Tag: productivity

Are you productive? Or are you just busy?

Don’t confuse busyness with productivity. Work on things that matter/move the needle. Don’t spend time on the trivial…eliminate that which isn’t necessary for you (or anyone) to do, automate that which can be automated (have A.I. help), and delegate that which needs to be done but not necessarily by you.

If you want to grow, you will HAVE to learn how to do these things. We all only have so much time and energy during the day. If we spend all of it doing things that don’t bring us closer to our goals, we are leaving a lot on the table.

Being busy is not necessarily the same as being productive. How can you minimize the busy work and focus on doing the most meaningful and/or dollar-productive work?

Never mistake busyness for productivity.

Yesterday, I wrote about how taking action cures anxiety. Doing something – anything – can take your mind off of what MIGHT happen. And, honestly, it can feel pretty good.

But have you ever sat down after a long, busy day at work and realize that you didn’t accomplish anything you set out to for the day? Or, even worse, do you not even know what tasks are really the important ones you need to complete?

Never mistake motion for action. Never mistake busyness for productivity.

Being busy can feel good, but it’s often an illusion. Focus on checking less things off of your To Do list and instead, check things off your priority list. Ask yourself, “if I could only get one thing done today, what would I choose to do in order to feel the most accomplished (or least stressed)?”

When you wake up each morning (or before you go to bed at night), plan your day out. Set out to do the most important tasks first, especially if they’re difficult. As Brian Tracy says, “Eat that frog.” If you must eat the frog anyways, you might as well get it out of the way and not let the thought of eating the frog chip away at you all day.

Do your most important tasks first, and if you have two equally important tasks, choose to finish the most difficult one first.

Taking action to reduce anxiety

Action cures anxiety. Sitting around doing nothing but thinking about what might go wrong produces anxiety. A lot of times, the possibility of what might happen is actually worse than what does happen.

The best way to improve your situation is to do what you can. Affect the things that you can control, but don’t worry about the things that you cannot. Those things will happen one way or another and there’s nothing you can do about that. And that’s OK.

When you’re feeling lost or stuck, get moving. Take action. If it is productive action, it may move you closer to your goals. But even if it is not directly productive, it may still alleviate any anxiety you have just by distracting you.

Just do it

If you wait to start until you feel like you’re “ready,” you’ll never get started.

You’ll never be 100% ready for what happens next because we can’t predict the future. All you can do is put yourself in the best position to succeed by reading about a subject and asking others who have already accomplished what you want to do. From there, take action. Even if you’re taking baby steps, that’s better than procrastinating and always being in learning mode.

We often confuse learning with productivity. Learning is amazing, but if you don’t do anything with what you’ve learned, it should actually be re-categorized as entertainment. DOING something meaningful is productive. Make sure that you don’t confuse step one (learning) and step two (taking action to stay busy) with productivity.

3 Truths We Need To Remind Ourselves

1. Being active doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being productive.

2. Being efficient doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being effective.

3. Discipline doesn’t strip you of freedom, discipline equals freedom.

Don’t get caught up focusing on the wrong things. We can easily become distracted checking off items on out To Do list, but if they aren’t producing value in your life (monetarily or by increasing your happiness), why are you doing it?

Are you optimizing things that don’t matter (being more efficient, even though it doesn’t improve the end result of the goals you’re trying to achieve)?

Are you thinking negatively about restrictions others have placed on you or that you’ve placed on yourself? Some rules are meant to be broken, but if you set up the right rules to improve your time, energy, or health, stick to them! Reduce decision fatigue by sticking to your self-imposed rules so you’re more likely to consistently make good decisions.