“We shall never have more time. We have, and always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going… Concentrate on something useful.” Arnold Bennett
There has been a trend recently of understanding what Productivity is and isn’t, and the realisation by many (myself included) that tweaking your productivity system doesn’t necessarily make you a better worker, person or anything else.
In the last week I have seen two posts that show this trend:
1. Jonathan Mead, regular contributor at Zen Habits helping us in a tongue in cheek way to understand that we make be productivity junkies.
2. The excellent Lateral Action highlights a post by Merlin Mann on the changing route of his 43folders blog (perhaps a blog that can be ‘blamed’ in part for the productivity movement’s overkill).
I have been there, done that and got the moleskine notebooks with the over-the-top productivity systems. I proposed a 12 Step Programme for overcoming your Productivity Addiction several weeks ago. The thing is this, productivity is not about how your work out what you have to do and organise it, productivity is about using your time in the most efficient way to create more time for yourself. I have always been more of a fan of the world efficiency over productivity. Efficiency conjures up images of doing something well and doing something in a way that doesn’t waste time or resources. Productivity makes me think of car production where you want to increase your productivity which essentially means making more units per hour. In this way productivity is about creating more things in the time you have, efficiency (the true core of productivity) is creating more time to do more things (that you want to).
This is key to the principle of my blog. Just check out my about me page (which I will be massively updating soon as it hasn’t changed since I started blogging back in April). Essentially I want to create more time to do to do the things that I want to do, and pursue my Lifestyle Projects.
What are you thoughts on the productivity movement? Do you have any examples of productivity overkill? Let me know in the comments below!
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Bits & Bobs:
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Image Credit: by Spankmeeehard on Flickr via Creative Commons
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Time for Three:
Reading around the web:
- http://jayfrawley.com/2008/12/02/are-you-making-a-dying-instead-of-a-living-here-are-7-clues-you-might-be/
- http://www.willitchangeyou.com/so-you%E2%80%99ve-heard-it-all-before-part-4-what-next/
- http://motivatethyself.com/2008/12/05/let-us-give-your-blog-a-boost/
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Thanks for reading.
I hope you enjoyed my post. I’d love to hear your comments below or get a Digg or Stumble!
Hi
Great explanation of productivity versus efficiency!
I also feel there is way too much info on being productive. It can’t be productive reading so much of it!
Juliet
LifeMadeGreat | Juliet’s last blog post..Are You Seeing Your Opportunity In The Economic Downturn?
Nice post. The irony is that reading so much productivity info keeps us from being productive. Efficiency is great, but a better metric for production and achievement is effectiveness.
David Bourbon’s last blog post..Home Wind Turbines
I think some of the problem lies in the very definition of productivity. There is the traditional idea of productivity which you mentioned in relation to car manufacturing. It’s all about maxing the output (efficiency) but because a car factory only really has one purpose, the issue of effectiveness (doing the right thing) doesn’t come into it.
However, apply that to individuals with our multi-faceted lives and there is a problem. We are not bound to one particular role or task so applying traditional productivity would mean we’d work efficiently but without much regard to what we’re actually working on. Personal productivity (as I’m temporarily calling it) puts much more focus on effectiveness (applying 80/20 rule, focusing on the right stuff and doing things you want to do).
James @ Organize IT’s last blog post..How To Deal With The Obstacles In Your Life: Part 1
It does seem that there’s been a backlash against all of the lifehacks and productivity pRon that seemed so promising just a couple of years ago.
I think, like any religion, the cult of productivity turns out to be ultimately unsatisfying when you are forced to admit that it WON’T fix everything that is wrong with your life. In fact, that only thing that productivity is good for is helping you do more of what you already do. If you’re not happy with your status quo, productivity isn’t gonna help.
Maria | Never the Same River Twice’s last blog post..5 Ways That You Can Manage Change Just Like the Big 3 Automakers
@Juliet – Thanks. I agree. I’m trying to cut down on my productivity reading.
@David Bourbon – Excellent point David. I’ve not though of it in terms of effectiveness before, I’ll try and incorporate that concept in future – thanks!
@James – Your summary of the argument is very good. Thanks for the comment.
@Maria – I think you are right, but I think the productivity movement is evolving in to something more. People are realising that they can put their ‘productive’ selves to better use than working for ‘the man’. Thanks.
@Chris – yes, I agree, but this goes beyond productivity in the strict sense. “Productivity” is about getting as much done as possible in the least amount of time possible. Figuring out what space to be productive in is a much more philosophical task. It seems like many people are graduating from tactics and strategies to missions and visions – to use a bad military analogy!
Maria | Never the Same River Twice’s last blog post..5 Ways That You Can Manage Change Just Like the Big 3 Automakers
Hey Chris,
I think GTD as David Allen describes really does address the top down approach of looking at your priorities first. He doesn’t quite go into much detail in the book but definitely emphasizes it. I wrote a very brief post that points to a series that Dustin Wax wrote that is great.
You are right though, like all things, productivity should be done with a goal in mind. Freeing up more time to do whatever that goal is.
Frugal NYC’s last blog post..10 Frugal Things To Do This Winter In NYC
The Zen Habits post was quite a laugh. Yesterday I found myself asking, “if I keep doing what I am doing now where will I be this time next year”. It’s a bit early to tell and I’m leaning towards nowhere I think but when you realise these things it opens the door for making change.
Dan’s last blog post..Financial Position – November ‘08
The whole productivity thing has reached a point were it’s gotten too superficial. That’s why I’m more into personal development, than “productivity”.
JayCruz’s last blog post..Food For Thought Links
When I worked with my Professional Organizing clients on time management, I never tried to become more efficient or more productive. Cars are efficient (or not), factories are productive (or not). People are messy and illogical and for the most part non-system oriented.
So instead I’d work with my clients on clearing out the details and figuring out the right way of looking at the big picture that the details that were needed flowed on their own and no one needed to care about productivity or efficiency. It just happened (or not) as need be / as they wanted.
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndrome’s last blog post..Dedicate Yourself to Life, Not Work
Excellent post, Chris.
I do think there is a little overkill when it comes to productivity and self improvement. Every man and his dog seem to have their own “perfect” way to free up time.
Fantastic explanation regarding “productivity” and “efficiency”. I had never thought about that, but it makes perfect sense (or at least, “efficiency” makes perfect sense).
Jamie
Jamie Harrop’s last blog post..What Writing Interface Do You Use? – Poll!
Productivity has become a very subjective term as well. It depends on what measuring stick you are using. Most companies measure in time- take 40 hours or more to complete X amount of work. In what I like to call real life, accomplishments are the measuring stick. Take as little hours as possible to complete X work, and then enjoy the rest of the time! Do less, Enjoy more!
Jay Frawley’s last blog post..The Return of Jack and The Art of Anti-Niching
@Frugal NYC – I think that people get too bogged down in the organisational aspect of GTD and the neglect the ‘done’ part. Thanks for your input.
@Dan – Brilliant. Where will you be next year? Get this sorted so you can take the right actions to get to where you want to be. Thanks for stopping by.
@Jay Cruz – I agree. Productivity should maybe form just a small part of overall personal development. That’s my aim here, to develop by efficiently (or effectively!). Thanks.
@Alex Fayle – I like bigger picture thinking as a way of eliminating unnecessary tasks (false productivity). Thanks for stopping by (enjoyed your post on Zen Habits today).
@Jamie Harrop – I think that everyone is striving for the perfect system to free up time, but forgets that we are human! Thanks for the kind words.
@Jay Frawley – Exactly! I like to be measured by results rather than time worked. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks for all the great comments everyone. This certainly has stimulated some good debate. I’ll aim for more posts of a similar style in the future!