How to be Less Busy and More Productive

Steve Keating

April 21

Many years ago, the government awarded a grant to a major US University. The grant was to research if they could develop an artificial appendix. While it was many years ago, it wasn't so long ago that the medical profession hadn't already determined that the appendix was unnecessary for the body to function. When it becomes blocked they simply remove it.

But that didn't prevent the researchers from wasting time and money busily going about their work. The problem was this: no matter what their research found, it wouldn't be productive. That's because no one needs an appendix, especially an artificial one.

I think one of the biggest wastes of time is becoming proficient at doing something that doesn't need to be done at all. Truly successful people never let that happen to them. They fully understood the vast difference between being merely busy and actually being productive.

Being busy means you're occupied with tasks. Being productive means you're achieving results or progress towards your goals. Being busy can mean lots of movement with little outcome. Being productive is different. It involves focused effort that leads to real accomplishments.

I would even go so far as to say that if you can't clearly state what you did on a particular day to move closer to one of your goals then you were not productive. No matter how busy you were. No matter how tired you were. No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise.

You cannot reach your full potential by being busy. If you're going to use your knowledge and strengths to full effect you've got to focus on being productive as often as possible.

So if you want to be less busy and more productive, here's a few ideas to try.

Prioritize tasks. Identify the most important tasks and focus on them first. I can legitimately guarantee you that no human on the planet has more time than you do. What they may have is a far greater awareness of what their priorities are. When do you things in order of their importance it virtually forces you to be more productive.

Set boundaries. Learn to say no to tasks that don't align with your goals. Saying NO is like a Superpower for highly productive people. They say no to busy work so they can say yes to productive work. Plus, they understand that no is a complete sentence. They don't waste time giving long winded explanations about why they are saying no. Sometimes you may have to provide an explanation to avoid being rude but not nearly as often as you think.

Schedule breaks. Allow yourself time to recharge throughout the day. Most busy people eat lunch at their desks. But, the productive people enjoy lunch in the break room or a restaurant. Taking a lunch break and shutting off work, even for 15 minutes, can increase your focus and productivity. It can do so by as much as 30% in the last couple of hours of the day.

Delegate when possible. Share responsibilities with others to lighten your load. So here's a tip especially for people in leadership positions. If you're really leading then there are likely things that you need to do that other people can't do. So delegate to ensure you're not doing the things that someone else can do. Because if you're doing something that someone else could do, then you're NOT doing something that only you can do. That's called being busy, not productive.

Limit distractions. Minimize interruptions like phone notifications or unnecessary meetings. Here's a wild idea. Turn the phone on silent, turn off the vibration setting and place the phone screen down on your desk. Or better yet, learn to use the focus settings that most smartphones have today. Remember, looking at sports scores or the lyrics to Taylor Swift's new album might make you feel busy. But it's likely far from the most productive thing you could be doing.

Use time blocks. Allocate specific time slots for different tasks to maintain focus. A time block is like an appointment with yourself and it's one of the most important appointments you can have. When you set aside a couple of hours to accomplish a task don't allow anything or anyone to interrupt you. That's vital because that interruption will make you busier but less productive. Exactly the opposite of what you're trying to accomplish.

Review and adjust. Regularly evaluate your workload and productivity methods to make necessary improvements. It's easy to get off track. Remaining productive in the face of distractions and other people's priorities isn't easy. But developing the discipline to do it consistently will pay life changing rewards.

One last thing. Be honest will yourself. It's so easy to reward ourselves for being busy. It's easy to fool ourselves into thinking our tiredness at the end of the day means we've accomplished something. Don't fall into those traps. Don't live a busy life. Live a productive life and you'll never go back to being busy again.