How many tasks can you squeeze in a day? Have you optimized you’re getting things done routine yet? Do you know all hotkeys within windows and set your Gmail account to do it all for you? Everything is going faster and faster, you’re the personification of productivity.
Rings a bell doesn’t it. Constantly trying to get more things done and being more effective. It’s almost like doing more and more things in a day makes you successful for your active all day doing all sorts of things.
But let me ask you this: do those activities have any meaning? Or in other words, are they achievements or are you just running around like a headless chicken faking the lifestyle of a highly effective, successful over achiever by putting on a mask of activity hoping nobody will call your bluff. What’s worse, hoping that you can fool yourself into believing that you are on the right track.
We constantly fool ourselves that we’re busy. Reading all kinds of books on how we can be a few seconds faster for we are so efficient that every second counts, right? But do you put those milliseconds you win by using hotkeys to good use? Do you do things in the time you win that you otherwise would never do? Or do you pat yourself on the shoulder for being so good, and in doing that waste those seconds again.
All things said, achievement is not the same as activity although to onlookers it’s exactly the same. Remember the upside down swan routine? We use it to fool others but more damaging we often use it to fool ourselves. Take a good hard honest look at your activities and ask yourself, are you just active or are you really achieving something. Activity without achievement can be quite futile, a waste of the time that’s so precious to us highly effective people.
To help you in this transition I’ve selected some older posts on my blog that might be worth reading:
7 steps to enduring change, the basics of beginning – A must read if you want to change. It’s a how to change, 101
My way is the best way – on being stuck in your own ways and what they tell you
The timesuckbuster – if you’re looking to squeeze every second out of every day, read this one
Truly learning or just reinforcing current beliefs – a pitfall in the field of personal development. You won’t learn if you keep doing the same things
Micro habits, the little things we do every day – getting off auto pilot in those little habits. Sure, it will costs you some seconds, but it’s fun!
Plugged vs unplugged living – If you’re into efficiency you’re using a computer, but what if you unplugged…
Reading these blogposts will make achieving things easier for they each offer building blocks to get rid of mindless activity and start becoming really productive. Even if you define productivity as doing only one thing a day, and doing it well. If they don’t offer building blocks for you, at least they will make you rethink what you’re doing which in my opinion is always a good thing. Reviewing your own actions will always teach you new things.
Written by Christiaan
Topics: Challenging the Status Quo