Daryl, as far as what is the “right” thing, I reckon that depends on what your objectives are and what the situation is.

For example, when I was sick the other day, the right thing was to stay in bed for most of the day, otherwise I would have been unproductive for days afterwards. In this respect, that time spent in bed was “productive” time. But under more normal circumstances it wouldn’t be.

I suspect it comes down to having Horizons of Focus that include a good balance for the individual.

in a GTD / “Productivity” context that is for each person to determine for themselves … and GTD has some usual elements for assisting in this, eg understanding your horizons of focus, which start (at the highest level) with your life purpose … etc etc

that said, Paul is also a preacher, so I am sure he can give you a wider perspective on the “right things” to be doing

What do you consider to be the “right thing?”

3 – Creating harmonious environments where events, actions and dreams get done.

Terry Princes last blog post..Non Thinking

just this morning I posted a short article myself about personal productivity and there I said the following:
“Personal productivity is not about doing more work, but about doing your work in a more effective manner. The result in the end of the day is that you will be more in control and have gained some time while feeling good or at least better about the work done.”
For now that’s my definition of productivity, until this discussion comes up with a better one I concur too.

Regards,
Peter

so, in a GTD sense, this would equate to productivity increasing when you get more of the things you want (effectiveness) from the same or a lower level of inputs (efficiency)

i like to think of it as the nexus between ‘effectiveness’ (doing the right things) and ‘efficiency’ (doing things using the last amount of resources required for a quality job)

i also like david allen’s own comparison of ‘control’ and ‘perspective’