Productivity is defined as the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services. (thank you dictionary.com) I, like most people, enjoy being productive. Unfortunately, however, it is easy to kill productivity.
- Photo Courtesy of Jo Naylor
The death of productivity can be carried out in many different ways. A few of my favorite ways are:
- My iphone and ipad. Just like any tool, it can be used for good or for bad. I use my i devices for good in many different ways. I use it to read my Bible, to stay up to date on all of my favorite blogs, to manage my contacts, to keep track of thoughts and future blogs, to manage my appointments (both professionally and personally), to research items of interest, and a score of other good ways. On the other side of that coin, I look at it too much. I look at facebook, twitter, other social media apps, play games, and read meaningless email way too much. I am trying to make an intentional effort to stop doing this and be where I am.
- Busy work. I know this one may not seem correct. I know that most of the time work, even busy work can be productive. If it needs to be done, it needs to be done. I often times find myself doing busy work as an excuse to avoid doing something I really should be doing, just to say I am being productive. In actuality, I am killing productivity by avoiding the things that may be a little more tough, but will bring me to my goals much faster.
- Perfection. This is a big one for me. I have been afraid to do many things through my life, because I knew that it would not be perfect. I knew there was no way that I could live up to my own expectations. I had always been taught that anything worth doing is worth doing right. This statement is true. However, it doesn’t have to be right the first time. Think of anything that you are good at. Got it? Ok, now think back to the first time you did that activity. Was it right? Was it perfect? I would like to amend the above statement to be, “Anything worth doing, is worth messing up at least once.” That is the only way people learn, by messing up. Very few people ever reach perfection in anything. It is a great goal to have. ‘Good enough’ is what you need to get started.
There are a lot of other things that kill productivity, but these are my favorites. My goal is to start down the road to eliminating these productivity killers as quickly as I can. I am going to start updating this page more consistently. Since I wrote that down, I have to do it now…
What is killing your productivity?