It seems like the biggest money sellers these days are all about “getting productive.” Revamping those lazy old ways into something more constructive and turning time wasted into... well, time not wasted you could say. Although a lot of these so called “productivity people” mean well, lately their methods have been….

GOING OVERBOARD

While I’m a huge fan of keeping busy, and I think that keeping a steady schedule is one of the easiest ways to stay productive and have confidence in yourself, lately I’ve been seeing a lot of people taking this train of thought way too far. Instead of keeping a steady or productive life, they’re instead working themselves to the bone, going overboard on productivity and returning with nothing but negative results.

While the problems for a behavior such as this are numerous, the most obvious effect is a LOSS of productivity in the long run. The old adage “too much of a good thing is a bad thing” couldn’t ring clearer, and going overboard with your productivity is one of the easiest ways to end up turning that saying into a reality. Couple that with the fact that you’ll begin to experience additional fatigue and stress, and any work you do manage to put out will be hindered in quality and progress. You’ll no longer be at your “A game” so to speak, and much like losing sleep, it’ll begin to affect the quality of everything you do, not just one thing in particular.

Just like some people are prone to laziness, people with an excessive Type-A personality are especially prone to going overboard on their productivity in just about every way imaginable. Not merely being “overachievers,” but burning themselves out and going down in flames. Like I’ve said before, I’m a HUGE fan of staying productive and keeping a busy, fulfilling schedule. It allows you to not only accomplish more, but it forces you to maintain a stricter budget with your hours. You can’t afford to just put things to the wayside, and so most people with a strict schedule finish up tasks right as they receive them.

The problem with being drunk on productivity is that it takes going overboard to a whole new level. This is most common in the workplace, although you can easily see this happening at home too. When you place such a high value on the QUANTITY of what you accomplish versus the QUALITY, then your productivity turns into nothing more than wasted time. You’re going through the motions, completing whatever it is you feel needs to be done, but the end product suffers greatly. People with high-rates of successful productivity know that in order to keep from going overboard, they have to allot downtime just as they allot time to be productive. If you continue to work and work well after your energy reserves have been spent, then the only you’re accomplishing is tiring yourself out for nothing. What’s the point in that?

How do you tell if you’re really going overboard or if you’re just incredibly productive?

Look at the quality of your work.

It’s not rocket science in saying that the more you rush through things, the less you pay attention to detail. Doing things for the sake of doing them as opposed to actively having an interest in doing them is another key indicator. But I can’t possibly enjoy every task I go through! And while that’s perfectly true, every task you go through should hold some form of value or worth to you. Even if the task itself isn’t immediately enjoyable, the end results certainly should be. If neither the results nor the task itself are enjoyable or rewarding, then what are you wasting your time for?

The issue when it comes to understanding productivity is that it’s only as important as we make it. What concludes a successful day to one person may not be the same for the next, and so on and so on.

It’s the very notion of intoxicating ourselves on the mindset of having to “be productive” that leads to us going overboard in the first place. You need to identify what’s important and what’s not, and in turn decide what the end result should look like before you even start on the task.

This doesn’t mean you need every little detail, but you should have an understanding of what the value of the task at hand is, and thus how much time or effort you’re going to allocate it. When you can clearly and concisely determine what’s important and what’s not, and thus conclude what it is you need to be doing and HOW you need to do it, then you can open the door for true and effective productivity. You’re not going overboard, running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but instead you’re determining where to place your time and effort in a strategic manner. This allows you to be productive and still choose the end results that you want.

To give a more “real world” example however, let’s take a look at the workplace environment, whether it’s a corporate office, construction site, or anything in between.

Almost every workplace has their fairshare (often times more than 1) of individuals who run around from task to task leaving a wake up destruction in their path. They’re often unorganized, forgetful, and even snappy at those they perceive as working at a pace that’s beneath them. In comparison, if you look at the individual who’s organized, up-to-date, and can usually be counted on to get the job done, then we can see a clear example of someone who’s drunk on productivity versus someone who’s just plain productive.

Even though it probably seems obvious while you’re reading it, most people never put the clues together and learn how to be truly productive without going overboard or heading in the opposite direction and becoming too lazy. With today’s over-saturated market of tips and tools for increasing productivity, going overboard has never been more of an issue. Now more than ever workplaces and learning centers are pushing for higher and higher productivity rates while not allotting more resources, often leaving individuals drunk on productivity and unaware of how they got there. Before long, it’s only a matter of time before these people experience a “hangover” and come crashing down. Getting so burnt out from everything they’ve been doing that the quality of work they output suffers even more.

The whole point of all this however is to educate people on the differences of real productivity versus all the fads and gimmicks that have been arising lately. Instead of having someone else push their agenda down your throat and dictate to you what’s important and what’ worth investing your time into, it’s something you need to take responsibility for and decide on your own. The longer you wait to make your own decisions, the easier it becomes for someone else to make them for you.

That’s really the only key to staying productive. Decide what’s important, how you want it to turn out, and just do it.

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