Productive or just busy?

Personal productivity in its basic form is the value or result you get from the effort you put into doing something. How much of your day would you say is productive? Not sure? Here are some tips on how to be more productive

Put a value on your time: We think of time as free, but actually it’s the most expensive commodity and its perishable. So, don’t just do task after task whether considering whether it’s worth your time or needs doing at a particular time or can be postponed. Don’t be reactive, when you stop seeing time as free, you’ll invest it on the right things.

Take a helicopter view: When you have a lot to do, don’t immediately put your head down and plough away. Take a few minutes first to assess the scope of work before you. Don’t just do, be purposeful. Think and plan before you do. When you operate in a chaotic reactive mode, you waste a lot of time.

Have a ‘priority’ filter: I bet there are routine things that you can shave off your schedule. You’ll be surprised how much that frees your mind to reflect on the things that are profitable. Ditch the ‘irrelevances’ or they will hamper your thinking. Don’t be tempted to stick with something because you’ve been doing it from time immemorial. Create systems and approaches so that you can work in more predictable ways.

Think about your end user. Whatever work you do is not for your own use or benefit. Ask yourself; who are the ‘consumers’ of each piece of work that I do? What are the specific needs of these people? Can you deliver what might be more useful or relevant to them? Improve the outcomes of your work causes, don’t just deliver the work.

Stop seeking perfection: Perfection is wanting everything to be 100 percent but that’s not effective use of time unless that’s the only thing you have on your plate. Even then, you’re better off using the time to think. Rule of thumb is it is better to get 5 things done 80-90 percent well than two done 100 percent. However, this should not be an  excuse to do mediocre work. Perfection is worthy but getting more done of reasonable quality is even more impressive.

Now take action: If you had 10 hours a day (not 24), what would you prioritise?