Episode Transcript
A List, A Calendar, And A Clock
Use These Things to Be More Productive
We’ve been focusing on productivity over the past few weeks. Being productive is not about getting a lot done, it’s about getting the right things done. With clarity of what the right things are, we need the right tools to help us. Last week, we discussed OneNote as one of these tools. This is the list tool. Granted, OneNote is a lot more than just a list.
Lists are a way of keeping track of things.
These may be things that need to be done, agendas, notes from meetings, ideas that you have and don’t want to forget, or future plans. You can put thousands of things on a list. You can have lists of lists. Lists are a great way to prioritize things but have no time parameters.
This is where a calendar comes in. Because a list pays no attention to scheduling, we need a way to do this. A calendar allows you to schedule things. This doesn’t mean that just because it’s on the calendar it’s going to get done in the time allotted. It does, however, help to keep you motivated.
I find it interesting how when there’s a trip scheduled that involves a deadline, more often than not, you will make the deadline. Purchasing a plane ticket, getting packed, and getting to the airport on time, these things all get done. Productivity increases when you know that if you aren’t at the airport on time, you’ll miss your flight.
The importance of this hard stop gives us an incentive to get things done.
It helps us be more productive.
So how can we be more productive in our daily lives? By giving the same importance to everyday occurrences that we do to airplane departures.
Years ago, I noticed when a construction project gets down to the end of the job, the productivity picked up. Early on there was the perception that we had all the time in the world to get the project done. Then, as the deadline approached and we knew there were penalties for schedule overruns, the productivity improved.
This is when it became apparent that the sense of urgency needed to be created earlier in the process. I started breaking things down into smaller pieces and scheduled them on the calendar.
This helped me to view things differently and to create a sense of urgency.
Now my calendar is packed full every day. I schedule everything. Do I get it all done? No. But I get a lot more done than I used to.
The key to BUILDing a better business and a better life is Being aware of the issues, Understanding them, taking Intentional action, and continuing to Learn. Only then can you achieve your Dreams.
Just putting things on a list and scheduling them on the calendar doesn’t get them done. Next week, we’ll look at the time factor.
If you would like to be more productive, schedule a free 30-minute meeting and we can discuss how you can accomplish that.
