When it comes to productivity I’m a pretty late starter at GTT (Getting Things Together), so here’s a list of things I wish someone had taught me earlier in my life.
Be honest Paul! OK, it’s likely that somebody did try and teach me these things so let’s treat this a list of things I wish I’d paid more attention to earlier.
Photo by E=MC2
1. Efficiency doesn’t equal Effectiveness
Doing things quickly isn’t the key to productivity and balance in your life. Doing the right things is a better start, but doing the right things quickly, or at least with efficiency, and at the right time – Now that will help your productivity.
2. The Pareto Principle
Also known as the 80/20 rule. It effectively says that you get 80% of the value you’ll get will come out of 20% of the actions. (This principle goes hand in hand with the rule of decreasing returns).
Know which actions produce the best value and know when to stop doing other actions (don’t over engineer).
3. It’s OK not to do some things
Really… I mean it… Say no to some things or even just <hushed tones> dump them. Just because someone sends you an email doesn’t mean you should do it. Just because its on a list doesn’t mean you must complete the task.
Take control of your lists and email instead of letting them control you.
4. Multi-Tasking doesn’t work
Seriously, it doesn’t. See my earlier post on this topic. If you want to be productive you really do need to be focused on whatever you’re doing at that time.
5. Batch like tasks together
This is a really GTD (Getting Things Done by David Allen) thing. I use eProductivity for Lotus Notes by Eric Mack to achieve productivity and all of my tasks are saved by context. For example, anything that needs to be done when I’m out of the office and at the shops get put in the context @errands. Then when I go out I simply take my @errands list with me and do it all at once.
Is there anything about productivity you wish you’d heard about earlier in life? Leave a comment.
Tags: Batching, David Allen, Effectiveness, Efficiency, eProductivity, Eric Mack, GTD, Pareto, Productivity
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These are great lessons Paul, and I wish that I had learned them earlier too.
Number 3 is one that is particularly difficult for most people to learn and adopt – especially people who are high producers. As you said, it’s more important to work on the right things than it is to work on everything.
Very nice post, and the people who learn these skills will be more productive and less stressed than those who don’t.
My mother always said “If you want something done properly then do it yourself.”
So, when do we delegate?
Chris Adamss last blog post..My Aunt and Bruce Springsteen
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