Work it, make it, do it, makes us, harder, better, faster, stronger…
In this week’s blog, Kasey Leigh explores the theme of productivity, with some nifty tips to make your life a little easier when it comes to getting *ish* done.
Productivity has become somewhat of a buzz word in the modern business lexicon, but what does it mean? At its core, productivity is all about how efficiently you can produce things, or how smoothly your ‘inputs’ turn into ‘outputs’. Basically, it’s about how much you can get done in the shortest amount of time possible. Pretty simple, right? I’d better make this quick…
Work smarter, not harder
No, that's not another Daft Punk lyric, but rather an age-old adage that gets thrown about when people talk about how to be the most productive. Taking actions that will make the biggest impact to your workload while also demanding the least amount of energy is the recommended approach according to the ‘work smarter’ squad.
Another commonly quoted theory is the ‘Pareto Principle’, or 80/20 rule (which was named after Italian engineer and economist Vilfredo Pareto, who in the 1940s observed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of its population). This principle ultimately means that a significant portion of any given issue or outcome can usually be traced back to about 20% of its cause or input. Believers in the 80/20 rule reckon we achieve 80% of our work in only 20% of our time - make of this what you will!
What both of these theories are getting at is the notion that strong productivity can be achieved by simply re-directing one's energy in an efficient way. This is good news for those of us who think enhanced productivity sounds like a lot of extra work - it doesn’t have to be.
Don’t just protect your energy babe, manage it!
To-do lists to-die for
How to re-direct all this energy then, I hear you ask? You best believe we’re about to recommend a nice old-fashioned to-do list. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
In all seriousness, for those of us neuro-spicy and scatter-brained people, a simple to-do list can be the single pivotal action that determines how productive our days, weeks and months are going to be. While some of us favour the classic pen and paper 8am scrawl, there are also many digital applications out there to help organise and prioritise your daily grind. Apps like Notion, Monday and Asana are popular project management and note-taking tools if you aren’t a fan of the scrawly sticky-note lifestyle. Still feeling a bit flustered? The Eisenhower Matrix is a popular tool for planning out your priorities for the day.
Using these kinds of templates can help decipher the urgent and important from the more time-wasting activities. It’s also important to be realistic about the time it will take you to complete certain tasks. Be ambitious, but not delusional. For enhanced to-do list motivation, we also recommend making your daily schedule public - nothing quite puts a fire under you more than facing accountability from your peers!
People pleasers beware
A crucial part of being your most productive at work is, perhaps surprisingly, the ability to say ‘no’. If you’re finding it challenging to complete tasks and feel yourself at max capacity - say so! Chronic people pleasers will understand the struggle well; your boss throws an innocuous request your way and asks if you can help, so you say yes of course! A colleague pops up looking for ad-hoc support on a project, so you respond with a yes sure, no problem! It begins to snowball until suddenly you’re drowning in to-do and having to disappoint people because you’re over-stretched.
Don’t be that person - either say no, or what’s more, DELEGATE. Don’t expect others to keep on top of your workload - be open and honest about how you’re handling things. Rather than compromise on quality, it’s important to be able to ask for help every now and then. If you’re starting to feel like you’re spinning plates- outsource!
(On that note, if anyone wants to get their brand seen and heard in an interesting way but just doesn’t have the time, we’re here for you x)
Blocking out the haters
It’s true that nowadays there is quite a pre-occupation with how best to achieve optimum results across all aspects of life, whether that’s your health, work, finance or beauty regime. It’s important to recognise that not everything can be perfect at all times, and that functioning at maximum performance in everything you do, might just be a tad unrealistic! In the same way that sometimes you just need to stick on a pair of headphones and bash it out, or dive into a separate room to ‘lock-in’ to your tasks, whatever works for you is best.
It’s probably wise not to assign too much meaning to other people’s ideas of how to be productive. Avoid falling into the trap of getting your self-worth mixed up with how much you can produce, as this can lead to burnout and unnecessary anxiety (see our blog on work-life balance here). You’re a person, not a machine! (Unless an AI is reading this, in which case, apologies, you actually might be a machine).
Getting to know yourself and understanding your unique working style is the best way to discover how to get ideal results from your precious time.
Now enough yapping about productivity - GET BACK TO WORK!
