Busy or Productive: 3 Unbelievably Practical Things That Will Ensure Increased Productivity in 2021

Hey….

Come over here, let’s have a little pep talk.

So, you’ve committed to being better, and do more in 2021 but just at the thought of your to-do list, you want to go back and curl up in your bed and it’s just 7am! 😳

Talk about getting done long before you start.

Let’s debunk perhaps what could be a myth.

Is it true that you’re only as good as your to-do list? Or that you’re only as productive as having checked out every item on your to-do list within the shortest time possible?

At the beginning of a new year, most of us are tempted to launch our x no. of pages’ manifesto on the litany of things we intend to achieve but just how realistic are we about achieving them?

You see, what we aren’t ready to admit is that chances are, we won’t even get to half of the list down before we are distracted, have a change of priorities or run out of energy.

So my proposal……….

Instead of trying to prove our own productivity from a winding list of resolutions, to-do list, etc., how about we change the tide and give it a new definition?

Sounds good?

Debunk! Busy or Productive?

It’s as though being busy or having an array of things to do has become a status symbol of our modern day. As a matter of fact, we feel guilty for even giving a slight indication that we’re not as busy.

So let’s debunk what busy is vs. being productive in the items below.

1. Why?

I like the word why, and I’ll tell you why 😉

The word why attaches meaning and the reason for something or someone. It provokes the mind to go beyond the surface into the purpose of an object or a person.

Perhaps the best place to start is by asking yourself why you are willing to dedicate an x amount of time into doing the things listed in your revolutionary manifesto that the world is yet to hear and go

Being able to answer the question of why enables you to separate the two. It allows for clarity and keeps you from doing things that are simply time wasters and that are non-productive.

2. Automation=Rocking Chair

Intentionality=Increased Productivity

Most of the time we check into autopilot mode when the things we do become routine.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a routine as it helps create rhythm and consistency.

The problem comes when it deprives us of being present and alive to our surroundings and to ourselves.

With automation, there sort of comes a numbness that steals the fun, the creativity, and the meaning of the things we do. Thereby rendering us like a rocking chair, active but not productive.

Hardly is there much thought applied and as a matter of fact, some of us choose to engage in such activities because we want to escape our present reality and check into autopilot or rocking chair mode.

Without realizing it, we cease appreciating what we do and we slide into a non-productive way of doing things.

If you’re in that space, what you need is a little bit of intention. Introduce a twist to how your day goes, break the routine so as to create room for spontaneity that will allow your brain to be charged and excited.

Be intentional. Have a mind in the things that you’re doing.

3. Do Less and Achieve More

Part of increasing productivity is in having a purpose in what you do. The beauty about doing things with a certain degree of purpose (it doesn’t have to be full-on) is that it cuts down on your list of things to do.

If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we’ll find that some of the things we do are so that we could please someone, make a statement that will impress others, attain some form of worthiness, receive some praise, or perhaps to avoid something or someone.

If the examples listed above are the reasons for your doing things, the smart thing to do would be not to do them.

We tend to have overstuffed schedules because we’re trying to act superhuman and yet we’re not, we only have enough time to do the things that really matter.

So have a change in approach, choose to focus on the things that actually count for something and I bet, it’ll significantly cut down on the list.

It Can Be Done

So for 2021, will you and I choose to be a little more intentional, and question our motives for doing things?

Yeah? Yeah, I think we will. In fact, I believe we will.

For at least today, let’s commit to do one thing that will make us productive instead of giving into the compulsive activity behavior or if you will, rocking chair mode.

Today, let’s take one look at the to-do list, size it up, see what can be cut out or what can be added that will take us one step closer to our productive selves and one step away from our activity compulsive selves or if you will, again, rocking chair mode.

More power to us in 2021!

We can do this! We can make it!

Ready? Set? Go!