I have begun distilling and synthesizing approaches to productivity (also known as “effectiveness”) from various sources into a structure that makes sense for me. I have a lot more to learn on this subject, but I’m starting to see the framework.
I have learned a lot from Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits” and David Allen’s “Getting things Done.” If I had to boil it all down to two pithy lines, they would be these:
- Decide what is important
- Nurture the important
Ok, but maybe that’s a little too pithy. Here are some more specific guidelines I’m trying on for size. Notice that the scope for everything is a day. This is really a manifesto about how to run a day:
- Whatever else has to give, you will not sacrifice your diet, exercise, and sleep.
- Every day, you will decide what deserves doing and honor that choice.
- You will fight the twin productivity gremlins: Fake Urgency and Fake Industry.
- With the understanding that to achieve something dazzling takes more than a day, take a step toward dazzling every day.
I’ll have more to say about each of these in turn in future posts.
