The truth is, most of us are chasing after an idea we don’t actually understand, and therefore can’t meaningfully benefit from. Our outdated work ideals are holding us back. We need to redefine what it means to be productive, and how we define productivity, so we can get more done.
What is productivity?
Productivity is essentially the act of putting something into the world that previously didn’t exist.
- It brings in the dimension of measuring how work is accomplished, by measuring the relationship between “what goes in” and “what comes out.”
- The whole necessity of knowledge is because the kind of work being done is always contextual, always has new problems to solve, and often requires thinking in different and sometimes counter-intuitive ways.
It’s wasting your time.
While you are furiously scrambling around to put out fires and check boxes, all of the real opportunities for creativity, meaningful contribution, and recognition are passing you by
If not productivity, then what?
The key transition we need to make as knowledge workers is to shift our focus from an obsession with productivity to a practice of focus.
- Focus, unlike productivity, is a state of intentional attention. It is the space in which we are most likely to apply our unique mixture of skills, intuitions, and experiences to the problem at hand, with the goal of creating rather than replicating a specific outcome.
- Focus is the new productivity.
5 Habits of Bad Habits
It tricks you into believing that success is found through linear thinking.
- Don’t be fooled. The insight and creativity that marks successful knowledge work more frequently comes from lateral, circular, or utterly uncontrolled thinking
- To-do lists are not the best way to find success.
It makes you tie your sense of purpose and success to quantitative output
To-do lists are never finished
- The only way to feel successful in relationship to a to-do list is to accomplish more than you had expected on any given day
- This makes you feel as though you have out-competed yourself
