A few thoughts on productivity

[vander]

(1) Productivity is a destination that can only be reached physically by going there mentally first. Clear goals and the vision of how productivity will look like from the perspective of these goals and respectively step #1 and #2 on your way to a productive day.

(2) The journey to productivity begins with the desire to improve performance. Once when we figure out how to do more in less time we are quickly tempted to do add more tasks to our to-do list, which curiously enough is often the very thing that takes us back to our unproductive selves. Productivity like medicine is the kind of thing to be handled with care, or it may lead you to the same problems you were trying to solve in the first place.

(3) Most things in life are irrelevant no matter how urgent they may seem. The key to productivity is to separate the irrelevant from the essential. As Garry Keller teaches us on “the one thing”. As yourself: “What is the one thing such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

(4) At the end of the day, productivity is nothing more than a tool. To be productive for the sake of being productive is to take vitamins for the sake of taking vitamins, not because you want to be healthy.

(5) There are many strategies and tools to enhance one’s productivity, but the one thing that trumps them all is the motivation behind the productive output. The bigger the fire behind your behavior, the more productivity becomes a given. It’s important to remember that to use the tools one has to be motivated to be productive in the first place. Without a compelling enough vision there is no motivation to apply the techniques and technologies designed to make you more productive.