Last week, I reminded you of John Wooden’s admonition not to confuse activity with achievement. Good advice for sure. Being busy and being productive are separate issues. Strangely though, deep down inside, we like being busy because it gives us the false sense of being productive, but this is only an illusion. It doesn’t matter how many trivial activities we complete, they’re still trivial and don’t improve productivity or contribute to the bottom line.
Important but Not Urgent
Stephen Covey and others have made the compelling case that the most important things are seldom urgent. The sad fact, though, is that we can easily become addicted to urgencies. Often our badge of honor is having the reputation of being a firefighter – able to put out dozens of trivial little fires in a single day. Let’s refocus.
In the last article, I offered several suggestions on how to better manage your time, so you could be more productive. Those suggestions included: planning your day; writing down your goals; keeping a journal; and reviewing your progress on a regular basis.
Here are a few more suggestions on how to make your days, weeks and months more productive.
Coordinate Your To-Do List and Your Calendar
Before you write a single item on your to-do list, review your weekly calendar. Get a bird’s eye view of your week and when you’ll actually have time to work on those few important tasks or projects. Writing a to-do list is much like building a budget. A realistic budget is preceded by a well-thought-out strategic plan. A daily plan has a much greater chance of succeeding if it’s coordinated with your calendar.
One of the best ways I know of to find the time to work on high priority items is to schedule them in your calendar. Make an appointment with yourself to work on “A” priority items – every day or certainly every week.
If It’s To Be – It’s Up To Me
Personal responsibility. You knew this one was coming, didn’t you? Yep, you’re the only one responsible for achieving your personal goals and improving personal productivity. It’s not your Mama’s job, your boss’s job or your spouse’s job to make you more efficient, effective and productive. That’s your job.
Like it or not, you’re the one who’ll have to take control and do those things that must be done for personal or professional development. You’ll have to control your schedule, take the class, get the certification, or heal the relationship that’s keeping you where you are now, instead of where you want to be.
E + R = O
This little equation will do more for improving your performance and productivity than almost anything else I know of. It stands for Event + Response = Outcome. This equation suggests that it’s not the events we encounter that determine the outcome. It’s our response to those events that make the real differences.
We all face difficult events throughout our lives. Every day, we’re faced with events that have the potential to derail us from getting where we want to go. Our response to those events will determine our success or failure. Controlling how we choose to respond to events not of our making is what develops the character of a winner.
Staying at the top of the productivity game isn’t easy. It takes work and it takes being savvy. Doing a few simple things, like those mentioned in these last two posts, will go a long way in helping you keep your performance and productivity at a very high level. You really can get more done by doing less.
