SO often we think of productivity as doing more and more
each day, packing in everything like an overstuffed suitcase.
Just one more email, one more call, or one more thing before
we collapse into numbing exhaustion at the end of the day.
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| Could YOU do less.... and do better? |
Wikipedia defines productivity as, “An average measure of
the efficiency of production.”
Note that it does not say the amount of production but rather the efficiency of production. Just because we are busy doesn’t mean we
are productive or efficient.
One of the greatest detriments to productivity is that we live
in a hyper-stimulated world.
We continually have our boss, our co-workers, our clients,
our emails, phones (multiple), social media, and a multiplicity of other things
clamoring for our attention.
God forbid our families, kids, or loved one want time carved
out for themselves. We just don’t have anything left. We are running on fumes
most days.
A couple of simple, yet powerful, concepts and techniques
came make a radical difference in our lives, freeing us to focus on what is
essential life.
Focus on What is
Essential
In his book, ‘Essentialism’, Greg McKeown talks about doing
less to do better. I can hear the alarms
bells going off here, as you say, “But I have SO much to do.”
McKeown argues that when we are maxed out with multiple
projects and endless ‘to-dos’, we don’t do anything really well but rather our
efforts are diluted and dispersed because we get overloaded.
What if we eliminated those things that were not truly
essential? Do we need to go to every meeting, or say “Yes” to everything we are
asked to take on?
Develop 1-3 core objectives for your job, your business, and
your life and evaluate everything as to whether it adds or subtracts from your
objectives.
This takes time and practice but the payout is huge.
Make Space for What
is Important
Following on the concept of essentialism, Leo Babauta
with Zen Habits gives
a wonderful analogy of filling up your weekly buckets with Big Rocks first,
then leaving space for pebbles and sand to fill in.
The Big Rocks represent the most important things you need
to do in the coming week to meet your objectives. Babauta recommends having no
more than 4-6 Big Rocks.
The Big Rocks should include non-work items, as well (your
family and friends will thank you!).
By focusing on the Big Rocks first we get the most essential
things completed. This helps to avoid procrastination as we focus on our
‘mission critical’ first.
It also gives us greater permission to push back on those
things that clutter our ability to focus on what is most important.
Bite Off Small Chunks
Two things that contribute to our overload are
underestimating the time it actually takes to complete a project and putting
things off until the last minute because we really don’t want to do them.
The Pomodoro Technique can really help to address both
these issues. Its philosophy is simple – break things down into 25-minute
increments.
When working on a project or studying set a timer for 25
minutes.
Eliminate all distractions during this time (turn off phone
ringer, turn off computer notifications), and focus only on the task at hand.
No multi-tasking here as it defeats the purpose.
Take a couple of minutes’ break after the 25 minutes and
then move onto the next project for 25 minutes, or add increments of 25 minutes
to complete a project.
I struggle with underestimating some projects especially if
it is a new area, or the project is more complex than I anticipated.
I find myself becoming frustrated because I either have to
finish the project and put off other things, or I need to leave the project
temporarily to complete another scheduled task.
Either way I end up feeling frazzled. I have found the Pomodoro
Technique is really helpful for this.
Start putting down expected time for a project, then log the
actual time it takes to complete the project or task.
For example, if you write a weekly newsletter and you
normally block out 1 hour for it, but with research you find it normally takes
you 1 hour and 30 minutes.
This information will really help you be more realistic in
planning out your week.
It will help you focus on the important things but also
helps better schedule your calendar so you don’t end up with an unrealistic
schedule that leaves you unfocused and over-scheduled.
Janet Burton is a writer, storyteller, and speaker. At
Dynamic by Design her goal is to inspire and motivate others to dream big and
live life dynamically and intentionally so that you may live a life without
regrets.
Her mission is to help you merge your dreams with
intentional action. Visit site at http://dynamic-by-design.com.
