Hello my lovelies,
Recently I’ve read this great book “How To Be A Productivity Ninja” by Graham Allcott and it has kind of inspired me – so much so that I wanted to share this with you. This is part 1 of this 2-part mini series all about productivity.
The book goes into a lot of details about productivity and obviously how to become a productivity ninja, but it also talks a lot about the psychological aspects within ourselves and also about how our environment has shifted tremendously over the recent years to influence our productivity levels.
The main take aways for me from the book are the mindset shifts that he describes. Not even just the becoming of the productivity ninja but the little things that stuck with me the most and have helped me already in y every day work life.
Allcott describes how time management is dead and that the old principles and techniques of time management do not work anymore.
It used to be very simple. You got to the office, maybe had a few letters and faxes to sort through but then that is it. You then basically had the entire work day in front of you to get on with the real work. So then it was easy to just look at your to do list and create priorities with the ABC technique.
But this is no longer applicable as our workdays have shifted to dealing with 24-7 emails, social media, voicemail, calls, instant messaging, texts, conference calls, collaboration tools and the burden of staying connected.
So, the old techniques no longer function that way.
We are faced with constant information overflow. Even if we are working by ourselves at home in front of the computer, we still are fighting with all of these distractions, external AND internal.
So, Allcott therefore then describes that productivity tools need to shift from time management to attention management.
I totally agree with this as it also forces us to look internal and at something that we might be able to control better with developing habits etc. Time in itself is a constant for everyone – it is the same for everyone. We do not control time. BUT we can control our perception and our attention within the time given.
He then describes that there are three different types of attentions, proactive, active and inactive and we go through all of these on any given workday. It is up to you to figure out at what times of the day you are in what state of attention and therefore by identifying this you can do your best work in those time slots and be the most productive.
Listen to the full episode where I describe what Allcott means with this shift to attention management and how we can apply this to our every day work life to increase productivity levels. I will also quick touch on the characteristics of a productivity ninja.
If you have any questions on anything I’m chatting about on the podcast, join me over in our little community and just give me a shout. Or leave a comment below. Either way, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Lots of love,
Magdalena x
