There’s a huge industry based around productivity.
I only have a couple productivity books, but I follow many blogs that discuss productivity in passing.
I can see the allure of constantly revising one’s system for being productive. (It’s kind of like revising a story or article if you think about it.)
I see reviews for apps, systems, and books that sound like the cure-all for keeping even the busiest life in order.
But when I really think about it, busy is the problem.
The Problem With Busy
I’m a fairly busy person. I blog, I have a podcast, I write and edit things. I go to the gym with my wife more days than not. I get out and see people I like being around. I have hobbies.
The busy I do is busy of my own choosing — and it doesn’t come without some sacrifice.
I’ve passed by promotions at jobs because I knew it would have meant working longer hours. Because I made this choice, I’ve typically made less money than most of my friends.
I’ve passed by offers to go out and do things some weekends. While others were out spending their hard-earned money, I was home writing.
I’ve made other decisions to deliberately reduce the amount of busy in my life so that I could focus on the things that matter most to me.
The payoff: I’m pretty laid back and I get most things I set out to do done.
The Best Productivity Tip I Know
Here’s the best productivity tip I know: don’t do everything.
Really, that’s it!
Don’t even try to do everything!
If overtime at work becomes the norm and you don’t want to do it…don’t!
If you worry you’ll lose your job, suck up the overtime and look for another job. Or say, “No, I’m not available to work 60 hours this week,” even if it means people will get mad at you.
Chances are, if you’re bullied into working a lot of overtime, you work at a job you’re probably not particularly fond of, anyway — so saying no really won’t make you much more miserable than you already are. (Do you really think your boss will be at the side of your bed when you die to say, “Thank you for the thousands of extra hours you worked instead of lived that put you in this bed before your time — here’s a gift card to Chili’s in honor of your years of overtime!”?)
Resist Every New Idea
Sometimes not doing everything is hard.
Not a week goes by that I don’t come up with a new idea that I want to pursue.
My wife is a very patient woman; she lets me talk about ideas to get them out of my system and get back to the things that matter most to me.
If the idea won’t leave me alone, I look at it to see if it’s so big that I’m willing to stop working on the last big idea. Most times, I don’t.
At best, I file away the good ideas to be considered when I’m done with something that came first that needs to be finished.
As a writer, if I don’t finish things, I fail!
Those Few Things
Few people are known for doing “everything.”
I can’t name one best-selling novelist who not only cured three diseases, but also won a World Series in between climbing every mountain on Earth taller than 20,000 feet and acting as CEO of four Fortune 100 companies.
Most people are known for doing a few things really well at best.
Why not focus on those things, and cut out the rest?
You’ll be much more productive; probably even more happy.
Excellent entry. Yeah, I’ve had to go without or give up things I wanted very badly, but I have to focus on my goals. Getting distracted could ruin those goals or put them off even more. I don’t want that. Priorities and focus.
Sound advice. I’ve been pondering what I can’t make time for anymore due to not having any time available. At least Its no longer depressing, just more aggrevating and frustrating. I guess the next step is to act on it.
Brilliant. So simple really, but who ever thinks about it.
Einstein was not known for being a great actor or Ronald Reagan for building great buildings.
Stick with what you love doing and you will get lots done.
Cynthia,
I think that’s the thing: going without everything, in order to complete something.
I’d love making more money and being able to follow through on every idea I come up with, but unless something bigger ever hits with writing, there’s enough money — and I’d rather finish novels than chase every idea that wanders around my brain.
I think about how long it took me to write my last novel. Not because it took all that much time, but because I didn’t make it a priority as much as I should have. I tried doing too much at once and nothing got done.
Steve,
Tomorrow’s my one-year anniversary of being laid off from the longest job I’ve ever had. A year ago, I wanted out of that job soooooooo much, but I was back in the swing of writing longer fiction and had already made plans to attend a writers conference in June. But I was planning to leave the job after the conference — the old job moved first!
I still wrote and got a lot of things done in the five years I worked at my old job, but I realized that I didn’t get as much done as I normally did because I actually worked overtime and thought my efforts would be appreciated. I let four big writing assignments slide through my fingers because I chose to travel for work and “do the right thing.”
I’ve thought about the right thing a lot this past year, and the right thing for me is always putting the things that make me happy before the things that don’t make me as happy.
For the right job, I’d do so much. But most jobs I’ve had wanted warm bodies producing stuff; they weren’t much different than factory jobs I’ve had.
I hope you’re able to focus on writing more in 2011. Take care!
Thank you for the reply, Dennis. Sometimes I feel like I’m missing out on things; sometimes I feel like I can be doing so much more to promote my blog and podcast.
But creating things for no other reason than creating them makes me happy.
My wife used to be a freelance artist, but she found herself hating art because she never had time to do the art she wanted to do. When she made the decision to stop doing everything that came her way and focus on the art she wanted to create for herself, she was much happier.
I have many creative friends who create for their own love of creating. There are days I wish the whole world saw the things they make, but they’re content with creating for themselves and the people close to them. I feel very fortunate to read, see, and hear the results.
My friends who spend the most time pursuing their creative endeavors are the friends who made a conscious choice to not do everything. Even if other opportunities come up, they stay focused. They’re the friends who are happiest, and also the friends who have turned what they love into how they earn a living.
So I know it can work.