From the course: Productivity: Prioritizing at Work

Getting out of your own way

From the course: Productivity: Prioritizing at Work

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Getting out of your own way

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- In today's fast paced world, there's this idea that moving as quickly as possible on the tasks on your to do list is the best way to be more productive. That idea couldn't be further from the truth. When you move too quickly for too long, then you can't prioritize with purpose and you get in the way of your own progress. Here are three steps you can take to get out of your own way so that you can serve your priorities better. Number one, slow down. This may sound counterproductive, but in order to think better and evaluate your priorities with purpose in mind, you can't be going a mile a minute. When you feel the speed of the day pulling you away from what you want to prioritize, do what I do. Pause for just a minute to catch your bearings. Then take a look at what you've prioritized and move forward from there. Stopping for 60 seconds can help you recover and reclaim your attention so that you can take on that prioritized task and get it done. Number two, work towards having fewer priorities. In order to maximize your productivity you shouldn't have more than one priority at a time. Sure, there are plenty of things on your to do list, but once you start to assess each of them, understand that only one of them can be the priority. Then you'll only give your focus, effort, and attention to one thing at a time. Number three, one of the best things you can do to get your priorities in order, and get out of your way in the process, is to get your intentions out of your head. As soon as an intention, be it an idea or a task, comes to mind, capture it in a place where you can review it and prioritize it at the appropriate time. You can use a to do list app for this or even a paper notebook dedicated to hold your ideas until you're ready to make them actionable. Nothing is more frustrating than when something or someone gets in the way of what you want to achieve. It's even more frustrating when that someone is you. If you follow my advice, you'll get out of your own way and be able to move forward.

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