A New Formula For Productivity
We live in a world where we need to be more productive. We’ve got more going on than ever, there’s more demands for our time than we have time for, and it’s causing many people to feel stuck in the rat race of ‘just getting through the day’ rather than being available to make the most of the day.
In an effort to help you achieve that, I’d like to present the more elaborate definition of productivity which has considerations you might be missing:
Productivity = Quantity x Quality
A productive day is not just a day where we get a lot done.... When we work our way through as many things as we can on a check list. We feel the most productive when we fill our time doing things that actually make progress in the areas that matter most to us. That’s why the quality of what we do is so important, both for how well we do it and what we choose to do.
Let’s breakdown the elements so that you’re prepared to begin having highly-productive, high output days with real traction:
1) Quantity. The amount you get done in a day is still half the formula! It’s just not the whole formula. So here are some ideas to increase how much you do.
A big opportunity is to attack the day with a fast pace. When you choose to act with speed, you get through tasks faster and ultimately get more done. Having a sense of urgency also helps you transition quickly from one task to the next so that you minimize lost time and avoid getting distracted. Having the structure of a schedule for the day is your ticket to getting more done faster, because it gives you the clarity you need to know what to do next and how long you have to do it.
Another point to consider is how to increase overall output, and the best way to do that is by creating efficiencies. When you enable yourself to do more with less, then you don’t need as much time to complete the same task. Creating efficiencies often involves making upfront investments to build the systems that create them. Time you invest today to frees up time tomorrow and every day moving forward, creating leverage in your life.
2) Quality. This is how effective you are in the task. You can create multiples of value for yourself when you do something well versus just getting it done.
One of the main drivers of the ‘quality’ you put into your day is your energetic state. By making healthy choices and prioritizing your self-care routines (even though that's time you can't spend doing something else), it gives you a positive return on investment. You give yourself the capacity to show up with more focus, presence, and discipline which enables you to perform at a higher level throughout the day. Self-care easily pays for itself in terms of how much overall value you create. It helps you be more effective.
Also important to consider in your effectiveness is that you’re doing the right things... Taking action in ways that most contribute to your goals or results you want to create. Productive days aren’t just supposed to be busy, they’re supposed to be meaningful. So don’t just go top to bottom on a to-do list but select the most valuable things from that list and commit to those.
Overall, this shift to a new definition of productivity can be summarized as this: We want to be more intentional.
When we think of wanting more productive days, what we actually mean is we want more intentional days. Fast-paced, full, value-packed days filled with the things we want to do and that make progress toward what we care about.
This is misunderstood so much that I believe getting it right is one of the 7 Fundamentals To Self Improvement. If you want to learn about it in more detail, and discover the other 6, you can check them all out here!
