24/11/2021

What is Personal Productivity, and why does it matter?

alt "desk and computer" — Productivity set up

Misconceptions about Personal Productivity

If you were to ask people around you what they understand by personal productivity, you’ll probably get a variety of answers. You’ll also get a different reaction from positive to not interested or relevant to their lives.

People often associate the word productivity with work, corporate culture or concepts like Fordism and Taylorism. Many of us think productivity does not apply to our lives, especially those not employed in the corporate sector.

It is undoubtedly true that productivity is a buzzword used by CEOs and line managers. Concepts of how to streamline work procedures to increase efficiency and drive profits are part of modern work culture.

Some people also associate productivity with poorly dressed nerds who spend every waking hour documenting every aspect of their lives. Lists of what they ate, lists of films they watched or want to watch, books read, etc. You get the picture.

Yet other people mistake productivity with being busy. People think that long hours and constant ticking off tasks from a never-ending to-do list make you productive. You are not; you are just busy. Is our burnout culture with 24/7 availability really that great for our mental health?

However, I believe that being more productive is something that everyone should aspire to be. Everyone should incorporate personal productivity into their lives as everyone will benefit from it. But what do I mean by personal productivity, and why do I think it matters? Read on to find out.

What is Personal Productivity?

In a nutshell, personal productivity has similar aims to business productivity in that it seeks to equip you with the means to get tasks done efficiently, to a high standard and in a short time. It aims to move you closer to accomplishing your goals in a way that brings balance to your life.

Fred W. Taylor, in the early 20th Century, invented a productivity system for the factory coined Taylorism. Here he strove to get each worker to perform only the minimum steps necessary to manufacture goods, thus eliminating any excess tasks:

‘In Taylor’s view, the task of factory management was to determine the best way for the worker to do the job, to provide the proper tools and training, and to provide incentives for good performance. He broke each job down into its individual motions, analysed these to determine which were essential, and timed the workers with a stopwatch. With unnecessary motion eliminated, the worker, following a machinelike routine, became far more productive.’

I am obviously not suggesting that we run our lives like an assembly line; that would be stupid! I think that automating specific tasks can be helpful. Looking at how we can accomplish boring or routine jobs more efficiently to have time for things that truly matter is a good thing.

For me, personal productivity is a means to an end and not an end in itself. A simple scroll through social media reveals endless men and women showing off their beautifully designed planners and bullet journals and their geeky productivity apps that they spend all day tweaking. I am not judging here; it is a harmless pastime. But it is not the activity in and of itself that matters, but the outcome derived from it.

To accomplish the goal of a productive life, endless productivity methods exist, such as GTD, time blocking or Eisenhower Matrix. These and many others I will discuss in later blogs. There isn’t one system to rule them all. We are all different and must find a system that works for us. A system that is in tune with our way of thinking and doing things.

Personal productivity should give us the tools to accomplish our necessary tasks, be they personal or work-related, efficiently and stress-free. Thus we have more time for the things that really matter. Think about what truly matters in your life. Is it the work projects that drive your employers’ profit, your nicely ironed shirts, spending time with your friends or watching your kids perform in a school concert?

For you to be productive in your everyday life doesn’t need to be complicated. Whatever the internet tells you, you don’t need to fork out money on a to-do app, or buy a planner with all the bells and whistles. You don’t need to plan every hour of everyday or work in 5 minutes intervals like Elon Musk. An article on Enterprise World website explains this concept:

‘Elon Musk, one of the most famous industrialists of today, and Just become the richest person in the World, uses the method of ‘time blocking’ to plan time in his daily life. Elon Musk’s ‘5 Minute rule’ – The Secret behind his Success

The secret behind Elon Musk’s success is the 5-minute rule. From waking up in the morning to going to bed at night, the whole day’s musk is already planned.

He divides the whole day into 5 minutes blocks (parts) of 5 minutes. It is already decided which 5-minute block to use for which work. In one 5-minute block, he replies to an e-mail, in the other block, he packs a meal (in just 5 minutes!). In fact, he tries to get business meetings done in less time. Also, he avoids picking up the phone even if it comes in the middle of work.

Although Elon Musk’s ‘5 Minute Rule’ seems very simple, it is very difficult to implement. The main reason for this is that you have to plan the next day for the tasks you want to do, but by sitting in 5-5 minute blocks.’

What do you need to be productive?

To be productive, you need a calendar and a piece of paper. You simply need to note down what it is that you must do to move your life forward and make a note in your diary when you are going to do this. If you know what you need to do tomorrow by planning the night before, you won’t waste time on mindless and unimportant tasks. You will have time to complete what you planned and have fun.

Evidently, there are more advanced strategies that can help you be even more productive such as task batching or time blocking. But it is not within the scope of this introductory guide to discuss these further. I often see people wishing to accomplish something new, and instead of starting out simple and learning the foundations, they make stuff too complex for themselves and then give up and fail.

Start with the basics, master them successfully and then move onward and upwards in your journey.

Further Reading:

To get further ideas on how to get organised and more productive, check out my other posts here.

trabantbettina

Bettina Anna Trabant, Founder of Life Organised, your professional organising and decluttering service in East London. Eco-conscious minimalist and avid tea drinker,

Author: trabantbettina