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Episode 486 – The most important productivity tool

• Productivity seems to be a word I read and hear everywhere these days
• Everyone is obsessed with getting stuff done
• We all want to get more done in a day, a week, a month and a year
• A Google search brings back an endless list of articles filled with of advice that offer hacks, tools, tricks, and secrets to help us pack more output into the waking hours of our days.
• according to IBISWorld research – Productivity software accounts for an $82 billion market,
• There are entire podcasts dedicated to the topic and they talk about all the various Apps available to help us be more organized and hence, more productive
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• Have we always been hunting for greater efficiency or is this a recent phenomenon?
• I did some digging and stumbled across an article by FAST company that gives some insight
• First mentions of productivity appear in Adam Smith’s classic economics text “Wealth of Nations” where Smith contended that there were two kinds of labor: productive and unproductive.
• Benjamin Franklin, put forth what might be considered the first “to-do” list in 1791.
• Franklin’s list of tasks included activities like wash, work, read, work, put things in their places, which reminds me a little of the Six Sigma concept
• But I really like Franklin’s assessment of a successful day: Start the day asking what good shall be done, and at the end of the day evaluate based on what was accomplished.
• I still see this advice in many articles I read on the topic of productivity
• Day planners as a tool to increase productivity appeared in 1850
• And in the 20^th century, consultants appeared that specialized in productivity to help companies satisfy the demands of the U.S.’s growing middle class
• Productivity gurus like Tom Peters, whose book In Search of Excellence chronicles the productivity practices of “America’s best-run companies and Michael Porter who wrote Competitive Advantages become widely popular
• Then there was Bill Smith, an engineer at Motorola who introduced Six Sigma in 1986 as “a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process–from manufacturing to transactional, and from product to service.”
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• So, greater demands for goods and more competition in a consumer-driven society demanded higher productivity
• But I want to think that productivity was a term reserved for work
  • Six sigma
  • Kaizen
  • Lean engineering
  • Units per hour measures
  • etc
• I dealt with these terms on a daily basis at my work
• I know passionate people that did reorganize their garage according to the 5S system that’s part of Six Sigma
  • they labeled everything to make sure it stays organized
• I have used to do lists as long as I can remember
• But I have never been really concerned with my productivity in my personal life until recently
• I just wanted to make it through the day and get home
• Today I worry about how much I can get done in a given day before I go home
• Work and personal life are not as detached as they used to be when you took your briefcase and left the office
• Today we take work with us – with our laptops, remote logins and out phones where most of us have access to work email
• Many nights I find myself opening my work laptop to work on something personal, but end up checking email
  • work has spilled over from the office to the train, airplane, hotel room, and takes over our personal lives
• so its understandable that we are searching for ways to make it all work
• with the internet the world is open to us
• never before in my life di I want to do so much with my life
  • thanks to all the information I have available to me
  • want to learn French, travel to interesting places, take a silent meditation retreat, learn to hunt, climb mountains I never even know excited
• Our appetite for a fulfilled life leads to a need for productivity tools that help us “do more with less.”
  • So we can get everything on our list done
• Productivity apps can facilitate time management and give us a sense of control.
• There is a wide variety available
• Some track, others offer ways to organize your information better
• Some control what you cannot control
  • I have a friend whose internet shuts down automatically at 9pm every night
• Productivity has shifted from being only work-related and a primary concern of businesses in order to reap more profits to an individual obsession
  • we want to be efficient in all aspects of our life
  • We want to get stuff done
• But are we truly more productive now, with all our tools and apps and strategies and thousands of articles that tell us who to be more productive?
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• This is a question everyone needs to ask themselves individually.
• And I believe, we cannot really answer this question without one key element to productivity that is highly underrated
  • And that is to write everything down
• Without writing down what you want to do, how do you know you are getting everything done?
• Writing down your tasks is therefore not just a reminder to get it donw
• It also helps you measure yourself
• Recall Franklins advise?
  • Start the day asking what good shall be done, and at the end of the day evaluate based on what was accomplished.
• Many people think they can manage their day to day from their head
• I wont argue as I don’t know how much everyone has on their plate
• But here is something that I want to add:
• You may know your to-dos every day
• But what about insights and ideas that come to you in the course of the day?
• I don’t know if everyone has them but I suppose they do not just happen to me
• At random times during the day I have flashes
  • Of tasks I have forgotten about that are still outstanding
  • Ideas on something I want to try
  • Sometimes I had the idea previously and never did anything with it
  • This time I am writing it down
  • Some are silly little thoughts that may not evolve into much
  • But sometimes they are important
    • On Monday I had a school meeting with the girl I mentor
    • And on the drive to work afterwards it occurred to me to make time this week and leave work early and check in on her at school
    • Maybe touch base and get to know a few of her teachers which are all new
    • See how she is doing in her environment
    • When I arrived at work I wrote it in my agenda
    • I looked for the best day where I could leave early, decided it would be Friday, and planned it
    • Had I not done it, my other responsibilities would have taken over and it would never have happened
    • As it happens many times
    • Many of my ideas never make it because I don’t flush them out
    • I don’t write them down
  • The easiest productivity advise I can give you is to write things down
  • If you are opposed to old fashioned agendas and hand-written notes, find an App
  • But let me tell you
  • I haven’t found one that does everything my Moleskine agenda does and in less time
  • On apps, I always find myself searching around
  • It wastes my time – when I can just open my agenda and have the entire week on one page and can easily see what I have to do
  • Make sure you ask yourself, before installing another App or software:
  • Is this tool actually going to make you more productive?
  • Lots of people have their info spread across difffernt apps because one cannot do it all
    • They have calendar apps, to-do Apps, note-taking and note-keeping apps
  • I have those as well but I have one primary producitivty tool I have on my all the time and use every single day
  • And that is my Moleskine agenda
    • I keep notes in Evernote
    • I have an Outlook calendar for work meetings that I use Mo-Fri during working hours
    • and I have a Google calendar for personal events such as school meetings, Meetups I signed up for, upcoming climbing trips and some reminders like library due dates, bill payment due dates, etc
  • but my day to day productivity is determined by my Moleskine calendar where I hand -write everything I need to do that will make me feel productive
  • Keep in mind the golden rule for productivity before you download yet another app
    • How much time do you get back?
  • Remember – our goal with productivity is to do more in less time
  • But if your new app requires you to build a bunch of categories first, tag everything and then requires a search by tag every time you need something – are you really saving time?
  • The 10 articles you just read about productivity?
    • How are they paying off?
    • What are you implementing from them that makes you more productive?
  • I come back to writing:
  • Plan out your day
  • The important things that you want to get done –
    • Morning meditation reminders
    • Gym days
    • Articles you want to read
  • Write it down and it will get done
  • Start there
  • There is no need for an App that tracks heart rate and steps walked if you are not walking
  • Do the task first
  • Make time for it by planning it in your calendar and then do it
  • And then after you have your routine and your habit established – maybe you want to get in App to refine and take you to the next level
  • But I find, most things in my life get done because I write them down
  • Due to my climbing weekends, I have a lot tasks accumulate that I cannot get done during the week
  • I write them all down and I start looking for a weekend day where I can tackle them
  • I don’t plan anything for that day because I know what I need to get done
  • Such a day was last Sunday and I probably need another one
  •  
  • So before you stress out about not getting things done
  • Before you read about productivity hacks and tools and strategies
  • Start with the basics and write out your tasks
  • You will notice your productivity increase almost immediately.

Much love