Nicholas Bate - Boost Your Productivity: 30 Minute Reads: A Shortcut to Getting Things Done and Getting Your Life Sorted

Philosophy? Yes, because there are some deeper questions we need to answer:

What do you mean by productivity?

Most begin to look at the field of time management and question their productivity because of overload: they find they simply cannot keep up with assignments and tasks without digging into their personal time and although they are willing to do that for a while, the consequent cost for quality of output, their most important relationships and their health increasingly becomes something they are not willing to accept. And much time management advice attempts to solve such challenges with quick fix tips, which rarely solve the true dilemma: the problem simply keeps coming back. We do want to solve it once and for all and it does require a robust answer to what do you really mean by productivity?

Thus: are you considering the bigger questions?

Because clearly at one level being productive is doing what you are paid to do if you are an employee. Or successfully running your business if you are self-employed. However that is only one dimension; in a simpler world it was reasonably straightforward to consider it in that way. But in the New World of Work to which we are all exposed of severe competition, 24 by 7 working and increasingly less distinction between home and work there are other implications we need to ponder, such as: Where is your career going? And how are you maintaining important friendships? And looking after your health? And managing your finances, not just for now, but also for the future? Perhaps if you are delivering on your quarterly targets you are being efficient (getting things done). But if you have become ill in the process you have not necessarily been effective (getting the right things done).

Do you know that it's pretty easy but it will require you to be different?

Much of time management methodology was first created in that simpler world. A world where we did less multi-tasking, where we had far fewer interrupts and putting it more bluntly our expectations of what we might do and achieve were much lower. But such approaches are no longer powerful enough: we need something that works for our very different lifestyles. And here's the tough bit: to be truly productive we will have to say no to a lot of things; we will have to address the digital dilemma of a world which floods into our brain at every opportunity. We will need to recognize that productivity is as much about our personal wellness as it is about our willingness to create a great list.

Thus, you are productive if:

• You hit your work goals, as that is what you are paid to do
  
• but at the same time you maintain your health
  
• and in particular, stress is at a minimum.
  
• You have a longer-term picture of where your career is going: you have set your
  
• Personal Compass with its consideration of all aspects of your life: relationships, future finances, simply having fun .
  
• You are not just efficient (i.e., getting things done) but also
  
• effective (getting the right things done).
  
• And the approaches you use to being productive are not only
  
• top down, i.e., consideration of the big picture Personal Compass but also
  
• bottom up, i.e., the day-to-day practicalities, for example, of running a family.
  
• You are feeling good, and
  
• you are contributing to your business and your community.