For me, productivity is a key to success. I only need to move one or two things forward each day to achieve success. These important things are not *required* to be done. There is nobody telling me to do it. Nobody will give that push to move my "success items" forward. Nearly always, those one or two things require devoted time, planning and execution. It takes motivation and vision to get them accomplished.
On the other hand, there are usually 8-10 smaller, less important items to complete as well. These are the kind of tasks that DO have somebody breathing down my neck. They must be completed today - and my day-to-day livelihood depends upon getting them all done to a high level of satisfaction.
And this is probably the same kind of pressure that most people face in day-to-day life. You KNOW what you MUST DO to move forward, and you KNOW what you HAVE TO do to stay afloat. The HAVE TO is a lot easier than the MUST DO.
So the question becomes this: How do I get the HAVE TO --> AND <-- the MUST DO done? I'll get to that...
We all have the same amount of hours in the day. We all have too many things competing for our attention. So, why are some people more productive than others are? How do they get ALL THAT done?
That is a secret to success. It is physically easier to be productive, but psychologically harder. What I mean is, to be productive is to single task (as opposed to multi-tasking). So really, you only have one thing to do at a time. But that takes planning and focus - two things which are not easily accomplished by most brains. This is because most people's brain have been trained to be a chronic multi-tasker and skip around from one thing to the next, never focusing on a single item for too long. Hence...
The productivity equation:
Productivity = Dedicated Time + Focused Attention + Deadly Execution
In other words, you are productive when: You have a block of time to accomplish a specific goal (important that the goal be specific and small enough to accomplish), and you can focus your attention exclusively on that goal, and you are proficient enough to complete the tasks involved.
This is not easy... every piece of this equation involves work... and to be honest, most people don't like to work at anything. They cruise through life and collect a paycheck and complain about anything/everything they can. Occasionally, they get tired of their life and decide to do something about it. But, since they aren't used to this kind of focused brain-work, it is not easy or natural for them. It creates a state of stress and confusion and they assume they can't do it. They must go back to their natural state, which is laziness and boredom. (I consider people who only do the HAVE TO as lazy. It's easy to do something which somebody else is telling you to do. It is difficult to do that which you don't HAVE TO.)
In a generic sense, those that truly want success create an environment to facilitate the productivity equation. While there are some gifted individuals in this world that can truly multi-task (I think I've met a couple of them), most of us need the time, attention, and execution to move our MUST DO's forward and at the same time, complete our HAVE TO's.
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This is the end of the rant! Following this point are a few of the things that I do to try and create an environment for the productivity equation in my own life.
Email = Swirling Black Vortex of Inefficiency
You’ve heard this time and again: Email is an enormous time suck! And, least of all for the physical time that is spent checking email. The greatest expense of email is taking your eye off the ball. When you are cruising along and being productive, an email comes in and the little notification popup appears at the bottom right side of the screen. Your attention is immediately broken by that little popup and the sound - it takes you out of "the zone". It arouses curiosity and you think, "it can't hurt to take 5 seconds and see what that's all about. I'll be right back to what I'm doing." That is never the case. At least, not for me. First of all, if the email is even slightly interesting, I'll read the whole thing. If it makes me think, or requires action, I'm off onto that thing. Who knows how long it is until I'm back to my original task and fully focused on it? It *may* not happen! The best case scenario is that I get back to my task at hand, but it takes several minutes to re-gain my focus and prior efficiency.
With few exceptions, we are all executioners. We get stuff done for people. I get stuff done for myself. I don't need to respond to every email immediately. I don't need to overload my brain with news, gossip, jokes, newsletters, blah blah blah.
Emails are not as important as your brain thinks they are. It's the little popup notification - and the accompanying sound, that breaks your concentration and destroys your focus.
Unless I'm expecting an important email that I know needs to be read/addressed immediately, I try to check my email only twice a day. NEVER before noon. That time is a sacred "kick ass" time. It is the time that I do my very best to complete the most important task of the day (my MUST DO). Important: Turn those damn notifications off!!
I also reduce my subscriptions and lists to an absolute minimum. I no longer need to stay up on the latest daily news and marketing techniques. If it is important, it will filter down through my contacts and friends. Otherwise, it's just a time-waster.
Expect serious backlash from your brain when you reduce the email dependency. This is not a habit easily kicked… but stick with it and you’ll soon realize how much more productive you are with less email.
Pre-scheduling
I never charge into the day without an idea of what must be accomplished. This sounds obvious, but I always try and create a list of items to accomplish for the day. I pick out one item that MUST be done before the day is out. This is my MUST DO - and I'll bust my ass to get it done prior to noon, when I check my email and respond to the masses.
If I have time, I try to set this schedule before I quit work the previous day. That way I can bite right into the meat of my tasks the next day. Otherwise, I put the list in writing in the morning before I get started for the day.
Outsourcing
There are a few items on my plate that I'm just not excited to do. Like writing emails to my list. Like scheduling interviews with people I don't know. Like sending invoices to clients. I'm just NOT into it...
Lately (and this is a new thing for me), I have been trying to use outsourced help to accomplish the things that I just can't get motivated to do. It's very easy to find an outsourced virtual assistant on Elance. My recent job posting drew 16 bids with rates ranging from $5-$40/hr.
What will I eventually have my VA (virtual assistant) do? A lot of the stuff that I currently do for myself (but don't need to).
- · Research and list management
- · Writing
- · Invoices
- · Customer support
- · SEO (articles, links, etc...)
- · Compile reports
- · Book airfare, hotel, car, etc...
If, in the future you see more regular blog posts on this site... it's probably my virtual assistant ghost-writing on my behalf!
Reminders up the wazoo
I'm a forgetful bastard. I know this about myself. It's not an excuse, because I spent a good portion of my 20's trying to figure out a way to better remember things. Didn't work. It is just who I am. So, it's a good thing I was born into an age of technology.
My memory crutches are Google Calendar and Remember the Milk. I use these services to remind me of any and everything.
I use several calendars on Google Calendar. This is good for events which are time-based - they must be completed at a specific time. I have a default public calendar which my wife has access to schedule into. This is where all meetings and events occur. One is my "reminders" calendar which sends text messages all day long reminding me to stay productive, to check email, to call people, ... even to go home. (I get so wrapped up in work that I don't look at the clock...)
I use Remember the Milk to schedule any task that MUST be done or the world will stop rotating and fall out of orbit. RTM allows me to easily see which tasks are due today and which tasks are overdue. RTM will also send me reminders - and has a Firefox plugin to GMail (super cool).
Thanks for reading! This post/rant is constantly changing as I continue to find out what works for me. Everything in life is an experiment. You try it out and see if it works for you. Hyper-productivity is not for everyone. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I may, someday decide that I want to be less productive. But for now, I’m hooked. I’m addicted. I like what is does for me – every day I can see something that would not have otherwise gotten done. And that, for me, is a cool feeling.