In his excellent article, “27 Productivity Killers: Why Nothing Ever Gets Done!” author Matt Tanguay presents a laundry list of reasons for failed productivity.
He begins with a “top level” view:
- You have too much on your plate. Whether you don’t want to say no, you don’t know how or you can’t, you end up having too much to do.
- The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Your body has needs. You need to give it the proper food, exercise and time off to stay optimally healthy.
- The flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak. Your attitude is greatly affected by external factors such as your relationships, your finances and the kind of work you’re doing.
- There’s always tomorrow. Procrastination is caused by obstacles and friction. These tips will help you make sure you stop procrastinating altogether.
- Stuff keeps coming up. Interruptions from email and phone calls, distractions from your personal life, as well as meeting overload can easily kill your productivity.
- Doing the wrong things. Clarity is power. And once you’re clear about what you want, you need the right strategy and plan of action.
He then presents “productivity killers” in each of these areas.
But what is productivity? Is it
- Getting things done?
- Getting MORE things done?
- Efficiency?
- Effectiveness?
Productivity isn’t about getting things done, it’s about getting the right things done. Getting things done means you’re busy; getting the right things done means being effective.
But productivity is also about producing desired results efficiently, meaning as quickly and abundantly as you want.
You may be effective at bringing in clients but inefficient if this takes up too much of your time. You may be efficient at organizing your files but if this isn’t helping your practice grow (desired result), you’re not being effective.
Productivity requires effectiveness and efficiency.
By and large, Tanguay’s 27 “productivity killers” are really “efficiency killers”. They don’t necessarily stop you from producing desired results, but they could be slowing you down or making you pay too high a price for those results.
There are some good suggestions here. Just make sure you don’t use them to become efficient at the wrong things.
