Over the course of my professional career, I've been fascinated with productivity, workflows, efficiency & technology utilization allowing me to do more through working smarter. However, recently, I've become keenly aware that my structure & processes need some attention.
This interest all probably started around the year 2000 when I came across an early proof edition of David Allen's Getting Things Done, The art of stress-free productivity.
And while I'll admit I don't necessarily incorporate all aspects of GTD today, I do a pretty good job in some areas - like processing & braindumps. This entire system is built around reducing and eliminating mental pings in my mind of unfinished loops or items. And while I have that part down, I need to develop more of an effective structure to my action item workflow.
I've also utilized Hal Elrod's book The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM). The key daily focus includes the S.A.V.E.R.S program (Silence, Affirmations, Visualizations, Exercise, Reading, Scribing)...and when I do all of these, the clarity around what I need to be doing is so much better. When I don't, I feel scattered and all over the place.
Recently, I've learned that my productivity increases significantly when I leave my home office and go to a coffee shop, library or co-working space. I'll often find that I can kick through what would typically take me all day when working from home in just a few hours in a more productive environment.
What I'm working on now is structuring my time to maximize movement in the projects I have according to their priority and potential. I often have multiple projects in the work at the same time, but have struggled to refine focus into each to achieve maximum momentum & traction to really see things coming together.
What I'm looking at doing for the month of February includes:
• structured daily scheduling - creating & sticking to a schedule to build routine & habit.
• time-based actions - this will include sleep, exercise, diet, work, writing, creativity and rest.
• daily meditation practice. I need this more than ever.
• social media fast/detox. It's taken over [again] and I need the reprieve for the next month.
So, I'm gonna give a focused effort for the next 30-or so days and will report back on progress & breakthroughs. I know that whatever I focus on tends to get more of my attention, so am looking forward to these improvements.
What's helpful in the structure of your life? How do you stay focused & productive? In what areas do you need growth? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
