Summary

The article discusses strategies for maintaining productivity when one's work, such as social media marketing, inherently involves distractions, advocating for a sequential workflow to maximize focus and output.

Abstract

In the context of personal productivity, especially for those whose work involves potential distractions like social media, the article emphasizes the importance of structuring one's workflow to minimize cognitive switching penalties. It suggests that by breaking down tasks into a value chain of inputs, as inspired by Michael Porter's organizational model, individuals can execute each step sequentially. This approach aims to increase time spent in a flow state and reduce the inefficiency caused by multitasking. The article provides an example of a social media marketing workflow, from defining objectives to iterating on performance, and underscores the benefits of completing each task before moving to the next. By doing so, one can avoid the constant interruption of checking post performance and achieve more in less time.

Opinions

The author, Steve Glaveski, posits that distractions lead to a cognitive switching penalty that can last up to 23 minutes, disrupting the flow state.
Glaveski suggests that output is the result of a value chain of inputs, which can be applied to tasks such as social media marketing for better productivity.
The article conveys the opinion that spending all day switching between different components of a task results in exhaustion and lower productivity.
Instead of multitasking, the author recommends executing individual steps of a task sequentially to enhance the flow state and overall productivity.
The article implies that sequential workflow is beneficial not only for social media marketing but for any task that can be broken down into components.
It is suggested that using a sequential workflow could lead to tasks taking a fraction of the time they would if one were to multitask or constantly switch between tasks.

How To Stay Productive When Your Work is the Distraction

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about personal productivity lately, having appeared on a number of podcasts in the lead up to the release of my next book, Time Rich, in October.

Distractions and interruptions knock us out of the flow state, or ‘the zone’, and each time we’re interrupted we suffer a cognitive switching penalty which can be up to 23 minutes long.

But what if your work is intertwined with so-called distractions, such as social media marketing?

This is a question I was posed at a recent online workshop I hosted for Startup Grind.

My answer was this.

Output is the result of a value chain of inputs.

At an organisational level, a simple value chain might look like the below, inspired by famed management thinker, Michael Porter.

The Value Chain of Your Work

Applying this to social media marketing, we might end up with an end-to-end sequence like this:

Define Objectives
Research In-Demand Content
Shortlist Content Ideas
Source Media Assets
Develop Content
Schedule Post
Engage with Audience
Review Performance
Iterate

It’s easy to spend all day hopping, skipping, and jumping between these activities ad infinitum, which will see you suffering the dreaded cognitive switching penalty all day long, have you spending little time in flow, and ultimately feeling exhausted with less than you should have to show for it.

You might post something, and then spend the next two hours checking back every five minutes to see how it is performing.

What To Do Instead

Instead, execute on the individual steps sequentially and don’t move on until the previous step is completed. This empowers you to spend more time in the flow state, and less time playing whack-a-mole.

But it’s not just social media. Basically any task can be broken down into its residual components in this manner.

If I’m writing, I’ll research story ideas, then write a draft without editing as I type, then look for references and case studies to support my arguments, before editing and revising it.

It’s just as easy to do many of these steps at the same time, and confer with Google every time I want to add a reference, but doing so might be the difference between finishing a post in one hour, or going down numerous rabbit holes, spending little time in flow, and finishing it in three hours.

Consider which tasks take up most of your time, what their component parts are, and whether or not you might benefit from applying sequential workflow like this.

Time Rich: Do Your Best Work, Live Your Best Life

A guide to achieving twice as much in half the time, and living your best life. In stores worldwide May 2020.

www.timerichbook.com

Steve Glaveski is the co-founder of Collective Campus, author of Time Rich, Employee to Entrepreneur and host of the Future Squared podcast. He’s a chronic autodidact, and he’s into everything from 80s metal and high-intensity workouts to attempting to surf and do standup comedy.