As a solo, service-based business owner, I am very familiar with productivity. The usual starting point for selling services is time = money, so virtual assistants aim to get very good at maximising the value we can squeeze into every hour.
The topic has also infiltrated mainstream discourse, especially since the pandemic, because we hear a lot about business leaders citing ‘productivity’ as a reason why everyone needs to come back to working in the office. (I strongly disagree with this, but that’s a topic for another day).
A little while ago now I was listening to an episode of the Tim Ferriss podcast*, and he said something that stopped me in my tracks (literally – I was out for a walk, and I came to a standstill so I could absorb his point).
We’re doing productivity wrong.
At it’s core, being productive simply means getting a thing done as efficiently as possible. And yet somehow, over time, we’ve morphed the concept to add on that if you’re working efficiently, it means you have MORE time to do MORE WORK! And so we’ve ended up with this work culture that focuses on more and more and more.
Which, as we’re beginning to see, is not actually a recipe for productivity at all. It’s a recipe for stress, negative mindset (“I should be able to do more, what’s wrong with me?”), resentment, and burnout. And I think that’s why I was so grateful for the reminder from Tim Ferriss, to bring productivity back to basics.
Being productive means getting the thing done as efficiently as possible, which will save time. If the thing used to take 3 hours and now it takes 2 hours, I have 1 free hour. Our hyper-productive culture says “yesssss, an hour to produce more!”, so most often our reward for doing our work in 6 hours instead of 8 is… more work. Ew.
Instead, our reward should be the freedom to choose how we spend that reclaimed time. Sure, maybe you want to do a little extra work to get ahead (but please don’t make this the norm). But wouldn’t it be great if you also had the option to devote that time to non-work pursuits that fill your cup? Those of us who have managed to step outside the old-school corporate mould (either through self-employment, or because we work somewhere that gets it) understand that a happier, more fulfilled worker is actually a more productive worker, and will contribute far more than hours at their desk.
There’s another important thing to remember here: there will always be more to do. So if you’re slogging it out, trying to maximise your productivity so you can race to the end of your to do list, you are bound to fail (and feel really shitty about it too). You need to get good at understanding when you have done enough, and walk away. If you’re someone who struggles with a ‘not enough’ mindset, I encourage you to practice this mantra daily: some is better than none.
It’s time to get back to the true meaning of productivity. Set yourself realistic timelines for how long things take, and how much you want to get done in a day. Look for opportunities to improve your efficiency so that you can get things done more quickly. And then reward yourself for the time you’ve reclaimed by doing something that feels good!
*I can’t remember the specific episode, apologies!
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