Look at your to-do list. Does every entry describe something you can actually do?
‘Email the proposal’ is a task. But ‘New website’, ‘Resolve the staffing issue’ and ‘Improve team morale’ need more thought.
Some entries are
Treating them all as tasks can leave you trying to complete something you have not yet understood.
Continue reading Not everything on your to-do list is a taskMost productivity advice encourages us to eliminate spare capacity.
We fill gaps in the diary, batch similar tasks and streamline recurring work. We try to make every part of the system earn its place.
This can certainly make us more efficient. But it can also make us less able to respond when circumstances change.
Continue reading Why a little apparent inefficiency can make you more adaptableIn yesterday’s post, I suggested that the deeper outcome of productivity is not optimisation but self-trust.
Self-trust does not appear because we find the perfect system. It develops through experience.
Each time we make a realistic commitment and follow through, we give ourselves a little more evidence that we can rely on ourselves.
Large commitments can feel important, but they are not always the best place to begin.
Choose one small action that would make life slightly easier for your future self.
Continue reading One act of self trustProductivity advice often focuses on optimisation.
We are encouraged to find the fastest tool, the most efficient workflow, or the perfect morning routine. There is always another app to install, another system to refine, another technique to master.
But the deeper purpose of productivity is not efficiency.
It is self-trust.
Continue reading Why trust matters more than optimisationLean 5S is usually talked about in the context of factories, workplaces and production systems.
But it is also a powerful way to think about personal productivity.
At its heart, 5S is about creating an environment where useful things are easy to find, unnecessary things are removed and the system is simple enough to maintain.
That applies to a workshop. But it also applies to your home, your desk, your files, your inbox, your notes, your photos and your task manager.
Continue reading Lean 5S for personal productivity
