In today’s world, the two-word phrase “Being Productive” has put a lot of pressure on our minds. We feel the need to be productive all the time, without even knowing what it actually means. Moreover, we are constantly bombarded with content about productivity tips on our social platforms.
Take a pause. We are all human beings with the same functions running in our body. But how we trigger our individual engine makes all the difference. I am not a trained psychologist, but having worked with a diverse set of people and observed them closely, I feel that deep down people feel unproductive for one main reason:
They’re constantly engaged in work without defining what productivity means for them.
Some people divide their time like a timetable – constantly pressuring themselves to complete all their planned tasks. Missing out a few tasks from the timetable life is ok. The important point to remember is not to over-engage the mind in the timetable life and to give your mind a breather.
Some are capable of finishing off their work quickly, but are not clear about the larger goal. For them, the task is complete once they have done their part. But they are not aware whether their job achieved the desired outcome or not. Hence, they feel incomplete without realising the reason for it.
For certain others, being productive means to replicate the schedule of great leaders and their style of working, thanks to plenty of articles like “10 things great leaders do to create wealth”, etc. But following their schedules should not be your starting point, no matter who the person may be.
In summary, if you do not start defining what productivity means to you, no matter what you do, you will always feel unproductive.
For me, productivity is defined by the amount of satisfaction I feel after completing a particular task. That means focusing on the outcome of my job, rather than just the output.
Typically, a productive day for me looks like this:
Chai Time – I usually start my day having conversations about life and business in general with my wife/business partner. The immediate output is usually nothing much because we don’t take any important decisions at this time. But a casual chat over a cup of chai triggers important thoughts and considerations for the future.
Down Time or Doing Nothing Time – I celebrate my ‘doing nothing time’ every day, during which I binge watch varied content based on my mood. Yes, you read it correctly. I serve ‘My Mood’ a range of interesting content including advertising campaigns, documentaries, Bollywood masala, Ted Talks, interviews of great people, etc. I define the outcome here as coming across insights that are sticking to my subconscious mind and may come in handy later.
Thinking Time – Every day, I read my books in two time slots of 45-60 minutes each and keep collecting thought nuggets that are important to me, penning down the ones I really like. During this time, I am in a deep thinking mode where I don’t take any calls or reply to messages. The outcome has been extremely enriching for me and I keep applying the learnings in my daily life.
Work Time – I divide this time in two buckets
- a) Taking decisions: This includes thinking propositions for brand campaigns, taking business calls, P&L decisions, and team efficiency decisions
- b) Driving Growth: Deciding on ways to grow business/skills of my team and showing them directions for the bigger picture. Some have an immediate outcome and for some others it takes time; but I try to stay focused on the desired outcome.
Play Time – Going back to my roots
I love to play table tennis (regular games with my son at home during the lockdown felt great) and coach at various academies in the NCR too. I define the outcome here in different ways – learning a new stroke/service myself, teaching my son/other students a new stroke, or improving upon an incorrect one in a time-bound manner.
These are my ways of staying (and feeling) productive –defining outcomes helps me derive more satisfaction. You can start by defining yours and tracking your own progress against it. Once you do that, you can while away the rest of your time doing nothing and not feel guilty about it.
Reach out to me at sachin@bottleopeners.co.in if you would like to have a friendly chat on this.
Sachin is the founder of Bottle openers