Graham Allcott - How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More and Love What You Do

Do you want to do everything and change the world, yet also find yourself feeling quite lazy from time to time? Yes, me too. We humans are hunting animals that have evolved to such an extent that we no longer need to hunt, so we perhaps have a right and an excuse to be lazy. Yet that doesnt stop us being ambitious and driven either.

I would define productivity as the ability to achieve what you want to achieve, for the least effort. Certainly I dont want to burn myself out and I definitely like still having time for relationships, friendships, passions, hobbies, rest and whatever else floats my boat.

So a few years ago, while juggling a hundred and one things some paid, some voluntary; some work-related, some not I developed a new obsession in my quest to change the world: productivity. Creating the most change or impact whatever that means for you for the least effort is what this book is all about.

I want to thank you for buying this book. By choosing to read How to be a Productivity Ninja youve already shown a desire to make things happen, make an impact and find easier and better ways to do what you do. Over the past few years since I founded Think Productive, weve been working with some of the UK and Europes biggest companies, government organizations and charities to help them eliminate the information stress that seems so endemic in the modern workplace. So this book is about helping you to do just that.

My approach to productivity is 100 per cent human. Too often, we label those who achieve great things as being somehow separate from us mere mortals. The great figures of our history all undoubtedly had unique talents, charisma and vision. However, none of them were really any different from you or me in a whole host of ways: even the bravest get scared, even the strongest leaders occasionally lack direction and even the greatest human beings suffer from bouts of self-doubt or have other hidden character flaws. And yet theres a common theme running through so many time management books and business books, through the wider personal growth industry and indeed through much of our society: its the cult of celebrity, the cult of personality.

As we go on to explore the characteristics of the Productivity Ninja in this book, well look at how a Ninja creates a mindset of Zen-like Calm, Ruthlessness, Weapon-savviness, Stealth and Camouflage, Unorthodoxy, Agility, Mindfulness and Preparedness. But I hope one of the loudest messages is that in order to be a Productivity Ninja, you dont have to magically become a superhero.

Too many people buy these kinds of books and never even make time to read them. Too many others just indulge in the cult of personality and get lost in the dream of perfection that is presented by the guru figure. They spend time fantasizing about being the person writing the book and buying into the often impossible dreams the guru presents, rather than planning and implementing changes for their own lives.

So just to be ultra-clear, there is no perfect guru specimen to worship here. For all my moments of productive genius there are moments of self-doubt, me screwing it up, procrastinating or doing things less than efficiently. The difference is that now I recognize these bad habits and work at changing them.

Part of what I hope makes my experiences and insights all the more valuable to you is precisely the fact that I dont pretend not to know what failure looks like. Hopefully youll see that as an assurance of authenticity and an opportunity to learn from some of my mistakes and not as a reason to ditch this book and go looking for some guru escapism instead. And of course I really hope youre motivated by the idea of boosting your productivity and discovering the way of the Productivity Ninja. This book is in many ways a manual for your work and life. Its also a celebration of achievement. And its a celebration of the fact that behind every extraordinary achievement lies an ordinary human being, just like you.