The Ultimate Productivity Method in 2023
âPurposefulâ Productivity â Do Less but Better to Achieve More
Feeling overwhelmed with too much to do and too little time?
Working long hours or even pulling all-nighters?
Weâre actually working way more than 40 hours a week. And 84% of Gen Zs reported burnout along with 74% of Millennials (a 2021 study by Asana).
Is it even possible to achieve your goals without working like this?
âŠ
Yes â the key is not doing more, but less.
If you already work at least fifty hours a week, piling on still more hours wonât improve your performance much. It can even make it worse.
From âGreat at Workâ
Doing More â Achieving More
Too many of us see productivity as âGet More Done, Fasterâ â the mindset that emerged from the Industrial Revolution when most people worked in factories.
And thatâs actually whatâs ruining our lives with stress, anxiety, distraction and burnout today (the âproductivity trapâ).
What should be productivity in the era of âstress and distractionâ then?
The answer is Purposefulnessâ âDo the Right Things Rightâ.
Focus on the âvital fewâ (20% of your tasks that generate 80% of outcomes), then manage your mind and body deliberately to produce your best work.
Purposeful productivity allows you to do less but better so that you can achieve more in your life (career, finances, family & friends, health, etc).
Purposeful Productivity: Do Less but Better to Achieve More
Be purposeful about what to do (the right things) and how to accomplish them (do them right) while deliberately managing the 5 key elements of productivity â Tasks, Time, Attention, Energy and Purpose.
5 steps to practice âPurposeful Productivityâ
- Capture selectively
- Choose wisely
- Focus relentlessly
- Recharge deliberately
- Reflect truthfully
1. Capture Selectively
Quickly capture tasks as they arise.
Get them in your âexternalâ mind (e.g. to-do list app) so that you can forget about them temporarily and instead focus on what really matters now.
Donât capture just âeverythingâ, though. It can easily clutter your âplateâ, making it harder to maintain your focus on top priorities.
Capture only whatâs actionable and important.
The quality of input determines the quality of output.
Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO)
One âInboxâ
Tasks can also come from various sources â project management apps, emails, instant messages (e.g. Slack) and other tools such as GitHub and Figma.
The more places you have to go to check your tasks, the harder it is to get your priorities right. Bring them all together in one âinboxâ, or try to minimize your âinboxesâ.
2. Choose Wisely
Donât mistake âurgencyâ for âimportanceâ, and âbusyâ for âproductiveâ.
Urgency is powerful and addictive. We are drawn to do something urgent, just to stay in motion. Stay focused on importance to achieve more with less.
Spend 3-5 minutes at the end of each work day and:
- Choose 3 most important tasks (MITs) for the next day
- Choose the â1 Mustâ (your main priority) out of the three
Block time on your calendar so you knock off your â1 Mustâ early in the morning each day before you get caught by urgent but less important tasks.
Maximize Your Time
Not enough time for your MITs right now (e.g. between meetings)?
Check whatâs on your plate but donât jump on an easy task just to get more stuff done as it tends to be unimportant.
Instead, choose the most important task that you can still do within the available âtime and energyâ to maximize your time.
Deliberately and consciously procrastinate on small, less important tasks.
Your ability to select your most important task at each moment . . . will probably have more of an impact on your success than any other quality or skill you can develop.
From âEat That Frog!â
3. Focus Relentlessly
According to the studies from the University of California Irvine, weâre distracted every 40 seconds when working in front of a computer, and it takes about 23 minutes to get back to the task afterward.
Doing the right things is only half the equation, and doesnât create real value if itâs not done right.
Directing your attention toward the most important object of your choosing â and then sustaining that attention â is the most consequential decision we will make throughout the day.
From âHyperfocusâ
Doing your important tasks exceptionally well often requires large chunks of uninterrupted time. Your ability and commitment to protecting your attention is central to maximizing your performance.
To perform the so-called âdeep workâ:
- Turn off notifications and block websites during your focus time, except the absolutely necessary ones
- Focus on one task at a time (monotasking) to produce your best work
- Set a timer (avoid overworking) and work against the âgame clockâ (push yourself for efficiency)
4. Recharge Deliberately
Productivity is not âconstantâ. It can quickly go down as you get tired or distracted. In fact, complex tasks can take more than twice as long when youâre tired.
But still feeling like you can get more stuff done instead of taking a break?
The opportunity cost of taking a break is widely spread, but a myth.
Regular breaks enable you to sustain your energy (i.e. the ability to focus) to maximize your performance throughout the day.
Itâs also an opportunity to let your mind wander to come up with creative ideas (âScatterfocusâ as Chris Bailey explains in his âHyperfocusâ book).
Regular Breaks
So, when to take a break and for how long?
Take breaks regularly even if youâre not tired yet, because your productivity have already begun to drop when you feel tired. Just like youâre already dehydrated when you feel thirsty.
Try a few different cycles and see what suits you best personally.
- 25 min work + 5 min break (Pomodoro tequnique)
- 52 min work + 17 min break (52/17 rule)
- 90 min work + 20 min break (Ultradian rhythms)
Energizers
The break time should be seen as a ârewardâ. You just worked really hard on whatâs important and delivered real value. Enjoy some little time off to recharge your batteries!
First, check in on how you feel:
- Physical capacity â Does your body need some rest, or activation?
- Emotional capacity â Are you in a good or bad mood?
- Mental capacity â Cognitively overloaded now?
- Spiritual capacity â Lacking the âdriveâ? Feeling lost?
Then do what gives you the right kind of energy:
Examples
- Stand up and stretch
- Look into the distance
- Listen to your favorite music
- Look at old photos that bring back good memories
- Chat with your peers
- Walk in nature
- Meditate
- Or simply enjoy your hobby!
The richest, happiest and most productive lives are characterized by the ability to fully engage in the challenge at hand, but also to disengage periodically and seek renewal.
From âThe Power of Full Engagementâ
5. Reflect Truthfully
At the end of each week, set aside 15â30 minutes on your schedule. Itâs time to reconnect with your purpose (why), short and long term goals (what).
The most productive people start with purpose and use it like a compass. They allow purpose to be the guiding force in determining the priority that drives their actions. This is the straightest path to extraordinary results.
From âThe ONE Thingâ
Reflect on what youâve done this week and ask yourself:
- Are your daily actions connected to your purpose?
- Are you getting closer to your short & long term goals?
Revisit your strategy (how) when necessary, so you can stay on track to ensure you put your effort on what matters most to achieve your goals.
The Eisenhower Matrix
Next, go over whatâs on your plate quickly. The goal is choosing your most important tasks for the upcoming week while ruthlessly identifying any tasks you shouldnât be doing based on your purpose, short and long term goals.
Use the Eisenhower matrix:
- Important & Urgent â Move them to your weekly plan
- Important & Not urgent â Do more of what makes the biggest impact
- Not important & Urgent â Try to skip or delegate them to others
- Others â Eliminate them!
Wrap Up
Are you not happy with where you are now? The reason why you are there is simply because of what you choose to do everyday and how you do it.
Think and work like the most successful and productive people.
Change how you think and work incrementally â one thing at a time.
Pick the one that resonates the most in this method. Start with that.
Ritualizing one change will bring you much more success than if you try to bite off everything at once â just like taking the entire bottle of aspirin isnât the right solution for muscle pain.
From âOrganize Tomorrow Todayâ
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P.S. The team (including myself) at Radikal.Ventures is currently building a new product called Yatta (private beta), which helps you incorporate the methods mentioned in this article into your daily workflow. Check it out!