Word-Of-the-Week #999: Productive

September 28, 2023 by · Comments Off on Word-Of-the-Week #999: Productive 

Productive – yielding favorable or useful results. 

Do you feel you are as productive as you could be? Are you working longer hours trying to get everything done? Did you know that taking breaks actually increases your productivity?

This week features “Slow Down, You’ll Go Faster” another good one from Bill Marvin, The Restaurant Doctor, and a great follow up to last week’s WOW.

“Most of us lead very busy lives — too busy in many cases — but don’t equate being busy with being productive. The two notions are not mutually exclusive, but they’re not always the same thing. 

Being busy is often just a bad habit. We put in a lot of time and effort, secretly hoping at the end of the day, something important has gotten done. If you were to really analyze it, though, about the only thing that usually happens after being busy all day is that you suddenly realize that you’ve just been busy all day! 

I’ve seen this tendency in myself … big time. Here is what struck me as a solution:

Before you head home each night, make a short list of what must absolutely be accomplished tomorrow. The shorter the list, the better. One item is perfect, three is the max. If there are more than three things on your list, delegate specific tasks to others. In the end, the items on your personal list should be things only you can do. 

When you come in the next morning, focus all your activity only on your one, two or three tasks until they’re done. Don’t take phone calls, check e-mail or tolerate any interruptions. (An open door policy doesn’t mean you must be available 24/7 to anyone who wants to interrupt you.) 

 

In short, get it done … then make your list for the next day. At that point, you’re free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day with a clear conscience and no time pressure. You might coach your staff, schmooze with your guests or go to your kid’s soccer game — whatever gives you pleasure. 

But resist the urge to keep working on “stuff” just because there’s still stuff to work on. There will always be stuff to work on. You’ll die with things on your To Do list. 

Slow down. Un-busy your mind. Give yourself quiet time for reflection. Read a new book. Work out. Go home early. Eat dinner with your family. In short, have a life. 

Even if you can only complete one essential task a day, I bet you’ll be far more productive and expend far less energy.” 

This week’s focus is being more productive. Do you make lists of items that you want to accomplish? How would it feel to focus all your activity on no more than three tasks until they’re done? How easy would it be for you to set aside time without having interruptions?

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Word Of the Week #596: Productive

January 7, 2016 by · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #596: Productive 

Productivedoing or achieving and getting good results.

Do you feel you are as productive as you could be? Are you working longer hours trying to  get everything done? Did you know that taking breaks actually increases your productivity?

The LA Times Sunday Business Section featured Joyce E. A. Russell’s Career Coach article, Taking breaks from work is vital. She writes, “It’s the holidays and many of us are overwhelmed juggling work, family schedules and end-of-the-year pressures. We work longer hours trying to accomplish more, and yet the piles don’t seem to disappear no matter how much we work. So we start earlier and stay up later, hoping that throwing more time into our work will enable us to get it all done.

Yet many researchers show us that this isn’t the most productive way to work, and in fact wea productive may be less productive by pushing ourselves to work day and night with no breaks in sight.

Taking breaks during work actually increases productivity because it refuels us. It enables our brains to recharge, even if we break for just 60 seconds. Pushing ourselves with no time off taxes our brains, making it harder for us to stay on task or remain attentive to what we are doing. Despite what we may think, we don’t have endless cognitive resources.

It is especially important to take breaks if you are being paid to be creative and innovative. Our brains need to be rested to come up with new ideas. Forcing yourself to stay focused on the task at hand for hours upon hours puts a lot of stress on your brains to maintain this self-control. In addition, breaks help you reevaluate goals to make sure you are accomplishing the right things or in the right ways.

How can you rejuvenate? Take short breaks at work by leaving your desk to get up and take a walk or have lunch with friends, or take longer breaks in which you might take a hike, unplug from technology or take a power nap. It doesn’t mean simply trading one work-related task for another because this does not relax your brains.”

Next week I will share more tips from Joyce on how to rejuvenate. Make this week’s focus on being productive. Do you tend to keep pushing harder by working longer hours? And where has that gotten you? What breaks do you take during the course of your day? When’s the last time you had lunch with a friend?

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