The Problem with Productivity: How to Escape the Productivity Trap in 4 Steps

Forcing results out of every minute is productivity.

Generating the greatest results out of the fewest minutes is production.

The first is about achieving MORE. There is no end to more. 

The second is about creatively facilitating the MOST – making the most out of the time you have chosen, with intention, to dedicate to a focused end.

THE PROBLEM WITH PRODUCTIVITY

If you start down the rabbit hole of productivity, you’ll likely dive right into a trap of never-ending work.

The more minutes you work, the more you produce. You put in one unit of work and get one unit of result.

Work —-> Result

(Repeat)

The temptation is to fill your calendar with work, and keep grinding indefinitely, to get where you want to go.

For a time, you will feel accomplished. After all, you’re working harder and, therefore, producing more than many people around you. If you keep going down this path, you should be able to work hard enough to reach your dream lifestyle one day, right?

. . . Right?

But after some time, you notice the grind taking a toll. Your calendar is filled beyond capacity. And as you put your dreams of a great lifestyle on never-ending hold, you start to wonder what all that hard work is for.

I see this in the financial advisory world all the time. 

HERE’S HOW TO KNOW IF YOU’VE FALLEN INTO THE PRODUCTIVITY TRAP:

1. You are heavily involved in your business.

2. A large portion of your time is spent working IN your business instead of ON your business.

3. You’re attending a lot of meetings. Between client meetings and staff meetings, that conference room is now your home.

4. A lot of mental real estate is taken up by thoughts about marketing and sales instead of your long-term goals, lifestyle, and legacy.

5. Entrepreneurship is feeling like it’s trapping you instead of freeing you. You're working more that you'd like and can't "turn off."

6. You’re always wondering how to get it all done, how to add more to the calendar, and it never seems to fit.

7. You’re nearing burnout. 

If you have fallen victim to the productivity trap, you may have also spent some time trying to get out of it. But you’ve probably tried to fix your productivity problem with greater productivity. 

Let’s collectively *eyeroll* here.

You’re reading all the best productivity hacks and books, hoping to learn the special trick that will finally unlock unlimited time in your schedule. There has to be a way!

HERE’S THE SPECIAL TRICK: 

There is no special trick. Everyone has the same amount of time in a week. You cannot control time or make more of it. You can control how you spend that time. 

To truly do the most, you have to do less. 

I promise you’ll achieve MORE than you ever thought possible.

When you’re stuck in the productivity trap, however, this may seem impossible. Take a look at your calendar and to-do lists, does nearly everything seem imperative to get to work on as soon as possible? 

Ah, we’ve found the problem. 

The key here is to know exactly what your most important goals are. That way, you can eliminate, delegate, or defer all the things you don’t need to do now. 

If you don’t have a laser focus on your most important goals, use our powerful (and free) PRODUCER’S PLANNER. Download here.

INSTEAD OF ADDING MORE TO THE SCHEDULE, LET'S SUBTRACT

Literally. We’re going to free up some of your time right now. 

Pull up your calendar and to-do list. I would also recommend jotting a quick list of all the little things you do throughout your week that are too trivial to end up on a to-do list. These are likely great candidates for elimination or delegation. 

Look at each activity and ask the following questions:

1. Does this directly impact my most important goals? If no, eliminate it.
   

2. Could someone else complete this task? If yes, delegate it.
   

3. Is this something that needs to be done now (make this decision in light of your most important goals)? If no, defer it to a later date.
   

4. Whatever is left is what you need to do. Schedule these tasks on your calendar. See if you have room for all of them. If not, go back through this exercise until you do.
   

BUT HERE’S A KEY POINT

No one can follow any perfectly crafted schedule 100%. Leave room for error and overhead. 

Room for Error

Leave some blank space in your days. Don’t pack them completely full. Tasks take longer than you would like, no matter how great you are at allocating your time. It’s easier to add something to your day that you were planning to do tomorrow than it is to consistently rearrange your schedule to fit more in. 

Room for Overhead

Also, leave 30-minutes to hour a day and/or a longer block each week for miscellaneous tasks that do not directly impact your goals but you aren’t able to eliminate or delegate. That call to the mortgage company, decisions on insurance coverage, calling Aunt Sue back about her cat (if you must), things like that. When these things come up, you can drop them into that ready-made overhead spot on your calendar and you’ll never feel like you’re scrambling again.

🙂 

If you would like to deep-dive into this topic, we’ll be happy to help analyze how you’re spending your time in one of three ways.

The Producer’s Planner: A free downloadable planner that will walk take you from grand vision to daily execution. Free download here.

The Wave Three Mastermind Community Membership: The initial masterclass included in your Wave Three membership is hyper-focused on time allocation, streamlining your calendar and inbox, and eliminating overwork. Find out more here.

A Discovery Call: Get the answers you need straightaway. We’ll point you toward the resources that will benefit you at no cost or obligation. Book a call here.