Wow, sometimes work is just overwhelming isn't it. I know feel the strain, and as I look around the office (virtually or physically), I can see everyone feeling that too. Are we reverting back from being our “best work selves” to the instinctive “JFDI” version of manic due to over demand.
So in this blog I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about productivity. In others blogs I've touched on this – how to create PQO (prolific quality output) and how to prioritise, and those are all very well, but some days you just have a to list longer than War and Peace and in those situations we need strategies to get stuff done.
There are so many schools of thought on being productive. Personally I think it’s like so many things, different things work for different people for different reasons – that uniqueness is the issue – how do we as a team add our ways of being productive together, especially when we need to work with eachother to achieve those tasks..
Everyone assumes that being more productive is simply about getting more done in less time. But that is a little too simplistic. If you search for “being productive”, you are likely to come across lots of different tools, techniques and tips. Most of them will seem like common sense; but as know common sense is definitely not common practice.
That is in itself the issue here, when time is short and the pressure is on we don’t use common sense, we become instinctual beings based on times when work environments didn’t ask what are asked for today – fight and flight doesn’t help with the extra template, that frustrating and needy customer, that colleague who doesn’t pull their weight, that unreasonable deadline - and this is why I think many individuals struggle to increase their productivity at times when they need it most.
In that state of stress, we don’t remember the little things that are proven to calm our chemistry, our mind and enable us to focus – and at the end of the day being productive in my experience is about having your mind focussed, undistracted, with a clear end goal in mind and sufficient energy to get there.
If you don’t have those 4 components then you’ll spin, procrastinate, self-sabotage or avoid – all things that make the situation worse, the stress hormones increase and then the downward spiral persists and you take your work stress home with you…
So, today, I am not going to tell you where you can buy a magic pill to take away any effort you need to make to achieve what you want, but I am going to share with some reminders of the small tweaks that really work, and ask you each day to challenge yourself to be aware of your stress levels and the impact on the quality or quantity of work you’re doing and give yourself permission to take a few minutes to get yourself in a productive way of being...
1. Get out of Your Own Way
Sometimes all you need to do is stop sabotaging yourself and get out of your own way. What do I mean exactly? How often do we look outside of ourselves for the reasons we’re not being as productive as we need - blaming, complaining and pointing fingers at everyone and everything, except yourself.
When the blame cannot be directed externally, we resort to using excuses, desperately searching for a justification that will give you comfort because ‘you have no control over what happens.’
How many excuses do we have and live by each day? ‘I couldn’t do this because…or I don’t have time to do this because…’ I am not saying that the excuses might not be valid, but I strongly believe that more than 80% of the time, they are not real; it is an avoidance technique that we subconsciously use.
Not dealing with procrastination is a clear example of standing in your own way. Nobody else is going to suddenly make it go away; it will be there the next time you attempt to do whatever it is that you are procrastinating.
Put results before comfort, get out of your own way, and stop making excuses. Like Nike says, “just do it!”
2. Talk to Yourself Differently
Productive individuals think very differently to others. You need to challenge your thoughts and develop a productive mindset. What’s the main difference? A productive person doesn’t think along the lines of ‘Oh no, I have got so much to do. What am I going to do?’ ‘I am so stressed. I can’t think straight’ or ‘I am so overwhelmed. I wish this…or that…’
No, instead they think:
I need to do x and y. What is the best way for me to get everything done?
What is causing the stress? What needs to change so that I manage this situation better?
What can I do to improve this, considering the current circumstances?
The words and phrases you use immediately empower you or they don’t; they either make you feel better or more stressed. The words you use, ‘your self-talk,’ is pivotal to everything in life because you always act on them, whether they support you or not.
“You’ve been criticising yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens” Louise Hay
3. Adjust the Suit to Fit Your Body
Time management supports productivity. They go hand-in-hand. Most people often overlook the fact that time management is not a cookie cutter though, and what might suit you won’t necessarily work for your colleague. You need to take the advice given from a meta view and then adjust it to your situation specifically.
Think about clothes shopping:
Sometimes a suit doesn’t fit, and you need to make adjustments and tweaks so the suit fits your body perfectly. The same is true with time management and being more productive. You need to personalise what you use to your needs. If some tips and techniques don’t work for you, instead of throwing in the towel, find a way to adjust them to suit your situation. Otherwise, it is like wanting to get healthier but resisting a change in lifestyle. You can’t avoid it, so if you don’t like it, adjust it and make it work for you.
4. Identify Your Time Thieves
We all have time thieves but most of us don’t even know what they are. If you can identify your biggest time thieves, the activities or situations that throw you off course, distract or interrupt you, or the bad habits that keep you from performing better, you will produce more of a better quality and faster.
If you try and apply different techniques and you ignore your current thieves, the effort will remain fruitless.
If you just aim to change one of your worst time management habits, you will change your results immediately. It will most likely also give you the impetus to change what else isn’t working, once you feel the reward of your efforts and you see the clear connection between what you do and what your reality is.
Think about one thing, that if you changed right now, would have the biggest positive influence on your productivity. Write this down, think about what causes or contributes to this and what your solution will be moving forward.
“A Procrastinator is a thief of his or her own time”
With those 4 psychological tweaks shared, and in the remit of sharing – here are my top 4 things that I personally use and find helpful to be more productive:
1. Set small goals for the tasks.
With every new assignment, the scope is often too large. I use Brendan Burchard’s 5 steps approach and break everything down into 5 achievable tasks, so I feel a sense of accomplishment soon which motivates me to keep going, it also enables me to break the task up, so if can fit it around other commitments, rather than having to put it off until I can find 100% of time needed. I use this for everything – chores at home, long-drives, exercise you name it, I break it down and that helps me keep engaged and focussed.
2. Figure out your 2 peak hours.
Some of us are morning people, some of us are night owls. But the modern business environment doesn’t always accommodate that. Personally, I find I have highest mental energy levels when most people are winding down their day. I do most of my best work between 9-11pm (that may be partly as the mind is loosened by the gin 😉)
Often, this means I allow myself that time to think through the challenges I have and note down possible paths, options or solutions, maybe I write that key report, update or note down an approach, rather than forcing myself to restrict my brain capacity to the standard working hours. Do you know your peak hours? And do you allow those hours to be what they can be?
3. Be accountable to another person.
This is the one that works for me for the most. For some reason I can let myself down without any concern, but if I have someone knowing what I’m doing, if I make a commitment to them then I’m booked in. 100% I’m not letting them down or letting them see I didn’t deliver.
It’s not as if they manage me, or judge, but they encourage and support me, they praise and motivate me. Accountability partners work in many ways. I have had an accountability gratitude partner for over 4 years and it’s changed my mindset and outlook in many ways. So maybe you have a colleague you can ask, or your partner or friend – what do you want to ensure you make progress on?
4. Ask for help on stuff you don’t understand.
Maybe you are one of those self-sufficient people who don’t like to ask for help on things you feel like you should be able to do. This approach can manifest itself as taking way too long to do sometimes the simplest of things – like formatting that excel sheet or fixing that line of code.
Instead we need to be smart; smart people ask for help – they ask early and without fear of being judged. In fact, in recent studies those who asked for help were actually viewed by their colleagues as being smarter. Not to mention, this could save you tons of time in the long run. So what are you doggedly insisting on wasting your time on, when you could just ask for help? Now is the time to make that shift.
And now for the one that you won’t believe…
5) Look at cuddly animal pictures(?)
This is kind of crazy and you may not believe it; but sharing and looking at pictures of cute animals actually increases your attention span. Don’t believe me? This is hardcore science. A Japanese study measured performance after looking at cute animals and it really does helps!! . If you want the science, it’s here.
“Results show that participants performed tasks requiring focused attention more carefully after viewing cute images.”
Can you believe it? So, to conclude and get you on the productive path right now - here you go…
Until next time...
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