We are Inside YOUR Office:
NO matter what the question is?
The answer is most likely going to be PRODUCTIVITY.
Whether it is:
How can I get more done?
How can I achieve my targets, and actually overshoot them?
How can I find my way to the corner office?
The ANSWERS?
The old School says PRODUCTIVITY.
The Neo-School says HUSTLE.
But Hustle without Productivity is like moving without actually going anywhere.
Agreed!
Being Productive is not a genetically transferable trait.
Good Thing: That you can acquire it, no matter from where you come.
Bad Thing: Even if your dad is a productivity machine, you will still have to start from scratch.
So, Let’s get started?
There are two ways in which we can proceed, for this time we are going to take the other way (here is the first way).
Mojo of Small Things Presents
6 SURE-Shot Productivity Killers & How to tame the Productivity Dragon?
Number 1:
NOT ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
Some call it the PARETO Principle, others call it the 80:20 Principle.
Even if we don’t go into the math, one thing is clear – there are a few activities that create more value than others.
So, ideally, we should be doing those activities more often
(and others not at all – but that is not how the world works! Isn’t it?)
Do more of What Matters and Nothing More.
Is this what moves me in the direction of my passion and greatness?
Is this how I am going to add value to something bigger than me?
Will doing this thing move me to become What I am supposed to become?
The activities that qualify each of these questions- are the ones you should consider spending more time on.
Everything else is a DISTRACTION
(CAUTION: To avoid potential domestic assault – DON’T try this at home).
SO what, if you are not good enough?
If you do what matters, the rhythm will set in and things will start becoming better.
Hey! Come back here, let’s move on to the second habit.
Number 02:
NOT HAVING A PLAN
Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail.
-John Wooden.
Many times we are unproductive because
We don’t have an agenda for the day,
We don’t have tasks to get done.
Not having a PLAN is a sure shot way to let the day slip off your hands.
It leads to a hazy distinction between a focus area and a distraction.
For instance: Being in a large group when you are testing your idea acts as an IDEAL situation (in terms of focus and getting work done), the same setting acts as a distraction while trying to do deep work.
The only way to get something done is to get it scheduled- as detailed as possible.
- Schedule a meeting with yourself (every week).
(many people are doing it and laughing their way to the productivity avenue). - When you schedule – write down the details too – the place, day, and what all you are going to need.
- Try Pomodoro – Dividing your day into smaller time slots (traditionally 25 minutes), with 5-minute breaks in between (this is what makes you feel that time is THE currency).
- Don’t Plan for quantity, Plan for QUALITY.
(Work that relies on QUANTITY can be easily outsourced).
This brings us to our first habit of asking the right questions – see now it is all making sense – Isn’t it?)
You are asking the right questions, and you have a plan too – when you thought nothing else could go wrong:
You just decided to jump into the valley of being ultimately unproductive.
Number 03:
RESTING BEFORE GETTING TIRED.
While it should be: Ready Steady and Go. You Chose: Ready Steady Rest.
Running in for a 10 am cup of coffee is going to wake you up to a clueless day.
Guess, who will you find near the coffee machine?
People who have already mastered the art of (UN)productivity.
You know what happens next.
Do you still need us to put it in writing?
Rest when you are tired or done – not before you start.
If that is still not making sense –
Remember Newton’s First Law of Motion.
“A body at rest will remain at rest….”
(The same goes for productivity).
Get moving and before you know – you will be half-past your daily milestones.
Number 04
TRYING TO MULTITASK.
Unicorns are a myth, So is Multi-Tasking.
Just assume, you have crossed all the potential land-mines till now and you are fully charged to squeeze the day like a lemonade guy.
Impossible?
Not on paper, but in reality ‘Seems to be impossible’.
Multi-tasking seems very lucrative on the surface but ironically it is not a real thing.
We mistake fast switching between tasks as multi-tasking – which is cognitively taxing and leads to a work that is ‘mile wide and inches deep’. (The Go-to Guy for more on this IS Steven Pressfield).
Choose focus and deep work. What can be done using multi-tasking – half of it can be delegated.
Multi-tasking is not efficient.
All set?
Now Here Comes the BONUS:
THE Two Productivity killer Dragons.
Number 05
BEING OVERLY AVAILABLE.
Being present everywhere and in everything means You are not present anywhere and you are not doing anything (significant)
Being Overly Available reduces you into an INSTRUMENT and NOT into a RESOURCE.
Up your Game and BECOME TOUGH TO FIND.
This will help you in two ways:
First,
You will get time to practice deep work,
Secondly,
Once you have become smarter – you will get to choose your work.
Corollary especially for an Office Going Millennial: Losers have Goals Winners have Systems. (Scott Adams, The ‘Dilbert’ Guy
Set Systems and don’t let the rudimentary tasks kill your flow.
Do we need to ask for more?
Be close but not traceable, Those who need you will find you.
Number: 06
NOT HAVING A SHUT OFF ROUTINE.
Taking ‘Work to Home’ and bringing ‘Home at Work’ is an injustice to both.
The shutdown routine must necessarily include –
gratitude for what day has taught you,
planning for the next day, and
then going back to what makes your soul dance.
Rest, Family, Reading, or whatever it is.
Make time for that and you will go to work and home with a fuller and better you.
Remember – Productivity is not about QUANTITY – IT IS A QUALITY GAME.
Productivity is like a Dragon.
Tame it before it becomes too BIG, and
So that you can become ‘UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME’.
Avoid the Pitfalls and That is how you will able to tame the dragon (at least for a while).
See you on the other side.
With Much Love.
Mojo of Small Things.
Small Things that we do are the big things.