What Does Being Productive Even Mean?

We tell ourselves (or others) we need to be more productive. I need to get more done. Why am I not getting more done? But do we really know what that means? Are we chasing an impossible dream of “getting more done”?

From Wikipedia:

Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production process.

From Investopedia:

Productivity, in economics, measures output per unit of input, such as labor, capital, or any other resource

And from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits:

Let's define productivity. Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. We often assume that productivity means getting more things done each day. Wrong. Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important.

As you can see, the answer varies, and remains murky. From a leadership and work standpoint, what James Clear mentions is likely the best way to frame this up. Productivity is rarely about just getting more done. There has to be a quality and value of output measure that goes along with it. Economically speaking that holds true also, it's just less clear unless scarcity is a significant factor (and we have seen more of that in the last two and half years). Suddenly things we could take for granted pre-pandemic are not available in the same way as they were previously. Productivity has taken on new importance, especially when looking at it from a priority standpoint. We all have too much to do and feel like productivity must be the answer to it.

I listen to a productivity podcast, Focused, where their tagline is, “A productivity podcast about more than cranking widgets.” I liked it the first time I heard it, and still do. It is absolutely true. Sheer quantity of stuff completed is not real productivity. Being busy is not the same as being productive. Trying to multitask (it's a myth) is also not the path to improved productivity. I believe real productivity begins with planning and prioritizing. I also believe it is personal. Only you can truly define how productive you are and can be.

How you measure your productivity is up to you. You know (or should know) what is most important and what needs to be completed each day (or any window of time). First, and foremost, you are accountable to yourself. You determine through your priorities whether you are getting the right things done. This can be where the use of the Eisenhower Matrix comes in very handy for planning and prioritization.

The element that I feel is most important for productivity is quality. How well did you do the task you have completed? Sometimes, good enough is good enough. Other times, you may reflect on the work and recognize that while you checked the box as complete, you didn’t give your best effort. Perhaps it was due to timing, the resources you had available at the time, or something else. This is one last piece to determining how you can make future improvements. It also reaffirms the importance of reviewing the completed work. This is how you can improve not only your work processes, but the output that comes from them.

When you look at productivity as something more than just getting a lot of stuff done, it can become a more meaningful process all around. It really is about more than just cranking widgets. It is about getting the right things done, at the right time, in the right way.

How can you make improvements to your real productivity?

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Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash

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