You’ve seen them. Perhaps you are one of them? You have observed those types who seem to be
busy all the time, but are they really getting anything done or are they simply
going through the motions of being busy?
Do you feel that sometimes you find yourself in the same boat? I guess the really important question then
is: How do you know if you’re productive, actually getting things done or
simply just busy? I’ve prepared a small,
simple list of questions that you need to ask yourself and YOU be
the judge!
Do you have goals? People who are productive generally have
goals and focus all of their work on achieving those goals. Remember that a goal is a solid fixed
objective to your actions. It’s not “I’d
like to do…” thinking. You can clearly visualize
within your minds’ eye the target you are attempting to reach. The problem with many people is that they don’t
know how to set achievable goals within their lives. If you are such a person you might find https://www.mindtools.com/page6.html
interesting. Of course there are always
going to be distractions, but those distractions don’t take priority over the
big picture.
Do you focus or multitask? People who multitask often seem very
busy. They’re always doing something,
but they’re rarely doing any one thing very well. You’ll be more productive if you focus on
doing one thing at a time. The truth is
that you can’t really multitask and give the proper attention to any of the
tasks that you are preforming. If you want
to understand better why multitasking doesn’t work, visit https://health.clevelandclinic.org/science-clear-multitasking-doesnt-work/
Do you delegate? Sometimes you may take on tasks that
would really be better to delegate to someone else. If you work alone at your own business, this
may be more difficult. But you might be
able to delegate personal tasks while keeping the focus on your business tasks. Understanding how to delegate would be the
beginning of an unknown process to many people.
Many people feel that if they don’t “do it themselves” it will never get
done, or at the least, it will never be done right. Learning to delegate can be a very humbling
experience for some. You might want to
investigate this at https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/delegating-task?gclid=CjwKCAjw3MSHBhB3EiwAxcaEu_ruOSoydx_YQcQHfeSpcbea0FnOTAK0g1xEVRMCqteo6QFtK8pzHhoCHCsQAvD_BwE&aceid=
Do you say “no”? People who are productive know how to say “no”
to something that is going to take them away from their own important
work. It’s okay to say “no” when you
really don’t have time to fit in one more thing. That is the major concern for many. They don’t know WHEN it is the
appropriate time to say “no” to someone or something. You have to modestly consider your own personal
limitations and be honest with yourself.
Saying “no” is not always an easy thing to do, but you’ll find it very
helpful once you have learned to do it when required. PsychCentral posted an interesting article on
this at https://psychcentral.com/lib/learning-to-say-no
Do you let some things go? It may sound counterproductive to erase some
tasks from your to-do list. But you may
find that you have given yourself tasks that really won’t move your vision
forward and will take up extra time.
It’s okay to scratch something off the list and go a different way. While you’re in the process of listing your
goals you may find out later that you have included things on your list to
accomplish that, although “nice” to do, are really not necessary for you to get
done in order to complete your task. At
times we have the tendency to “overload” our to-do list with things that should
not be done, at least not at the time we had originally scheduled them to be
done.
Do you have a schedule? People who are productive tend to have a
schedule for each day of what needs to be done and when. This too, requires that we carefully analyze WHAT
needs to be done and make sure that we have not “padded” our schedule with unnecessary
things. Your schedule does not have to
be a major production, but can be something very simple. The point is that once you form the habit of
having your life scheduled you will find that you are getting more accomplished
and you are doing it more efficiently.
The problem that many have is that they don’t really know HOW to
prepare a schedule. You may like to start
at https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/6-steps-to-successful-schedules.php
to get yourself motivated to begin scheduling.
Remember, if you’re not planning ahead, chances are you’re staying busy
but not productive.
Do you complete projects? You can be busy doing something all day long,
every day and never get a project completed.
If you find you’re starting a lot of things without finishing them, it’s
time to look at your priorities and become more productive. The problem for some is that they are easily
distracted from their current task by something else that they think is more
appealing and perhaps may be more fun to do.
However, this attitude will prevent you from getting your task completed
and it will only contribute to your “to-do” list of uncompleted tasks growing
even larger. Lifehack has a very
interesting article: “10 Essential Tips to Finish What You Start.” This would be very good reading for you if this
is your problem! Visit https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-essential-tips-to-finish-what-you-start.html
Do you feel peace? When you spend your time very busy but not
accomplishing much you might feel a sense of anxiety. You may worry about all the things you need
to do that aren’t getting done. But when
you’re productive, you can actually feel peace when it comes to your work and
the tasks you are accomplishing. You
know what’s important and you have a plan to get it done --- and to get it done
on time! Having this peace of mind due
to your accomplishments is one of the greatest joys you can have. Read more about this at https://everydaypower.com/peace-of-mind-real-measure-success/
I’ve given you some things here to
consider if you are getting thing accomplished or simply “going through the
motions” to be busy. You will have to
determine which situation you are in.
This may vary from day to day, so continue to examine yourself and your
activities because you will always be standing in your own way of success. You will be your worst enemy because we’re
only human!
QUOTE TO CONSIDER
"The important thing is not how much you're doing,
it's how much you're getting done!"
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