Lesson 1: What do you mean by “productive”?

One of the most important things in achieving any goal is being clear about the objective. I assume your goal here is to become more productive and effective at what you do.

However, I’d like to get a little more specific than that.

So let me ask you some questions.

  • What are your expectations of this “e-course”? In other words, what outcomes or results are you looking for, exactly?

  • How will you know whether these “lessons” have been a worthwhile investment for you?

Many of us have a tendency to dive right into solving a problem before we truly understand what it is we’re solving, and what solution would satisfy us. (I know I tend to do this when I’m eager about something!).

Here’s a story that really highlights this point:

A colleague of mine shared with me an anecdote that really highlights the relevance of this point.

My colleague teaches a class in project management.

As you can imagine, for any project to be successfully managed and completed on time and within budget, everyone on the team - and especially the project manager - needs to be clear about the objective. What exactly does the “customer” want, and by when?

In this class, she gives the students an exercise to build the tallest tower using little building blocks. As soon as she finishes talking, students dive right in. When done, each one sits back with their completed towers.

My colleague is amazed that this happens in every class.

Apparently, students rarely pause to ask:

  • What kind of tower do you want?
  • And they almost never ask clarifying questions like, how tall is tall?
  • Should we each build individual towers or work together as a group to build one big tower?
  • Can we use the extra blocks you have, or only the ones on the table?
  • How much time do we have to build this?

Without this level of details, the towers range in shape and size, based on each student’s interpretation - which may be not at all what the “customer” (in this case, my colleague) had in mind when she assigned the exercise.

The same principle applies to our own “projects”.

My point is this:

We need to understand clearly what we want to achieve, what exactly the outcome or result is that we want, before we can start working towards “it”.

So when you say you want to be productive and effective, what *exactly* do you mean?

For me, productive means different things in different cases.

For instance, I consider a weekend to be productive if I get a lot of chores done, have some “alone time”, and also have some social time with friends and family. However, a day can also be productive if I’m able to complete just one very important thing.

It depends on what my expectations were for that day or weekend. And I feel I’m effective when I get the results I want with minimal effort.

But it’s not important how I or the dictionary define these terms.

What’s important is how YOU define them.

  • How do you recognize a productive day?

  • How do you know when you’re being effective, and when you’re not?

This is important, because you are your own “customer” in this case. Also, this level of clarity helps you recognize when you’ve achieved your end goal — whatever it may be. And in this case, it will help you determine at the end of the “e-course” whether it was a worthwhile investment for you.

ACTION STEP

So, here’s a simple — yet very powerful — exercise that will help you get to this level of clarity immediately.

Each day, as you go about your normal day, make a note of the following situations (and don’t limit it to just your “work day”):

  1. When during the day did you feel effective? When did you feel ineffective?
  2. When during the day did you feel productive? When did you feel unproductive?
  3. In each case, what specifically led you to feel this way?

*** IMPORTANT NOTE ***

This is not meant to be another “to do” on your list!

Rather, this is something that you notice about yourself as you go about your normal day.

Since extremes are often easier to notice, at first you might only notice those. After a while, you will gradually notice other less extreme scenarios.

Whenever you can, write down what you noticed during the day. We’ll use this information later in the program.

Next week, lesson 2: What obstacles are in your way?
– Sri