Making Productivity Your Friend
Making Productivity Your Friend
“Why Do Anything Unless It’s Going to Be Great?” -Peter Block
One of my favorite questions to ask clients is “What is the one thing you could do differently that would lead to greater success/productivity in your business”. It is a rare circumstance when they cannot answer that question. The typical answer has something to do with being more productive. While reading last week, I ran across an article by Jeff Haden on productivity tricks that people can use to become more successful. Frequently my clients share with me that they fall into some of the traps that Jeff addresses in his article.
The first behavior that Haden discusses is the creation of a process that leads to a goal- recommending that we need to create systems not goals. This seems to fly in contrast to our January 1 activity of setting goals for the upcoming year. Actually goals and systems go hand in hand. We need to know the final destination but we also need a road map for getting there. Jim Loehr in “The Power of Full Engagement” describes a process of creating rituals (a process) which reinforce positive behaviors that lead to success in achieving goals. Loehr advises that rituals are new energy pathways that support higher levels of engagement in an area of life targeted for growth and change. Rituals are consciously acquired habits that help us manage our energy in order to reach our goals. Shawn Achor in “Before Happiness” walks readers though a process called mental cartography. These mental maps help us align our behaviors with what matters most to our success and helps us to stay focused on both the destination and the process.
I believe the most important part of a process is the measurement of that process. I was with a client last week who has daily goals and a process for reaching them. At the end of the day, he takes out his calendar and reviews what he accomplished that day. When he falls short on a specific day, he simply makes a plan for overcoming any obstacle the next day. He also knows that there is an ebb and flow to life and that some days he is over his goal and some days he is under and he takes it in stride instead of using the information negatively towards himself. Tracking is critical to a successful process. David Allen in “Getting Things Done” finds that writing down what has been accomplished along with what needs to be accomplished frees the mind for focus on activities rather than trying to remember them. David also has a strategy for two-minute tasks-do them NOW! Putting them off takes time and places you in risk of forgetting about them thus lowering productivity.
A huge productivity killer is low energy. Dr. Loehr makes the connection between productivity and managing our energy. What does energy management have to do with productivity? Actually, it matters greatly. First, we have to take care of our bodies if we want to be productive. This requires us to nourish our bodies in a way that sustains our energy. We have become accustomed to being on diets, starving our bodies during the day only to binge (justifiably) in the evenings, overeating to relieve stress as well as a host of other poor nutritional bad habits. Much of the new research about nutrition advises us to “eat light and often”. That mean breakfast for those of you who hate to eat it. Eating light and often alleviates the negative consequences of oscillating between starvation and overeating both of which will limit productivity. Sleep is critical to productivity. Most authors are advising 7-8 hours of sleep each night which is difficult for many people. Without adequate sleep we find our selves unable to meet the daily demands and thus lowering our productivity. Also, don’t forget about the importance of drinking water throughout the day.
Another drain on productivity is temptations. Making temptations harder to reach can create a boost in our productivity. What are those distractions/temptations that limit your productivity? Constantly responding to email, co-workers who want to chat, phone interruptions, etc. all take a toll on productivity. Shawn Achor in “The Happiness Advantage” encourages us to make those temptations harder to reach. Putting your cell phone in another room, closing down access to email during times set aside for being productive and blocking calendars for focused activities can put those temptations out of reach.
Finally, are you a marathoner or sprinter? Research tells us that it is best to be a sprinter-recovering frequently throughout the day rather than pushing the entire day without breaks. People are more productive when they chunk their tasks into time blocks allowing for a recovery break every 90-120 minutes even if it’s to just stop and stretch. A walk around the block or your office can give you both time for reflection and a break from the task at hand which refreshes both your body and your brain.
When my clients are harsh on themselves because they do not feel like they have been productive enough in completing tasks and reaching goals, I ask them to think about productivity from the discussion points in this blog. Making friends with productivity can open us up to becoming even more successful than we thought possible.
To Your Success!
Dr. Peggy
