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Why Being Productive Can Be The Most Unproductive Thing We Can Do
Running At 100% Capacity Is Inefficient
Productivity is a meaningless term unless we have a defined goal. The goal is our standard by which we can determine how meaningful our activity is. If we don’t have a goal we are just busy and busy doesn’t get us anywhere. It gets us tired and run down. It leads to burnout, but actions that directly support a goal will lead to satisfaction.
It’s why I’m obsessed with studying successful people. They did something I want to learn how to do. We hear influencers tell us to be consistent. What use is consistency if we don’t know what we want to accomplish. What those successful people did was establish clearly defined goals and determined the key actions it took to achieve them. The combination is key.
100% Busy Doesn’t Equal 100% Effective
It is a simple concept that is easy to overlook. We are so good at being busy that we don’t stop to ask ourselves what are we doing here? In Eliyahu Goldratt’s book, The Goal, that is exactly what plant manager Alex Rogo and his team ask themselves. When facing a plant shut down they start asking questions and wonder if anyone genuinely understands what they are doing there? Not your typical question when trying to figure out what…
