How I Know I Am Being Productive and Successful at Life

Last weekend, I was sitting in the backyard while the sun was out. My four-year-old daughter was playing in our kiddy pool, our dog was sleeping in a shaded part of the grass in our backyard, and I was sitting in my chair reading a book. The sun was warm on my skin. We could hear other neighborhood kids running around down the street. And we would carry light conversations full of giggles.

It was a relaxing afternoon in our little world. It was nice to read without keeping track of time. Sitting without worrying about a project. And spending a sunny day in the backyard with my little girl reminded me of my childhood. It was nice to have the space to enjoy it.

However, it hasn’t always been like this. Last summer was vastly different…

What A Difference A Year Makes

Last year around this time, I was about six months into a new position at work. And I was struggling. My workload had grown to an out of control point. I had dropped the ball in a few areas and it was being noticed by my superiors. I was worried, frustrated, angry, and worn down.

Work was taking over everything. I would work 40 to 45 hours a week in the office. Spend two to three hours at night most nights of the week working. And my Saturdays or Sundays would have a few power hours of work too. I was doing everything to try and get caught up, or if anything just stay only so far behind.

It was a difficult season of life that lasted months. I had just started writing on my blog and here on Medium. And I wanted to be able to put more effort into these things. My marriage and relationships with my daughters weren’t bad, but they were strained by the amount of stress I was dealing with too.

I was stretched thin, really thin…

A year ago I was pulling my hair out, and now, I am taking it easy reading without a care in the world. What happened?

3AM Wakeup Call — A New Life of Productivity

One Saturday morning in November I was pulled out of sleep at 3AM. I was dreaming about work and it was such a stressful dream it is my version of a nightmare. I sat up in bed and decided I didn’t want to go back to sleep only to re-live that nightmare again. Sitting their in my bed, I felt as if I hadn’t been sleeping all night.

I got up.

Went out to my easy chair.

Pulled out my MacBook.

And started typing my thoughts at first.

When I realized I had been spinning my wheels doing what others were telling me at work about getting caught up, I decided to do a little research of my own. What I found was how terrible the advice I was being given at work had originally been.

“Just keep doing what your doing and it will start to work out,” one coworker had said. They had been with the company for years. It wasn’t working out for me. As I read articles from Medium, inc. magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, The New York Times, LifeHacker, and so many others, I started seeing some themes.

And then this post was born:

Which lead to this Series of posts:

But something even better happened for me. Not just a bunch of posts on productivity. My life was beginning to change and I was starting to see the margin I desired.

True Productivity = Real Success

I used to be spinning my wheels, frustrated, angry, exhausted. Over the course of time, things changed. While still feeling a lot of emotions over how crazy my work can be, I started to be less exhausted. While my workload remained the same, I was getting everything done and catching up.

Until one day, I was caught up.

And for the most part have been ever since. It was like a light switch flicking on in the middle of the night. Every thing changed and now I am producing better than before and I have margin.

Margin to leave on time, take lunch, and enjoy the day more.

Something else happened, I wasn’t just getting margin around work days. I was starting to see it at home. At night. In the mornings. On the weekends. All of these other times I was either working or stressed out about work were returning to me.

And this was when my definition of SUCCESS started to change. I realized my success wasn’t based on closure goals or how much I could do at work. It was based on how much time I got at home. And the peace, freedom, and balance my productivity was allowing for outside of work.

“Success starts at home.” — Dale Partridge

While my job was providing for my family, my desires for my family and home life provided the ability to be successful at home and at work. And it truly starts at home.

The success I have desired for all these years has been fleeting at best. You can be the best in your organization one day, and then the worst days later. However, when you are creating the space to build your family and experience life fully outside of work, this is being successful at life.

These Days…

You can find me up at 5AM not worrying about work, but creating new content for my blog and on Medium. In the evenings, I am playing with my daughters, reading books, and spending much needed time with my wife. On the weekends, you can find me in the backyard tending our new garden or working on our house.

All because I created a little margin by being more productive at work.

What is your experience with productivity? Is it fueling your success at home or work? Has it created margin for you or only encouraged more work? Share in the responses below!