Why do you want to be more productive?
People want to be more productive simply because they want to do as much work as possible in a relatively short amount of time. But then rises the question, do they actually need to finish so much work when they can work as much as they can for the given amount of time and then enjoy the rest of the day? Well, yes! But then it is more likely that they earn less money, not get the desired position at work, not be better than the rest of the colleges, etc. Having this in mind, some people often work for a much longer time instead of the regular working hours, thinking they are productive. If you feel like this, this blog post might be the right mindset for you.
The goal of productivity is not to be better than everyone else, it is not earning as much money as possible, and none the less it is not working as long as you can. Being productive means being fast, useful, and balanced.
Do less, sell more
If you manage to do less work and sell it as a lot of work, it is nothing more than preparing a trap for yourself. If you do this too often, your colleges or customers will most likely discover it, and your work will not be interesting anymore.
For example, you have got a task to finish, for which you do not have needed skills, or your skills ate not enough. In that case, you have two options: one is to ask for help from someone with appropriate skills, and two is to admit that you have no skills, but you can learn more on the topic. Those two options are the right thing you need to do. There is a third option: you know your skills are not enough; you do not ask for help and do not accept you have no idea what to do. In that case, you try to hide under anything to simulate as you are doing something appropriate for the task, having in mind to win more time for the task, but eventually, at some point, you will be caught for sure. So, be yourself, and it is nothing wrong to ask for help or accept that you lack specific skills because you cannot know everything.
Do more, sell less
Sometimes you might be doing a lot of work but end up selling less worth than the time invested. If this happens too often, you might compensate too much of your free time for work. This model is a fourth option to the example mentioned above. This option is also not the way to go because you will invest a lot of time that is usually supposed to be spent with your family, friends or just have some free time for fun. To get your free time as free time, you again need to present yourself as you are and be realistic at your self-estimation.
Do everything you can to earn more money
Being concerned with earning as much as possible money, usually, people forget the main thing in life. I mean, why would you want so much money if you are so busy in life? I don’t know what I can say more about this topic. Be sure that your earned money is just enough to live a normal life. Now arises the question, what is a normal life? Well, the answer depends on you. But from my experience, I have learned one major thing about worldly life: “Happy is not the one that has a lot; happy is the one that is satisfied with less”. So no one in the world needs millions that can never be able to spend them.
Summary
Well, not that I admit being the best example of productiveness, but what I always try to achieve in my life is creating a balance between work, studying, family, spiritual and sports activities, and hobbies. Even though I have very little time for my family, and it is never going to be enough, that is one of the essential things in my life, since the family is something that you cannot choose between different options, but you only need to care for what you have. This sort of balance in my life is my ultimate goal of productivity.