You act or you don't.
If you act, the action accomplishes
something or it doesn't. The result either meets your expectations or not.
That
is a simple, behaviorist description of personal
productivity. Forget about all the syllables (eight of 'em: Per son al Pro duc
tiv it y) -- this is about getting things done. The right things. The right
way. Quickly
You don't have to be an efficiency
expert to understand personal productivity. Anyone can grasp it, but it's
amazing how little attention we pay. This is a fundamental factor in human
life.
On the matter of paying attention:
Even the most minimal amount of it a person pays to his/her own behavior can
save that person hours a week, or even hours a day.
Think
about it. You need to run errands, say. One of the errands involves an
annoying person or thing.
Because your focus is blurred by a
minor negative emotion, you don't realize until you're well on your way that
you forgot to bring along the items you need to properly carry out the two or
three other matters you could handle while you’re downtown.
So, you're going to waste some time,
and you have to do some more thinking. Do you turn around and go back? Do you
reprioritize your activities? Do you get madder, further messing up your productivity?
Most
importantly, do you take a moment to imprint the lesson
learned, and leverage some motivation from it to improve your management of the
rest of your day?
Personal productivity comprises
anticipation, evaluation, prioritization, scheduling, efficiency, problem
solving, negotiation and persuasion -- and probably a few other good habits.
But it starts with
stopping to think. Do that a few minutes twice a day, and reap some amazing
rewards.