With all the books and blogs about productivity, it might not be easy to see the essence of productivity. What I want, then, are simple rules I can easily remember and apply throughout my days to help me boost my productivity. The rules should be effortless to remember and also very practical.
So, thinking about it, I think the essence of productivity can actually be summarized to only two rules. Here they are:
At any given time:
- Do not be idle
- Do the most important task
Notice that rule #2 says task, not tasks. It means that you should do only one task at a time, which is the most important task. On the other hand, rule #1 emphasizes the importance of always doing.
With these two rules in place, the purpose of the rest of your productivity system (such as calendar and to-do list) is actually nothing but to help you figure out what the most important task at any given time is. Once you know what your most important task is, your productivity system has done its job and it’s now up to you to do it.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
9 30. May 2007, 9:22 pm o'clock |
@puttputt:
Well, I guess that’s the right thing to do, wasn’t it? :)
Comment by puttputt
8 30. May 2007, 3:57 pm o'clock |
I was going to post something but then I realized this is not “the most important task”, so I moved on.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
7 30. May 2007, 7:23 am o'clock |
Thanks Court. Multitasking is often our natural tendency because we think we can accomplish more by doing so. I often fall into the same trap myself. But a study did show that it is not the case.
Comment by Court
6 30. May 2007, 1:40 am o'clock |
Brilliant rules, simple and to the point. Doing the most important task is hugely important, I think I try to do the most important tasks way too much.
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Pingback by Two Simple Rules For Productivity
#1 8. October 2007, 6:13 am o'clock |
[...] There was an interesting article over at Life Optimizer about two simple rules for productivity. The rules are: Do Not Be Idle, and Do The Most Important Task. [...]
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#2 7. August 2007, 11:47 pm o'clock |
[...] At any given time, there are actually just two simple rules for productivity: 1. Don’t be idle 2. Do the most important task. Consequently, you should always find out what the most important task at any given time is. I’d define the most important task as the task that will make the most difference in your life if you do it now. Consequently, it should take into account your current energy level and amount of available time. [...]
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#3 7. August 2007, 11:17 pm o'clock |
[...] 4 Simple Questions to Boost Your Daily Productivity August 7th, 2007 by Barb Dybwad Have you ever had this kind of experience? You got up in the morning willing to have a productive day. You turned on the computer, and before you knew it, you already spent one hour browsing the Internet without even starting to do anything useful. Later that day, you browsed some sites necessary to get your job done, but ended up spending way too much time on them. Even worse, when you tried to do the actual work, you found it hard to push yourself. You stopped working on it after only 20 minutes. Not a very productive day, is it? Fortunately, there are four simple questions which I believe can help you overcome such problem. These questions should be an indispensable part of your productivity toolbox. Ask them throughout the day and act upon the answers. Here they are: 1. What’s the most important task? At any given time, there are actually just two simple rules for productivity: 1. Don’t be idle 2. Do the most important task. Consequently, you should always find out what the most important task at any given time is. I’d define the most important task as the task that will make the most difference in your life if you do it now. Consequently, it should take into account your current energy level and amount of available time. Asking this question helps you in at least two ways: [...]
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#4 3. June 2007, 4:05 pm o'clock |
[...] In my post about the two simple rules of productivity, I wrote that: [...]