Not that I am ardent supporter of “being unproductive”, I somehow find all the talk and discussions around productivity issues totally banal. If productivity in simple terms means a measure of one’s efficiency in converting inputs into useful outputs – let’s understand, when talking about productivity hacks, we are dealing with human beings and not a device/ machine who would respond to binary inputs to give a binary output. Since we are dealing with humans - factors like personality, state of mind, work culture, style of work, peer relationships, work pressures, family life and too many similar things play a role in defining what makes one productive and what does not. For instance, you may be super productive on a project because it somewhat connects with something bigger you have in your mind and at another project you may just drag because that’s something you cannot relate to for no special reason. #ProductivityHacks
Besides, what makes you productive may not work with me because our work styles or approaches to handle a task or a project may be totally different. You may prefer picking up the phone and getting things done; I may prefer formal written communication to get the ball moving. Since it’s too contextual, my take is to narrow down the entire productivity context into three broad areas:
Goal – Identify clearly the goal / target you have set out to achieve
Enablers – Identify likely enablers in the whole process and try to take them along
Distractors – Identify potential distractors on your way and keep them off your radar
In its entirety, I believe, “purpose” plays the more important role in productivity than anything else. Have a powerful purpose and productivity shall follow.