Ask yourself again, why do you want to become more productive?

If you find yourself constantly struggling to be productive, you’re not alone. Almost everyone I speak to, both clients and colleagues tell me some version of the following statement - ‘I’ve got too much to do and I don’t know how I’ll get everything done’.

Almost all of us want to become more productive, but the key question I ask clients is ‘Why do you want to become more productive in the first place’. Typically the answer I receive to ‘why’ is something that addresses their short term challenges such as, ‘I want to be able to get on top of all the things that are on my plate’ OR ‘I want to be able to find time to unwind in the evenings’ OR ‘I want to be able to exercise and pursue personal interests’.

These short term challenges are obviously important but in trying to only get a grip on our current productivity challenges, we often lose sight of the longer term opportunities that we could pursue. We delay thinking about what could be empowering long term opportunities in the hope that once we’re on top of things, maybe then we can think about what we really want. Yet our task lists are unforgiving - old tasks are quickly replaced by new tasks and often the reward for more productive work is more work.

So how do you lead a busy life yet find time to work on your long term opportunities. The first step is to articulate what both your short term challenges and ideal long term opportunities looks like. Your ‘One Small Action’ for today is to articulate your productivity ‘why’ statement as shown below.

“I want to become more productive towards ________ (immediate productivity objective) so that I can ______ (long term important objectives)”

A couple of examples:

1. I want to become more productive towards securing stability at my current job so that I can work on my entrepreneurial pursuit.

2. I want to become more productive by ensuring I close my tasks out by 7 PM so that I can spend quality time with my family.

As you keep addressing your current challenges, start thinking about what your long term ‘why’ is: maybe you already have a start up idea that you’ve been wanting to move forward or maybe you’ve been wanting to focus more intentionally on your physical and mental health. Maybe you’re confused about what your career path is - figuring that out can be your long term ‘why’.

Tips to take the One Small Action further

• It takes time to put your ‘why’ statement together for yourself. Don’t try to rush it - you can rewrite it a few times and discuss it with someone if that helps

• Keep revisiting your productivity why statement over time. It isn’t set in stone.

• Once you’ve written your ‘why’ statement, you can make small progress on your long term important objectives even as you work on addressing your immediate challenges. For example: If you want more quality time with family, commit to a weekly fun Sunday morning with them. If you want to work on your startup idea, dedicate 15 minutes everyday. Make it easy enough to follow through on.

Knowing what you want in the long term today, can help you accelerate progress towards the bigger objectives by months, if not years. Would love to hear how you’ve written your productivity ‘why’ statement. Share your ‘why’ statement with me at [email protected].