I was complaining to a colleague that I’m not getting as much done as I’d like. I set goals and create to do lists. I’m working hard but I’m just not getting everything done. And it’s making me frustrated.
I told her I don’t know if I’m just not being productive or if I’m expecting too much of myself. My colleague agreed, saying she wonders if maybe we’re just slowing down as we age. We don’t have the energy we had in our twenties and thirties and our memory isn’t as good. Maybe it’s just taking us longer to do things – longer to make decisions, come up with ideas and get things done. What a depressing thought.
I spent some time mulling over this question of productivity and efficiency. I don’t want to just accept the status quo. There’s got to be something I can do to solve the problem. The conclusion I’ve come to is that my slow production is probably all of the above, plus one more thing. Upon reflection, I realize in the last few weeks I’ve been doing too much “busy-work”.
I’m keeping busy, doing tasks but I’m not working on high priority items. If someone poked their head into my office I’d look like I’m working hard, but I’m not working on the important tasks, tasks that will move me closer to my goals. It’s time for a course adjustment.
This is the first week in June – two thirds of the way through the second quarter of 2008. When I look at my goals for this quarter I see that I’m doing well on some goals but am falling way short of many others. I’m behind on some of these goals mainly because I haven’t given them enough attention. I’ve been working on projects that weren’t on my original plans and allowed some other people’s priorities take precedence.
Clearly I need to reprioritize. As soon as I finish writing this post I’m going to review my plans for this quarter and pare them down to the most important for achieving my long term goals. Then I’m going to block a chunk of time each day for working solely on these goals.
Hopefully this course correction will help me get more accomplished. I can’t do anything about aging and any natural slowing down that accompanies it. But by focusing on the high priority items and creating blocks of time for these items, I should be able to get a lot more done. It’s a cliché but it’s time to work smarter, not harder.
Andrea J. Stenberg
If you’ve struggled with your productivity, please leave a comment and share your thoughts.
