Productivity with Purpose
Posts tagged career
Absolute Minimums are a Must to Improve Productivity
Jul 23rd
If you consistently accomplish your absolute minimum in each of your critical core concentration areas each day you will make significant progress toward you goals over time.
Remember, slow and steady wins the race. You can always do more than the minimum and I hope you will, but even small amounts of advancement add up. Too often we get caught up in the mental trap of believing that if we can’t commit a substantial amount of time and energy then we might as well not bother to take action at all. That is a myth.
Take a look at what you have identified as your current critical areas of focus and determine what your absolute minimums are.
What is the least amount of time, effort or action you need to take to see progress?
Each person will have different answers and only you as an individual can reasonably define what they are. It is also helpful to note which focus area they address. To get you started, here is an example based on my current focus list, of the absolute minimums that I must do with consistency; both to achieve progress towards my goals and also to feel satisfied with my life and work:
- Exercise a minimum of 20 minutes daily – physical health
- Write one hour – career
- Email my husband daily summary & encouragement – family
- Work a minimum of 6 hours each day during the summer – career
- Social media (10 Twitter posts and 1 Facebook post daily, update LinkedIn status weekly) – career
- Connect with at least one child each day (one on one time, phone call or email/text communication) – family
- Take 30 minutes of alone time (crucial to my sanity) – mental health
- Check in with my Facebook community (especially group for spouses of deployed military members) – friends
Your list may be very different and it should be since your life situation is dissimilar to mine. This list will then become a structure for new habits you want to implement. The amount and complexity is up to you, but remember to keep it reasonable or you won’t be able to maintain your momentum.
Productivity is a Valuable Tool in Every Area
Jun 4th
Productivity comes in many forms and manifests itself differently depending on your work, life or focus. It really is just a matter of getting results or accomplishing a goal or task that brings you closer to a desired, meaningful outcome. That may be a new or better job, higher revenue or income, enhanced relationships, improved health or simply a more organized or efficient home of life with less stress. The skill or strategy of being productive is highly transferrable to every aspect of your life and is unquestionably worth the investment of your time and resources to cultivate as often as possible.
Whatever your goal; true personal productivity involves:
- Having a clear outcome
- Defining your purpose
- Timeframe for either completion or progress
- Method of accountability
- Outlined steps or tasks required
- Reward yourself if possible
Let me share with you a simple example from my own personal life to illustrate the concept in very basic terms. My son and I recently began a practice of reading together before school. We both love to read and used to read together at bedtime, but that just doesn’t happen anymore – he prefers to read by himself quietly before bed and my evenings are just so busy much of the time. At any rate, I decided to take my own advice and look at this personal issue from a productivity standpoint – what would I advise someone else to do?
- Outcome – Read The Mysterious Benedict Society with my 11 year old son
- Purpose – Spend quality one-on-one time with my child doing something we enjoy
- Timeframe – One month
- Accountability – Son as partner – he waits for me in our reading place and reminds me
- Steps/tasks – Read for 15 minutes each school morning while waiting for bus
- Reward – Breakfast in the park & a new book for next month
In this case since I was working with a partner, so commitment on both our parts was necessary to make this work. There were obstacles of course – days I had to leave home early or when one of us was ill – but even then we would treat this as a firm commitment and work around those roadblocks by rescheduling for afterschool or a “make-up” session on the weekend.(Yes, I added these sessions to my calendar!)
Simple, easy and remarkably effective!
What project or goal can you apply this too?
Are Your Goals SMART?
Apr 14th
Specific: Goals must be very clear, not sort of vague ideas. We often set goals that are so generic, it’s nearly impossible to measure progress or successful achievement. You need to know what has to be done or what specifically the desired end result will be.
BAD EXAMPLE:
- I want to lose weight – Well who doesn’t? What does that mean?
GOOD EXAMPLE:
- I want to lose 20 pounds by September 1st. I will perform a half hour of cardio and half hour of strength training per day, 5 times a week.
Measurable: Goals need to be measurable. They should be well-defined, concrete goals and must be in qualitative or quantitative terms. If your goals are not measurable, you will never know whether you are making progress toward their successful completion. Choose some unit of measurement that will allow you to see exactly how far you have come and how far away from the completion of the goal you are.
BAD EXAMPLE:
- I want to be rich.
- I want to be successful.
GOOD EXAMPLE:
- I want to gross 1 million dollars and have a team of 5 within 3 years.
Attainable: Goals need to be realistic and achievable. Time and again, success or failure depends on setting practical goals. The best goals require you to stretch a bit to achieve, but they aren’t out of reach. Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting goals that are too high. You should consider your skills and resources available to help you achieve your goal. Creating goals that are not attainable is very disheartening and will only serve to discourage you in life.
BAD EXAMPLE:
- I want to become a millionaire in 3 months (don’t we all!)
GOOD EXAMPLE:
- I want to make an extra $500 per month.
- I want to increase my savings account by $10,000 in 3 years.
Relevant: Goals must be relevant to your purpose (or your company’s.) Relevant goals ensure that you are directing your effort towards goals that are focused on your mission statement, business objective or overall strategic long-term plan in life. The goal also has to be relevant or consistent with your responsibilities, knowledge, skill set, and access.
BAD EXAMPLE:
- I want to network more – Why? What does that get you? How?
GOOD EXAMPLE:
- I want to build a charitable foundation that helps feed the homeless.
Time Sensitive: Goals need to have a time frame, milestones and a deadline. Having a set amount of time will give your goals structure. It also helps you monitor your progress. Not having time constraints attached to your goal triggers procrastination. Without an end date there is no sense of urgency, no impetus to take any action today. Without this component we are tempted to put the goal off for a later time and never get around to it; or it simply gets overshadowed by the day to day grind.
BAD EXAMPLE:
- I want to write a book.
- I want to start my own business.
GOOD EXAMPLE:
- I want to write a book on financial planning and submit it to publishers 1 year from today.
- I want to have a retirement account with at least $500,000 within 5 years from this date.
By spending some time towards making sure that your goals fit the SMART criteria, you will make your success much more likely.
