Many of us place a lot of importance on being productive. We want to achieve our goals, succeed in our ambitions, and accomplish something worthwhile. That’s all great … but sometimes it can go too far.
Have you ever pushed yourself too much, only to end up producing poorer quality work … or worse, getting sick or ending up just plain miserable?
To be truly productive over the long-term, you need to take care of yourself. In his bestselling self-help book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey distinguishes between our actual “production” and our “production capability”, explaining that we need to pay attention to the latter in order to continue to have the former.
So how can you take care of your ability to keep on working towards your goals?
Take Regular Breaks
Working for too long without a break will sap your concentration levels and leave you feeling exhausted. When you’re truly focusing hard on a difficult task, you may find that you can only work effectively for 30 – 45 minutes before you need a break.
Learn to distinguish between the times when you’re unfocused and distracted – and the times when your mind and body are demanding a rest. If you’ve been working for a while and you find yourself struggling to maintain concentration, that’s often a signal that you need to stop and take a complete break.
As well as taking mini breaks throughout the day, make sure you’ve scheduled in time to rest each week. Many of us have jobs and other commitments which eat into our weekends – but try to have at least one weekend day when you simply relax and recharge. You’ll really see the difference in your commitment and focus levels on Monday…
Find Sources of Energy
What energizes you and gets you motivated? Much of my life involves writing, and sometimes this is hard and draining: I find that talking to writer friends and being part of an academic creative writing course helps me to keep up my energy.
We all draw inspiration from different places, but here are some things you might want to consider:
- Finding like-minded friends – people working towards a similar goal. That might mean joining a weight loss club, going to an evening class, or finding an internet forum to be a part of.
- Creative activity – perhaps drawing, painting, knitting, writing, cooking… anything which you enjoy doing purely for the fun of it!
- Relaxing times – a long bath, journaling, being outside in nature, sitting in silence for twenty minutes, meditating … whatever helps you to switch off.
- Reading inspirational material – you might have favorite blogs, or particular authors which you enjoy. Biographies of people you admire can often be inspiring.
- Favorite television shows or novels – TV gets a bad press from productivity writers, but watching something you truly love can be a great way to recharge your batteries. Reading a gripping novel can be even more engrossing.
Watch the Energy-Drains
As well as having people, activities and resources which help us to recharge our batteries, we also have factors in our life which drain our energy.
Sometimes, other people can really sap our strength. Perhaps it’s a colleague who you can never get along with, or a family member who’s always moaning or grouching about something. It could be a child who’s acting up, or a partner who never seems content.
You can’t always get rid of people (and in many cases you wouldn’t want to!) but you can be aware of who drains your enthusiasm. You may want to limit the time that you spend with them, or at least avoid prolonged contact with them during a pressured week.
If you’re an introvert like me, even being around a group of friends is draining after a while. Don’t feel bad about having some time alone – the extroverts of the world may not totally understand, but most people will respect your need for some quiet.
As well as people, certain activities may drain your energy. Perhaps you loath doing your taxes and find it a huge chore, or maybe you can’t face focusing on your small business when you’ve spent a morning doing housework. Look for ways to delegate any dreaded activities, or to cut down the time you spend on them.
Are you taking good care of yourself? How can you boost your energy this week?
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It’s like you wrote this article for me. Especially the comment about being so determined to achieve more in my business efforts that I actually wear myself out and produce less effective work.
Also the comment about making more time for myself and not letting the extroverts get me down when I want some time alone rang very true.
Thanks for the great article.
Thanks Erik! Glad it resonated. And yeah, don’t let the extroverts get you down.
Awesome article Ali! I think we often forget that long term productivity is the main goal, not short term. And by working too hard, we can sacrifice our own long term productivity and, like Stephen Covey says, kill the goose with the golden eggs.
Exactly. We’re very good at thinking short-term, but honestly, a few extra hours productivity this week aren’t going to mean a lot when we’re facing a chronic illness in three years…
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This is a great and relevant post. Today’s fast paced society often places more demands on individuals than they can realistically accomplish. Covey talks about Sharpening the Saw, or taking time for self development and self care. He also talks about prioritizing demands on our time. The Seven Habits is one of my favorite books on the topic of productivity and personal development. We even used it as a text in our leadership classes at the Naval Academy.
Chris
It’s a great book – for years I didn’t read it cos I thought it was overhyped, and I regret that now!
Hey Ali!
You know, it’s true – TV does get a bad rap. I think it’s not so much that watching TV in small amounts is bad, but it’s so hard to watch it in only small amounts for me. One TV show leads to another, and before you know it a few hours have gone by
That’s also why I prefer books, movies, or TED talks. I watch one, and maybe because it’s non-fiction stuff for me, I feel satisfied after a short time – whereas watching move normal TV programming just makes me want to watch more TV
Good point! Our TV is actually broken (and our TV tuner card won’t work), so we have to individually download each episode of every show we want to watch (most UK channels have a download service once programs have aired). So for me, there’s little danger of getting sucked into watching show after show!
Per your tip about eliminating energy drains, I did this recently and have found it to be the BEST way to jump start productivity. For me, it was about letting go of a disintegrating relationship that was keeping me up at night and making me one miserable human being. I was, in fact, forced to let go of it, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me because now my goals are fresh on my mind and I can already see them beginning to be accomplished. It’s not so bad to put yourself first. It’s your life and your happiness we are talking about, so why not?
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
Creative activity – perhaps drawing, painting, knitting, writing, cooking… anything which you enjoy doing purely for the fun of it!
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are these Creative activities?? Is there any other exercise for getting creative..
Well, I think creative activities can be almost anything! I don’t have any specific exercises for enhancing creativity — I believe we’ve all got the ability to be creative.
“You can’t always get rid of people (and in many cases you wouldn’t want to!) but you can be aware of who drains your enthusiasm. You may want to limit the time that you spend with them, or at least avoid prolonged contact with them during a pressured week.”
this advice stands quite advisable for me
“Find Sources of Energy” is like we be more skilled to trigger the very energy inside of us.
“Watch the Energy-Drains” is like we be more sensible in channeling our energy to preferred areas.
your post is nice.
they must come from your own very emotions of very experiences.
thank you for being so long-termly productive yourself to bring us continuously valuable posts
Great point, Ali.
Thanks for the reminder and, more so, permission to tend to self. It’s really kind of sad that we have to pencil ourselves into our schedules.
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Your mind and body are pieces of equipment in the end of the day and they need maintenance as they are your primary ways of interacting with the world. I love the 7 habits book, it’s amazing.
I like it, and for yourself and also produce effective work
Thanks for the article. Yes, I’ve learnt to watch out for pyschic vampires or negative energy draining people. The key is not to be defensive when around them but to be kind and try not to expect anything in return.
And I really do agree about reading blogs- I subsribe to pickthebrain via google reader and it perks my day to read inspirational posts.
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This is probably one of the best articles I’ve read in a long time.
Pretty good post.