What drives personal productivity? \u00a0What thinking and behavior lead some people to \u201cget the right things done\u201d\u2014an emerging definition of productivity\u2014while millions of other well intentioned people exist in a blended state of chaos, overwhelm, stress, poor work\/life balance and a perpetual feeling that it would all be better if only they could win the Powerball jackpot.<\/p>\n
Consider that maybe what we want to generate and control is not time, that\u2019s to finite. \u00a0What we likely want to generate and control is focus\u2014that is, our concentration and attention on something (perhaps a particular task\/activity). \u00a0The late Peter Drucker had an interesting observation, \u201cNothing is less effective than doing efficiently that which should not be done in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Productive people have a thought process\u2014an approach\u2014that generates strong habits. \u00a0Research indicates that our habits (definition: acquired behavior patterns regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary) account for approximately 75% of our daily activities. \u00a0So then, reason suggests that our habits are either moving us toward control and relaxed focus\u2014or repelling us from it toward the lottery ticket machine.<\/p>\n
Many people tell me, \u201cDanny, you don\u2019t understand. \u00a0I have so much on my plate.\u201d I nod, smile and respond, \u201cI know, I can only imagine all that you need to accomplish and manage in your life. \u00a0I\u2019ll tell you what, show me your plate and we\u2019ll get started.\u201d \u00a0You know what happens.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m taken on a tour of their \u201cplate\u201d\u2014legal pads, documents with scribbled notes in the margin, hundreds and sometimes thousands of emails stagnating in their in-box. (Sometimes they state that they\u2019ll read an email and then mark it unread so they can read it again. \u00a0Okay, truth be told, I practiced this crude art of email management for years). Often, the largest portions of their \u201cplate\u201d are the overwhelming number of \u201cmental to-do\u2019s\u201d rattling around their head, producing huge amounts of internal distraction and stress. \u00a0The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that 80% of our medical expenditures are now stress related.<\/p>\n
I ask if they\u2019re trying to stay healthy and they respond yes. \u00a0\u201cAnd what\u2019s your approach to staying healthy?\u201d I ask. \u00a0It always comes down to two principles: \u00a0nutrition and exercise. \u00a0Then I ask what\u2019s their approach to personal productivity. \u00a0The typical responses are, \u201cI just get it done.\u201d \u201cI prioritize.\u201d \u00a0\u201cI delegate.\u201d \u00a0I actually had one guy yell out in a seminar that his approach to productivity was prayer. \u00a0He said, \u201cI just pray everything works out and nothing falls between the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The approach I\u2019ve adopted has produced a life that flows easier and more quickly than with my prior approach, or actually lack thereof. My old approach was this; get into work early, eat lunch at my desk, stay late, then go home with a head full of stuff. \u00a0Get up the next day and do it over, always with an addicting preoccupation to thinking about Friday at 5 o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n
The approach has three phases:<\/p>\n
Collect<\/strong><\/p>\n Capture anything that has your attention into trusted collection points\u2014the fewer the better. \u00a0Many people are using some type of list functionality on their smartphones. \u00a0The best practice here is to keep nothing in your head; it\u2019s not designed for this. \u00a0And a tip is to turn off your email alerts. \u00a0Research suggests that every ten alerts we respond to every day may cost us about thirty minutes.<\/p>\n Processing & Organizing<\/strong><\/p>\n Next comes the emptying part. \u00a0Empty? \u00a0Yes, empty\u2014email in-box at zero or very close; desks & notepads clear; a head with nothing in it. \u00a0I know, you\u2019re thinking that I\u2019m suggesting we\u2019ll all be more productive if we walk around all day with nothing in our head. \u00a0Exactly. Why? Because then we can focus.<\/p>\n Three key questions need to be answered.<\/p>\n The next step is to put the action onto your calendar or task list (note; these should begin with a verb). \u00a0For Outlook users it\u2019s a great practice to convert actionable emails to tasks or appointments, but remember to change the subject line so it\u2019s actionable and clear. \u00a0This creates a system that a person trusts will guide them and generate massive amounts of focus. \u00a0Processing and organizing should be done daily. \u00a0Many people say it takes time and nothing gets done, and they\u2019re correct, sort of. \u00a0If you\u2019ve ever painted a room and first removed the lights switches and electrical outlet covers, removed the curtains, pulled the furniture to the middle of the room and covered it with drop cloths you know what I mean. \u00a0Why do this? \u00a0No painting gets done. \u00a0Yes, but when you do begin painting it goes easier and faster. \u00a0And the quality is usually better. \u00a0It\u2019s the same with our to-do\u2019s. \u00a0When we decide the action and place it into a system we trust, we move easier and faster. \u00a0Period.<\/p>\n Prioritizing & Planning\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n People must focus from one place\u2014their calendar. \u00a0We must no longer allow interruptions to drive our day. \u00a0Now I know that sometimes an interruption is exactly what demands our focus, but many times it\u2019s not! \u00a0You see, if we\u2019ve got what we want to accomplish on our calendar in a very strong \u201caction\u201d form, we\u2019ve created an environment where whatever shows up unexpectedly now has to compete with what we committed to on our calendar. \u00a0We\u2019ll still respond to some interruptions, but probably fewer.<\/p>\n A weekly review of our entire system of meaningful objectives, projects, calendar and actions is a must; our world is moving too fast. \u00a0A system un-reviewed will not support focus.<\/p>\n All this is very much common sense for sure, but many people have found its not common behavior for them. \u00a0They\u2019re still using their in-box, piles and head full of stuff as their to-do list.<\/p>\n People and organizations are screaming for more focus, but for many a habitual approach to gaining and sustaining focus is not known\u2014so not practiced. \u00a0Instead, they\u2019re at the mercy of this fast-flowing world of information and communication\u2014and the last thing that encourages is focus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What drives personal productivity? \u00a0What thinking and behavior lead some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":5419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[25,160,171,158],"yoast_head":"\n\n