“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” ~ Peter Drucker
So what exactly does that look like, in terms of how an individual or team assesses their personal or teams productivity?
I have spent the last 10 years trying to figure this out, both for myself and in supporting the hundreds of clients that I have worked with. In summation, it is one of those things that can be said is “simple - yet not easy”.
Ultimately, it is my belief and experience that there are only ever two things that we can change - our beliefs & our behaviours. Another guiding principle that I subscribe to that is fundamental in optimising our productivity, is that this is always ‘an experiment of one’. That is to say, there’s no one ‘silver bullet’ or ‘one size fits all’ solution or strategy. We need to start from a mindset of ‘I need to figure out the most effective approach and strategy for me, ultimately ensuring that I set myself up to win.’
Tips For A More Productive Work Day
- Reduce your daily to-do list.
- Have a not-to-do-list.
- Stop multitasking.
- Minimise distractions.
- Work in 60 - 90 minute cycles and take regular breaks.
- Improve your email etiquette.
- Manage your meetings more effectively.
Personal Productivity - Energy, Movement, Mindset & Time
- Identify your optimal hours.
- Set yourself up to win daily - on your terms, not someone else's..
- Make daily progress, however small.
- Ask better questions.
- Read every day.
- Stop reading/watching the news.
- Get a Coach, Mentor or Accountability Buddy.
Anyone that has worked with Me will know that I am the first to say that “the real value is in the application, not the information”. It is easy to be overwhelmed and fall into ‘analysis paralysis’, and for me and those people who progress, this is where simplification comes into play.
The tendency with new behaviour in my experience is that people more often seek to add, rather than remove when it comes to change and productivity. In some cases, this is the right way to go, but experience has taught me the value of considering the question ‘what do I need to remove in order to be more productive?’.
So, if there's an area of your/your teams’ productivity that you want to explore, change or improve, focus on what you have to ‘do’ as much as what you are going to ‘consume’.
“It is not enough to be busy… The question is: what are we busy about?”~ Henry David Thoreau
