I’d start by hiring someone like me to help me understand why you are not being productive, but let’s step back.
Do you struggle with productivity?
According to a recent Gallup study, 79%, or four out of five people, felt they were unproductive throughout the day.
Four out of five people. Odds are, you are one of them.
Let’s get to the root of why people struggle with productivity because it’s probably not what you think.
It’s not that you lack the right planner, the right app, or any additive tech because all those things are predicated or can hold any value if you’ve solved your biggest obstacle to being productive.
And no, I’m not going to give you the easy answer of “yourself,” to the question of “your biggest obstacle,” though, of course, that can be part of it.
One thing you’ll find when meeting with people who have written the books on productivity, from [insert names] is the common refrain, “I struggled with productivity,” as in, even the people who wrote the book on productivity will be the first to admit they, themselves, have struggled with productivity.
I have worked with global household name companies to leaders and will admit to you, I, too, struggle with productivity.
Here’s a hint as to why you and I and the people who wrote best sellers struggle with productivity.
Unless you’re a sociopath without any human emotions, like some of the wealthiest people on the planet at the moment, nearly everyone struggles with productivity.
That’s right, much as you or I would love a silver bullet, that one magical app, that planner to rule them all, or to have your empathy removed or to go back and time and grow up in obscene wealth where everything is bought for you and you lose all sight of your own humanity, you too will struggle, and struggle hard, with productivity.
To struggle with productivity is human.
That is, being productive is, in part, an emotional constraint we’re born with.
The best people who are still human and have mastered their productivity to some degree have also mastered their emotions; that is, they have raised their emotional intelligence.
I bring this up because I’ve studied and been certified in emotional intelligence, including testing, research, and working with others.
The thing is, you don’t need to develop all your emotional intelligence to become more productive.
I’ve known people who don’t, by any outward measure, have across-the-board levels of high-functioning emotional intelligence, but they get things done.
Why? Because, like any form of intelligence, you don’t need to be good at everything, only the facet of your emotional intelligence to get things done.
An analogy from my educational background working for universities is that it’s like the SATs (Standard Aptitude Test) intended to measure literacy, numeracy, and writing skills, allegedly for academic success at college.
The reality is you don’t need to be great at all three of those, or really any of those, to be an academic success, you only need to be passionate about and willing to get good at one area to, as we’ll say, be a great student—or to follow through on this analogy, be productive.
Note, while I’ve a longer opinion on the SAT for another time and scored well myself, by no means do I think they give a perfect picture of anyone’s intelligence or even academic outcomes. My cousin scored a perfect 1,600, is dumber than a box of rocks and a terrible person, and I’ve worked with students and hired people with low SAT scores who not only are great people but bright, productive, and successful.
Okay, but how is this helping me be more productive?
Because you have to realize that to be more productive you need to find a system that works for you.
Like everything in your life, what has worked for you has, and I can guarantee you this has not worked for someone else.
Without knowing you, I don’t entirely know what system will work for you.
I can tell you I know areas of emotional intelligence and psychology that might help you, but without knowing you, I’d have to guess at the largest percentage of your reason based on odds.
But hopefully, I can help, at least a little, for those who don’t have the means or the time to work with me through talking through and about productivity.
Here is what I can tell you, in a generalist way, until you solve a few things, starting with your why, crushing your goals will be a struggle.
As I’ve said, even the most productive people writing the literal books on productivity have their own struggles in perpetuity, in one way or another.
First up, you’re going to need to understand why.
You may need to work backward.
You’re going to have to understand your productivity is tied to your emotions. Cliche as it is to sound, emotion does stand for “energy in motion,” if you’re not productive, there is a very good chance you’re lacking energy..
You’re going to need to gain clarity on why you don’t have that energy in the first place to put into motion, and by motion, whatever your productivity goals are.
And let’s be clear, productivity in and of itself doesn’t really do justice to what you want to accomplish.
Do you just want to be productive in your job so that you can stand out, get a raise, a promotion, or what-not at work?
Or—and this excites me more, and I hope you as well—want to be productive in your own ways for your own self actualization so you can reach your own goals, dreams, and aspirations?
Whether that’s some side hustle you want to be your main hustle (I hate hustle-culture, by-the-way, it’s bullshit), or you’re looking to be an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, to have more time to be a parent (I’m a parent, we always need more time), for your community, or…
Or do you want to be more productive to make more money? My thoughts on that are mixed because here’s the thing: You probably should focus less on the money and more on the thing you’ll never be able to make more of: time.
Ultimately, that’s why you should focus on being more productive. Not for money, but the thing you’re losing every literal second you’re alive: Time.