The Greatest Secret to Productivity That No One is Talking About
I'm not so bright. I tend to stay with problems longer.
The digital age has brought many changes to the way we work. The way that we go about our day-to-day tasks, the way that we get things done, and the way that we interact with other people.
It is no secret that you need to be focused on being productive. And to stay focused, you need a tool or two. I already have a list of articles on productivity tools.
I want to share the secret to productivity principles in this article.
The key to increasing your output is selecting the best productivity guidelines and making them your guiding principles.
This can change how you approach your work and everything else you do throughout the day.
I've identified the following five principles for maximizing my work:
Table of Contents
· 1. Capture · 2. Clarifying · 3. Organization · 4. Concentration · 5. Enjoy what you do
1. Capture
The main idea for Getting Things Done is that our mind is for having ideas, not storing them.
A big reason why lots of us are less productive or feel overwhelmed or feeling stressed is that we are using our brains as a to-do list.
We don't have a dedicated system to offload ideas and things we must do.
So the main point in step one “capture” is that any open loop in our mind, or anything that’s on our mind, we write it down and put it somewhere.
And so with me, for example, I'm utterly obsessed with capture.
I think it's been the most critical thing that's made me more productive and less stressed in general: the instant I have an idea for something or something I need to remember, I will write it down somewhere.
I usually use the app "Things" on my iPhone to write this down. It doesn't matter what app you use; you can use a to-do list.
The way it works is that anytime I'm finding my brain trying to remember something that, oh yeah, I should reply to that person's email. Which is an idea I might have while doing the groceries
So I will always write it down, and that's the first step.
2. Clarifying
The idea behind clarifying is that procrastination and lack of productivity often come from not having a clear next step.
And when it comes to writing a to-do list, we are all notoriously bad at clarifying what each step means.
So, for example, on my to-do list, if I was doing this not well like how I used to do it, I probably have "website redesign" on my to-do list like what the hell does that mean?
And so the idea of clarifying is we want to convert all of our to-do lists into action words.
So, for example, "website redesign" is a multi-step process where the first part is probably developing a "mood board" on Pinterest using web design inspiration. Next, I collect all my websites and inspiration and stick them on a Pinterest board.
Step two would probably be "Create Mockup in Sketch, "a web design app showing the website's structure.
So those are particular things within the general website redesign project, which is the sort of thing you can't work with.
So step one, capture everything. But step two clarify and ensure we’ve got a defined explicitly following action we want to be doing.3. Organization
The idea is we want to put stuff where it needs to go.
So if we have reference materials for an email, we want to put them in the correct folder in Evernote, Notion, or whatever you want to use.
I use Evernote personally. And if we've got these items on our to-do list, we want to organize them into projects and areas, and then we probably want to organize them by priority and deadlines.
We want to add these kinds of bits of metadata like the due date, who it involves, and what the deadline is.
We want to add those things. Then, of course, it takes a little bit longer, but it keeps our whole system organized, which is one of the most important jobs of the engineer.
4. Concentration
Even if you organize your work, it doesn't guarantee you'll become more focused and motivated to finish the project without discipline and effective time management.
Even when we have the best intentions, getting sidetracked is simple and focusing on less crucial things.
Once we become distracted, it takes us about 23 minutes to get our attention back. Making time for it can have a significant impact on your productivity.
When you have allotted a certain amount of time, making a list of things you shouldn't do can be a terrific approach to stop yourself from taking actions that reduce your productivity.
This includes reading emails, using social media, and having social chats with coworkers.
5. Enjoy what you do
"Being productive" only makes sense if you're having fun while working on the things that matter.
None of the topics we covered here actually matter if you're not.
Personal productivity is a mental state, not something you have to put up with day in and day out. It's the sensation that you're doing what you think is essential and makes you happy.
I think a decent generalization is that we should be worn out at the end of the day. Yes, you might feel exhausted, but positively.
This is far different from feeling depleted or spent since it means that we gave our all to the things we care about most.
I believe the actual test of one’s productivity is how eagerly one looks forward to the next day as one goes to bed.
Implication of this Principle: Spend one minute at the end of the day self-evaluating. What went well today? Did you spend your time and effort on the things that matter most?Forget about your objectives for a moment and concentrate on your journey.
What good is being productive if you aren't enjoying your days and are simply making sacrifices?
How about you?
What are your thoughts on these principles?
Is there anything missing?
Do you follow any particular productivity rules?
Share in the comments, please! I'm curious to know what works for you.