My Top Three Tips For Productivity
First published on May 13, 2020
I was speaking to a new connection last week, and he said to me, 'You seem like someone who gets things done. What are your... I don't know... top three tips for people on time management or productivity?'
So I sat and I thought. Here's what came out:
1) Choose one time management/productivity book to live by. Choose it wisely, and then put all your energy into doing what it says. Essentially, it doesn't matter which one.
I chose The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Of course, it's only partially a productivity book, it's way more than that. It's a book about listening to your muse, releasing creativity into the world, doing the work that your Higher Self is called to do. But it's definitely a book about getting things done.
I was given it right at the start of my journey as a coach. It was a perfectly timed gift, which I then rigorously applied, developing an incredibly low tolerance for my own bullshit. But this didn't happen straight away. I had to keep trying. I failed many times to beat Resistance. But each time I failed, I recommitted; I trained the muscle of feeling the Resistance and the fear and acting anyway.
The truth is, though, it doesn't matter which one you choose. Read The Four-Hour Work Week or Getting Things Done. I LOVED The One Thing - choose that. Choose one that speaks to you and then put your energy into doing what the author says, and developing the discipline to follow their rules. Underneath, the discipline to do what you say is probably the metacompetency which above all will help you get things done.
2) Be humble. Do the 'stupid' things you need to do in order to get things done.
It feels like we should be able to just get things done. But if we could, there wouldn't be a whole industry around productivity and there wouldn't be a million world-changing books and business ideas gathering dust in the basements of people's minds. The technological revolution has led to a series of devices, apps and websites designed by the cleverest people in the world to grab your attention and keep it. So do what you need to do, however stupid it is, in order to give yourself the time to focus. If you have to unplug the router to stop yourself checking Facebook, unplug the router. If you have to put your phone in another room, put your phone in another room. I got a lot out of turning off notifications on my phone and making it so I had to enter my password every time I want to check Facebook. Be humble enough to realise you need to do these things.
3) Your excuses about not having enough time are excuses. Just start.
12 minutes on a train, once a week. That's how I started. And now there are over 160 articles written over three and a half years. The first 140 of them will be published as a book, and (even if I say so myself) a surprisingly good one. I literally wrote a book in 12 minutes (a week for three years). Start and then keep going. That's how The Wisdom of David Gemmell got to 250 entries - one a week for 5 years; it's how I reached almost 1500 hours of coaching, one conversation at a time. It's how everything happens. Matthew Syed's book Bounce makes an incredibly powerful case that it's how everyone gets good at everything: that talent is a myth, all that counts is concerted practice. So start the thing you want to start, even if you only have 12 minutes. And then keep going, every week.
You will change, and you will make something magical.
Of course, these aren't really time management tips. They aren't really productivity tips, either. They are self-management tips. They are: how do I deal with the struggles of being a human in the information age, to focus enough to create the amazing work that only I can create?
And that is a question I'd love you to ask yourself.