How to Turn UP Productivity
‘Productivity’, is something we assume everyone gives the same meaning, urgency and priority to.
What productivity means to one person, doesn’t necessarily mean to another. This is the reason why most people experience frustration, misunderstandings, conflict in the workplace and/or home, lack of motivation, feeling of failure, tension in the neck and back, burnout…to name a few.
Our ability to turn UP productivity is to be able develop the skill of managing multiple things at a time.
I want to share with you a simple structure on how to become more effective and more productive at work and in your personal life.
To turn UP productivity, means to develop the skill in ”multiplistic thinking”. There’s linear thinking and then, there’s multiplistic thinking.
Most people think linearly, thinking that they have to do one thing at a time. For example:
- I’ve got all of these ideas but I don’t know where to start (so you do nothing...) OR
- My inbox is out of control but I don’t have time for it today OR
- I don’t have time for exercise, I’ve got too much work to do OR
- I can’t complete this task and be expected to attend meetings…
The above are just some examples of linear thinking. Thinking that holds us back and exists in the mind of someone who has not yet developed the ability to think in a multiplistic way.
When we don’t have a structure for something, and haven’t specifically broken it down, then we overcompensate in our mind and think that it’s going to take a whole lot of time, telling ourselves things like, ”that’s a lot to do, I don’t think I can do that”, resulting in chaos, messiness and procrastination.
I will share with you very simple thing you can do to make it really easy for you and for those around you, to be able to manage multiple things at once.
The Steps:
- Write down a list of all things you want to do in a day on a whiteboard NOT on a spreadsheet!
- Give them time chunks – (10, 20minutes..) We all have 10 minutes, 20 minutes in a day. The meaning we give to ”time” is a learned behaviour, a habit.
- Once done, it MUST be ticked off…✔️ The act of making a physical tick releases those feel good emotions, bringing about moments of deep satisfaction. It’s the key to developing productivity and building this muscle of focus.
Super Simple, Super Basic!
It doesn’t have to be complicated. What it does is it takes the management of many tasks out of your head putting it down in a system in front of you.
When we develop a standard of operation in our head, this then gives us a clear picture of what action to take and what we must focus on.
If you’re not doing this yet, grab yourself a whiteboard today. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s something I use to become much more productive.
Draw up your days, write out a list of your daily tasks/rituals, and give them small time chunks…it’s all progress and it builds the muscle of productivity.
Small Increments = Progression
Feel good about what you do, because when we feel good about what we do, this then helps us to produce great results, and great results create positive momentum and positive momentum encourages high morale, boosting performance and productivity.
