About a month ago, I talked a little bit about productivity and how it’s not an illusion but something that needs some assistance once in awhile…like maybe some automation or a process put in place that will speed things up. I promise I won’t reuse ALL my topics during this summer period…
I guess it’s not really productivity that needs assistance so much as it’s US…as we move through our days, we sometimes run up against some interference from outside sources (and sometimes from inside sources too!) It doesn’t hurt to get a reminder about some ways to overcome that interference.
As hard as we try, we are often foiled by the little “time-stealing gremlins”…those random activities that take us from the REAL project. For example: I sat down to write this post two days ago and I’m currently on the third paragraph. BUT I’ve completed a grocery list, although it’s my husband who does the shopping; made up a detailed list of when all my various domains expire and what company is hosting them, if they’re not hosted by the domain registrar; sorted through all the screen shots and downloads that I’ve collected over the past few months, deleting or renaming them as appropriate; and rewritten my to-do list four times, changing nothing on any iteration.
Ah, those time-stealing gremlins…your subconscious mind works REALLY HARD to make sure you don’t get outside your comfort zone. Keeping you busy with seemingly important activities that prevent the uncomfortable tasks from moving to the forefront is a full-time job! But there are things you can do to improve your productivity even as you’re completing those “busy-tasks”.
Here are a few ideas of ways you can improve your productivity in the moment:
- throw out the to-do list, replacing it with a “must-get-done-today” list
- set a deadline to be finished working on each essential task, based on its hard due date
- work on only one task at a time, till its deadline arrives, then put it aside
- put similar tasks together to work on over a given period, so you aren’t changing thought patterns too often
- reduce the number of options available in a given task (fewer choices makes choosing simpler)
Productivity can improve dramatically in a short period of time, if you’re willing to put in the work. One of my mentors, Jason Fladlien, wrote a book a few years ago called “Double Your Productivity for Life”. It’s an easy read, and it contains a few relatively simple actions to follow, with the promise (right in the title!) that it will double your productivity. He points out in it that by doubling your productivity, you double your worth, and therefore, in the right environment, your money.
As I mentioned in the title, summer is the time for reruns. This is when business often slows down and we’re given the chance to look over our activities and make some adjustments…we get a do-over, so to speak. So…why don’t you put aside whatever screen you’re reading this on and go accomplish something on your “must-do-today” list?
I just did. 😎 🥳
