6 Steps to Meaningful Productivity
For the stretched, strained leader sliding towards some future they know won’t be good, the pressure can grow to almost intolerable levels.
But of course someone performing at such a high level has a high tolerance for pressure.
And so you continue.
No one really understands that pressure, that weight you carry.
Responsibilities to your staff, your organisation, your mission and purpose in life… let alone your family and friends.
You crave a meaningful shift.
Something that will stop the slide that you know, deep down, is going to lead to something breaking.
Maybe in the organisation.
Maybe in you.
And the tricky thing is: the tricks that got you here, won’t get you there.
More, bigger, faster, stronger, longer… they run out in the end.
Because we aren’t machines.
Because our work and our wider lives will keep asking more of us.
In the end, we need something different.
That, really, is at the core of my work on Meaningful Productivity.
You see, our definitions of productivity come from an industrial age: an age of more, bigger, faster, stronger, longer.
But we don’t live in that age any more.
And so the stressed, strained, stretched leader finds themselves struggling to keep their head above water.
Firefighting a seemingly endless series of fires.
And so if more, bigger, faster, stronger, longer doesn’t work, what does?
Well, you can’t stop firefighting if you don’t step out of the fire.
You need to slow down. You need to look at things differently.
You need to shift how you see the world, and think about productivity in a new way.
Here’s the definition that I think begins the shift from firefighting to focus. Rather than focusing on traditional productivity - more outputs per input - we need to focus on Meaningful Productivity: get more of what really matters done.
And the word meaningful has a double-meaning here.
The leaders and entrepreneurs I coach often crave things that actually move the needle. That make a meaningful dent in the work they’re doing, or change things don’t just help with this fire, but with all the fires.
And underneath, they crave meaning: they crave work that really matters.
That at the end of their life, they can be proud of.
That’s the work I do with clients: sometimes it takes years to shift from the frantic system they are in where even making space for themselves is almost impossible, to a spacious, skilful leadership.
Sometimes the transformations happen fast.
And I know that - if you’re struggling to keep your head above water, fighting fires day after day - what you want is something you can do right now.
So here are 6 ways to be more meaningfully productive:
Stop managing time. Because time isn’t something you can manage. And it’s another mechanical, non-human idea. When we try to do something impossible, it doesn’t feel good. So stop. Instead, manage what I call the Six Pillars of Meaningful Productivity. Human things that are actually in your control. Manage your attention, your choices, your energy, your attitudes, your relationships and your habits.
Be courageous with what you say No to. We live in an age of abundance, and therefore of choice. The measure of your success will be about what you say No to, so that you can yes to the things that matter most. Saying Yes to one thing is saying No to everything else. Saying No to something gives you the opportunity to say Yes to something else. So for the people pleasers among you, remember: No is a possibility move.
Be humble about distractions. The smartest people in the world have created devices and technologies designed to suck your attention. And as we can’t manage time, our impact depends on where we put our attention in the 24 hours we have each day. You will get distracted, so put things in place to resist those distractions. Be humble: no one is smart enough to not get distracted by smart phones, social media, AI tools and more. Carve out distraction free space for yourself this week, and work on what really matters.
Build tiny habits that add up to something. Remember my 12-minute method: I wrote for 12 minutes a week for three years, and that was 80,000 words. 12 minutes a week, three years, 80,000 words. Enough for four books. You probably aren’t a writer, but what is the thing that if you worked on it a tiny bit, for three years, would move the needle in your work? It’s almost certainly very important, but not remotely urgent, so you never get to it. But you of three years time will be so grateful that you started.
Have the difficult conversations. Almost nothing meaningful is done in isolation. What you most want is probably on the other side of an uncomfortable conversation. Remember: there are ways to make those conversations go far better - to be more skilful. Use them, and be brave.
Stop complaining about time. How we think impacts how we feel, how we feel impacts what we do. The pressure you feel is part of what stops you doing the things that will reduce the pressure. Let’s break that cycle. You have the power to choose how you see the world: choose to believe you have all the time in the world. You have everything you need to get the most meaningful things done. Don’t tell yourself any other story - no busyness, no lateness, no complaining about time. When you do that, everything will look different.
And if you need some help with any of these things, I’m right here.
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PS If you liked this article, you’ll love The Meaningful Productivity Blueprint, which you can download for free here: https://www.robbieswale.com/meaningful-productivity
PPS My new book, The Power to Choose: Finding Calm and Connection in a Complex World, is out now! Get your copy here: https://geni.us/powertochoose
This is the latest in a series of articles written using the 12-Minute Method: write for twelve minutes, proof read once with tiny edits and then post online.