I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word ‘productivity’ I am not 100% sure what I mean by using it. I’ve never really thought about it or considered its implications. I’ve just used it. Until recently.
When people use this word they’re often using it to convey a sense of busyness or accomplishment. As a verb, “I was productive today.” or as a noun “I’m studying productivity.”, they usually mean that they are getting things done or learning how to be more efficient in getting things done. And from a literal standpoint they would be right.
The Webster’s Dictionary defines productivity as “the quality or state of being productive”. It also defines productive as “effective in bringing about or yielding or furnishing results, benefits, or products.”; But is that all productivity is? Finishing tasks just to cross them off our list?
I don’t think that’s the case. I believe that true productivity is more of a mindset than a verb. A mindset that produces a life-encompassing system, which not only gets things done and produces results, but also moves an individual towards fulfilling their larger life goals. Therefore, I offer this working definition: A productive life is a life that meets the requirements and expectations of its priorities.
This is what I believe true productivity is at its core. This is the foundational mindset from which we will seek to build our system off of over the next few days. It is a simple definition, but we have found it to be a highly practical one as well. ‘How?’ you might ask. Because when you begin to view your productivity as a bigger picture, rather than on a day-to-day basis, it gives you a target to aim for and a measurement to gauge your progress. You start to see that doing a ton of work on a given day doesn’t mean you were productive. If it didn’t progress your priorities you weren’t productive.
“That sounds great!”, you say. “But where do I start?”
You start with identifying your priorities, which we’ll look at in our next post.
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