A to Ze of Productivity

There is an ‘element’ that can help in improving productivity, that has been around since 1927; it is called Ze.

Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. –Paul J. Meyer.

There is a ‘element’ that can help in improving productivity, that has been around since 1927; it is called Ze. I believe the biggest barrier to success is just getting started. I have been coaching some clients recently about being more effective and more efficient. It involves re-programming their brain (in a nice way), challenging their beliefs and changing their routines. In today’s busy world, we seem to be obsessed with the idea of productivity and life / work hacks. It’s easy to see why this has become so popular. Being able to get more done allows us to get ahead in life, and even gives us more time to do the things we love outside of work.

There is a body of people out there that believe we should toss productivity out andlive life more in the flow. It may sound irrational, but I bet a lot of you actually avoid doing any work at work—but not on purpose. You might be simply struggling with motivation, or you might just be overdosing on the caffeine. Whatever the issue, getting focused takes lots of time and effort.

The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.
– Peter Drucker

There’s a notable distinction between being busy and being productive. Being busy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being productive. Being productive is less about time management and more on managing your energy. It is the business of life. We need to learn how to spend the least amount of energy to get the most benefits. Sometimes, working less can actually produce better results. Additional research in this area surrounding theZeigarnik effect (Ze), suggests that we’re prone to procrastinating on large projects because we visualize the worst parts and thus delay in getting started.

One of the simplest methods for beating procrastination in almost any task was inspired by busy waiters. We remember better that which is unfinished or incomplete. Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik found in 1927 that waiters remembered orders only as long as the order was in the process of being served.When we are holding things in short-term memory, we have to rehearse them otherwise they disappear, like a light going out. This requires cognitive effort, and the more things we are rehearsing the more effort. The waiter’s trick is thus to keep spinning the plates of the open orders whilst letting those which are completed fall. A similar effect also happens over a longer period as we worry about those things in which we have not achieve closure. Thus I might keep thinking about a problem at work over a whole weekend as it keeps coming back to haunt me.

Almost sixty years later Kenneth McGraw and colleagues carried out another test of the Zeigarnik effect (McGraw et al., 1982). In it participants had to do a really tricky puzzle; except they were interrupted before any of them could solve it and told the study was over. Despite this nearly 90% carried on working on the puzzle anyway. What these examples have in common is that when people manage to start something they’re more inclined to finish it. Procrastination bites worst when we’re faced with a large task that we’re trying to avoid starting. It might be because we don’t know how to start or even where to start. What the Zeigarnik effect teaches is that one weapon for beating procrastination is starting somewhere…anywhere.

Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.
-Franz Kafka

So here are my rules for being super productive:

Breathe. Slow Rhythmic and Even for 3 minutes, every day. Close your eyes and just let breathing change your physiology. Let eustress help.
Read your BAED Motivational Card. Be Amazing Every Day [31 seconds].
Use The Ze. Don’t start with the hardest bit, try something easy first. If you can just get under way with any part of a project, then the rest will tend to follow. Once you’ve made a start, however trivial, there’s something drawing you on to the end.
What is Your Why? (The Hardest Question) Your purpose, your goals for inspiration to act (if you don’t have any, create some today!). Write a personal mission statement, and use it as a guide to set goals. Ask if each goal or activity moves you closer to achieving your mission. If it doesn’t, eliminate it. Periodically review and revise your mission statement.
Wake up Earlier. Add a productive hour to your day by getting up an hour earlier — before everyone else starts imposing on your time.
Most Important Tasks (priority 1-5). At the start of each day (or the night before) highlight the three or four most important things you have to do in the coming day. Label them from 1 -5 in terms of priority. 1’s get done. Do them first. If you get nothing else accomplished aside from your MITs, you’ve still had a pretty productive day.
Backwards Planning. A planning strategy that works from the goal back to your next action. Start with the end goal in mind. What do you have to have in place to accomplish it? OK, now what do you have to have in place to accomplish what you have to have in place to accomplish your end goal? And what do you have to have in place to accomplish that? And so on, back to something you already have in place and/or can put in place immediately. That’s your next action.
Eliminate distractions. Close email programs, switch, off email notifications. In fact, switch off the phone when you are trying to get important work done.
Smash The Big Rocks. The big projects you’re working on at any given moment. Set aside time every day or week to move your big rocks forward.
Zero Inbox Rule. Decide what to do with every email you get, the moment you read it. If there’s something you need to do, either do it or add it to your to do list and delete or file the email. If it’s something you need for reference, file it. Empty your email inbox every day.
Write it Down / Ubiquitous Capture. Always carry something to take notes with — a pen and paper, a phone, tablets- whatever.. Capture every thought that comes into your mind, whether it’s an idea for a project you’d like to do, an appointment you need to make, something you need to pick up next time you’re at the store, whatever. Review it regularly and transfer everything to where it belongs: a to do list, a filing system, a journal, etc.
80/20 Rule/Pareto Principle. Generally speaking, the 80/20 Principle says that most of our results come from a small portion of our actual work, and conversely, that we spend most of our energy doing things that aren’t ultimately all that important. Figure out which part of your work has the greatest results and focus as much of your energy as you can on that part.
Effective Batch Process. Do all your similar tasks together. For example, don’t deal with emails sporadically throughout the day; instead, set aside an hour to go through your email inbox and respond to emails. Do the same with voice mail, phone calls, responding to letters, filing, and so on — any routine, repetitive tasks.
Handle Everything Once (Full Stop *). Don’t set things aside hoping you’ll have time to deal with them later. Ask yourself what do I need to do with this every time you pick up something from your email list, and either do it, schedule it for later, defer it to someone else, or file it. Make a black star every time you pick up a bit of paper.
Be in the Flow. The flow state happens when you’re so absorbed in whatever you’re doing that you have no awareness of the passing of time and the work just happens automatically. It’s hard to trigger consciously, but you can create the conditions for it by allowing yourself a block of uninterrupted time, minimizing distractions, and calming yourself.
Simplify. We like to think of ourselves as great multitaskers, but we are not. What we do when we multitask is devote tiny slices of time to several tasks in rapid succession. Since it takes more than a few minutes (research suggests as long as 20) to really get into a task, we end up working worse and more slowly than if we devoted longer blocks of time to each task, worked until it was done, and moved on to the next one.

From the moment you wake in the morning to the time you close your eyes at night, you spend the day fulfilling responsibilities, completing tasks and working towards goals both big and small.

It is time to stop learning and start doing. Ask yourself what one thing could you do this week to get you closer to your personal success. What one thing have you been procrastinating on that will have a major impact when complete?

It’s time to finally get things done.

The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity. -Tom Peters

Be Amazing Every Day.

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