to get you to work overtime. In short: pay for your own lunch.

The second pitfall is not having a morning routine. Having a regular morning routine is great for reducing the amount of mental energy you use, since you don't have to make any decisions – everything can just go like clockwork. This means you'll have more mental energy to spend on more important tasks later in the day.

Third is the mistake of prioritizing busywork. Always focus on the big goals and taking the steps that get you there.

Similarly, the fourth pitfall is prioritizing easy tasks over difficult ones. Don't do it!

Pitfall number five is to be overly reliant on the eight-hour workday. Remember, you only have five hours of high-level mental energy available. So it's all about being efficient and focused during these hours while spending the rest of the time resting and recuperating.

The sixth and seventh pitfalls are the ever-present distractions of smartphones and incoming email. Constantly checking social media, texts and email wastes mental energy. Avoid these pitfalls at all costs.

The final pitfall is giving in to requests from others. Again, this is about becoming comfortable with saying that magical two-letter word: No.

Mental energy is precious, so learn to say no in order to protect this resource.

If you spend your days interacting with a computer, there's a good chance you've encountered those times when you just feel stuck, staring at your computer screen. The more you try to get unstuck, the less you feel able to make any decisions. This is due to the fact that, when your mind is exhausted, no amount of time or effort spent on contemplation can help.

The key to avoiding this kind of exhaustion is to have mental energy, as this is what allows you to be enthusiastic and enjoy what's going on in your professional and personal lives.

But while it may be important, mental energy is also scarce and easily depleted.According to a 2007 study in the Harvard Business Review, the average person enjoys only two hours of peak mental focus every day, along with an additional five hours of relatively high mental focus. At all other times, there's a good chance your mental focus will be relatively poor.

So, how do we make sure our mental energy gets replenished each day? A 2012 study by medical researcher Taeko Sasai suggests that sufficient sleep is what's needed for this to happen. But even then, with high mental energy and especially peak mental energy being such limited resources, it's clear we need to treat each minute with care.

And that's where Selective Focus comes in. Selective Focus is about being careful and choosy about how you spend your energy, and the first rule is learning how to say no to certain things that are competing for your attention. After all, you can't give your time and energy to everyone, no matter how politely they ask.

Saying no doesn't always come easily or naturally. Many of us were programmed as children to say yes to whatever our parents or our teachers asked of us. When you said yes growing up, you were probably rewarded with attention, praise or even a big, welcoming hug.

But now that you're an adult, there are rewards to saying no. Through analyzing over 80 studies that looked into the benefits of saying no, psychologist Martin Hagger found conclusive evidence that it not only helps people avoid wasteful and unproductive activity, it also helps them achieve their goals more efficiently.

When leaders empower their team members, the result is outstanding achievement.

Imagine you had a colleague or boss who was always taking credit for your good work. You'd probably feel less motivated to continue striving for good results because it'd make you feel weak and insignificant.

Leaders should instill in their team members a sense of ownership of their own work.

Research has shown that people who feel powerless or exposed to uncontrollable circumstances perform worse than those who don't. So by trusting and empowering their staff, leaders can facilitate a boost in performance.

Digital payment scene across Asean

Across Southeast Asia, there is a fierce battle for being the leading digital payment provided. Unlike in China where the market is dominated by AliPay and WeChat Pay, the ASEAN market is in its infancy and is very fragmented. Currently, there are about 40 e-wallets in Malaysia, 27 e-wallets in Singapore, 37 e-wallets in Indonesia, 26 e-wallets in Vietnam, at least 17 e-wallets in the Philippines.

Large untapped market for digital payments

Although there are a large number of e-wallets, the vast of Asean market remains untapped. The population of Vietnam is about 96 million people. 40% of them are under 25 years old. Almost 90% of Vietnamese are still preferring using cash. The country experienced an e-wallet boom in the last few years. Vietnam’s total transaction value in the digital payments segment is US$8,523 million in 2019, presenting a 20.3% year on year growth. There is no notable winner in this market yet.

Fintech penetration in Indonesia remains low as Indonesia has a population of 264 million but smartphone penetration was only 24%  in 2017. This means that a lot of users are not exposed to the e-wallet concept yet.

Thailand, on the other hand, has a market of 69 million people. 31% of them are under the age of 25. Digital technology is the focus of the digital push in Thailand 4.0. Thailand 4.0 is the economic model that “aims to unlock the country from several economic challenges". The government launched a digital wallet PromptPay. Support of government and the population base are a great impetus for Thailand's digital payment market.

To understand how the different brands compete with each other, we can look into a comparison table for their main features: 

Notes:

1. True Money is the e-wallet brand under Ascend Money.
2. GCash provides overseas payments from US sites by issuing GCash American Express virtual sites.
3. User will need a physical Paymaya card to make cross-border payments.  

We can see from the table that all the e-wallets have similar basic features – QR code payment, transfer money, and withdrawal. The main differentiator between the brands is the cross-border service.

Some e-wallets are already offering cross-border payments or cross-border remittance services. Those who do not support cross-border transactions are having plans to do so. Touch ‘n Go is co-operating with Singapore’s EZ-Link. They will issue a dual-currency card at the end of 2019.

Boost has joined forces with Singtel’s VIA. This will enable Boost users to make overseas payments in Singapore. PromptPay is in talks with PayNow for cross-border remittance between Singapore and Thailand. Cross-border services and interoperability have been an inevitable trend of digitalization development.         

Balance limit for each e-wallet

Brand	Country	Wallet ( balance) limit
Touch ‘n Go	Malaysia	·       RM 200 for starter account1 ·       RM 1,500 by linking with a bank account ·       RM 5,000 by registering for an RFID (radio-frequency identification)
GrabPay	Malaysia	·       RM 500 for starter account ·       RM 1,500 for upgraded account2
Boost	Malaysia	·       RM 200 for starter account ·       RM 1,500 for premium account3
Singtel Dash	Singapore	·       S$999
DBS Paylah!	Singapore	·       S$999 per day ·       S$2000 for DBS/POSB digibank customers
GrabPay	Singapore	·       S$5,000
GCash	Philippines	·       P40,000/month for starter account ·       P100,000/month for upgraded account
PayMaya	Philippines	·       P50,000/month for starter account ·       P100,000/month for upgraded account
Momo	Vietnam	·       VNĐ20 million/day
Go-Pay	Indonesia	·       IDR 1 million for starter account ·       IDR 10 million for upgraded account
Ovo	Indonesia	·       IDR 2 million for starter account ·       IDR 10 million for upgraded account

Another feature to look into is the balance limit for each e-wallet. Most e-wallets offer two tiers: a starter tier to entice new users to get started with it, and an upgraded tier for verified users, either with a bank account or a valid national ID. This approach prevents excessive fraudulent behavior while also making it easy for new customers to get started on their e-wallet.

Head of the pack-Indonesia

Note:

MY – Malaysia; SG – Singapore; TH – Thailand; PH – Philippines; VN – Vietnam; IDN – Indonesia                    

Based on the graph above, we can clearly see that Indonesia is currently leading the e-wallets market compared to the other country as they have the highest number of user and also highest acceptance point leading by Ovo and GoPay. However, this does not mean it is over for the other players in the market. They would have to step up their efforts if they want to capitalize on the growing digital payment trend. In fact, the growing ASEAN region market has made itself a lucrative investment target for other financial institutions around the world. According to the Google-Temasek report, the researcher has predicted the region internet economy will rise to $250 billion in the year 2025. Besides, Indonesia is also predicted as the most fastest-growing region by the year in 2025 by the same report.

The Game of Capital

Fund-raising of the e-wallets

Brand	Time	Amount raised	Investor
Line Pay	2018M	US$25 million	Advanced Info Service
	2019	US$182 million	Line
True Money	2016	N/A	Ant Financial
GCash	2017	N/A	Ant Financial
PayMaya	2018	US$175 million	Tencent
	2018	US$40 million	International Finance Corporation
Coins.ph	2014	N/A	N/A
	2015	N/A	N/A
	2016	US$5 million	Quona Capital
	2017	US$5 million	Naspers
	2019	US$72 million	Go-Jek
Momo	2013	US$5.8 million	Golden Sachs
	2016	US$28 million	Standard Chartered
	2019	US$100 million	Warburg Pincus
Moca	2017	US$200,000	Access Ventures LLC
	2018	N/A	Grab
Dana	2018	N/A	Ant Financial
Ovo	2017	US$116 million	Tokyo Century Corporation

                                   

The ASEAN e-wallet market has attracted massive funds over the last few years. China's duopoly e-wallet players Ant Financial and Tencent expand the battlefield to the ASEAN market by investing in local e-wallets. Ant Financial invested in True Money in Thailand, GCash in the Philippines and Dana in Indonesia. Tencent, on the other hand, invested in the Philippines e-wallet PayMaya. Other tech giants like Go-Jek and Grab follow closely and make their bet on the promising brands. The fund injection and technology import from the leading tech firms greatly stimulated growth in this region.  In 2018 Marketing and promotions are not cheap. To compete, securing funding from established companies gives these growing companies a chance to stand-out in their marketing and customer acquisition campaigns.