avatarBill Abbate

Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of asking "So what?" and "Now what?" to enhance personal productivity and make better use of time in daily tasks and relationships.

Abstract

The article "Take Back Your Time and Your Life" provides a concise approach to improving productivity by encouraging readers to ask two critical questions for every task: "So what?" and "Now what?" It suggests that by evaluating the significance and implications of tasks, one can make more informed decisions about how to spend their time effectively. The author illustrates this with two examples: managing email and sharing household chores in a marriage. By applying these questions, the author claims to have significantly improved productivity, whether it's by limiting email checks or dividing cooking responsibilities. The article concludes by encouraging readers to implement this simple yet powerful method to enhance their daily productivity and overall life satisfaction.

Opinions

  • The author believes that productivity gains can be found in the small, daily tasks by asking "So what?" to determine relevance and impact.
  • Asking "Now what?" helps in deciding the next steps and whether a task is worth the time investment.
  • The author shares a personal experience where limiting email checks led to a substantial improvement in personal productivity.
  • In the context of a marriage, the author opines that applying productivity principles can improve the relationship and shared responsibilities, such as cooking and cleaning.
  • The article suggests that a little planning and asking the right questions can significantly enhance one's productivity and enjoyment of life.
  • The author advocates for the reader to try the "so what, now what" approach with smaller tasks to see tangible improvements in their productivity.

Inspiration and Life

Take Back Your Time and Your Life

You can increase your productivity

Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

Hundreds of articles are written each year about productivity, so why should you read this one? Because this article gets straight to the point in as few words as possible, helping you become more productive rather than wasting time!

You can increase your productivity in the few minutes it takes to read this article.

Two questions to ask

To become and remain productive in life, you must determine if what you are doing is best for you and your future. You will find a lot of productivity gains in smaller daily tasks.

Ask the following two short questions for any existing or new task, and you will be amazed by their effect on your productivity.

  • So what?
  • Now what?

“So what?” asks you to think about it (whatever it is,) requiring you to be thoughtful.

“So what?” asks:

  • What does this have to do with my life?
  • What difference does it make?

“Now what?” determines what is next. It helps you consider whether it is worth using your valuable time.

“Now what?” asks:

  • What will I do about it?
  • What choices do I have?

What difference can asking “so what, now what” make? It can help you develop a way to address an issue and lead to a choice. This can only help you become more productive and improve your life.

What you decide to do with your time determines how hard you work and what you get.

“Improved productivity means less human sweat, not more.” Henry Ford (1863–1947)

Think of it this way: The effort you choose to put forth in a given timeframe produces a result. It is most productive to put effort into something that matters, giving you what you want.

Asking, “So what, now what?” can determine whether something is worthwhile and will benefit you or waste your time.

Let’s break down this “so what, now what” concept by looking at two examples.

Example 1

A task that affects most of us today is checking email. While email is important, it can be a huge distraction and time sink, draining productivity.

How would you answer the so what question regarding this task? Using the above phrasing, you can ask: So what does this have to do with my life, or what difference will it make? Or you can use so what to form a question that provides a more targeted answer, such as:

  • So how does checking my email affect my productivity?
  • So what difference will it make in what I need to get done?
  • So what happens if I check it less often?

Asking the so what question helps you determine the importance and impact of such a task. It also helps you choose whether to do, not do, delay or change something.

Following up on your answers to “so what” with “now what?” leads you to make a choice. You can choose to do something or nothing. Either way, your productivity is impacted. Only you can determine your best path forward.

This experience happened to me some years ago. Asking “so what” helped me recognize email took up too much of my time.

“Now what” helped me choose to close the email program. This stopped the distracting sound whenever I received an email (this was before smartphones became common). I then started checking my email mid-morning and mid-afternoon, when my energy was naturally lower. To say it improved my productivity is an understatement!

Example 2

Let’s now look at something more personal: a close relationship. Little is more important than having a productive and enjoyable relationship with your spouse. Can you apply productivity to a marriage? Why not?

If a marriage is anything, it is work! The endless household chores, managing finances, buying groceries, cooking, cutting the grass, keeping the cars clean and serviced, planning trips and vacations, and on and on it goes. And this is not taking into account those things needed when children are in the home! A little productivity increase can go a long way

Let’s tackle one task, cooking and cleaning up.

So what will I do about it, and what difference does it make?

Jane, my wife, is a far better cook than me, but it wasn’t fair for her to take responsibility for always preparing dinner. We do our best to live an enjoyable and productive life. Although we are retired, we are very active and have some great hobbies that enrich us.

Now what will we choose to do about it?

We worked out a great plan to break up this daily routine. Our solution came by asking what we chose to do about it.

Since we are both retired, we decided I would take Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and she would take the other four days (she is the better cook, after all!) We agreed to keep this schedule even when we miss a turn because of eating out. The one not preparing dinner cleans up afterward.

While this example may seem insignificant to some, it has helped us enjoy our time and the “work” we do in retirement more.

As the old saying goes — a little planning goes a long way!

Final thoughts

By asking “so what, now what” often, your productivity cannot help but improve. Why not give it a try with some smaller tasks you face every day? You have nothing to lose and much to gain!

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

Thank you for reading this article! If you enjoyed it, please check out the others below!

Productivity
Life
Self Improvement
Inspiration
Time
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