Productivity is Dumb

Productivity is dumb. I say that, of course, tongue-in-cheek. Productivity is important. But, a lot of people are going about it all wrong.

Peter Drucker once said, “There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.”

Drucker would make a clear distinction between effectiveness and efficiency. Efficiency is doing things right. And, effectiveness is doing the right things.

A lot of the productivity advice, currently circulating the ether, is concerned with getting things done. It is concerned with efficiency. The problem is that the more important, more fundamental, consideration is deciding what needs being done. That is to say, before we consider efficiency, we need to contemplate effectiveness.

If you understand the effectiveness/efficiency distinction, you will understand why productivity is largely a function of self-control. Productivity is really about courage, and the ability to say “No.”

You don't need some newfangled way to squeeze more tasks into your day. You need to eliminate things that are unnecessary. And, it is the process of elimination that can be intimidating and scary. Thus the importance of courage.

By the time you have come to study productivity, there is a good chance you have piled a ton of stuff onto your plate. You are probably juggling lots of balls. And, the juggling is not necessarily a problem, provided you can keep the balls in the air.

It is when the balls start to hit the ground that people will search for some system to help them juggle more efficiently. People usually try to find some “secret” as to how they can handle all the stuff they have piled onto their plate. There is no secret, you simply need to reduce the size of the pile. An idea that scares the hell out of people.

We seldom admit we are scared. We usually will only suggest that we are not comfortable. A lot of the problem, with saying "No," is driven by FOMO, or the fear of missing out. And, as emotional thoughts tend to do, the fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The fear of missing out often causes us to miss out. It is totally paradoxical, and totally true. When we say “Yes” to everything we are seldom present for anything. Sure, we may be there physically. But, mentally, we are occupied thinking of all the things we need to get done.

Drucker would say that one of the first keys to effectiveness is “organized abandonment.” I know it is a weird phrase, but it is an important phrase nonetheless.

Drucker was dogmatic about the importance of systems. Organized abandonment was his way of saying we need to systematically eliminate things from our lives. And, by systematically, he meant we must schedule the time to identify what needs to be abandoned.

In addition to FOMO, another part of the problem is the fact that a lot of people wear their busy-ness as a badge of honor. I think Stephen Covey would call it the laziness of busy-ness. Meaning, a lot of people equate being busy with being valuable and important. So, they use their busy-ness as a proxy for self-worth.

Related to this busy-ness concept is the mistaken pride of the “multi-tasker.” A lot of people brag about their ability to multi-task. What they seem to not understand is that multi-tasking is largely an illusion.

Sure, we can do multiple, mundane tasks at the same time. We can walk and chew gum. But, we cannot do two complex tasks, simultaneously, at a high level.

The upper limit, of the computing capacity of the human mind, is about 125 bits of information per second. For this reason, it is a very bad idea to send text messages while you drive a car. It is also why we can never hope to follow more than two conversations at a one time.

The pride of the multi-tasker is intimately connected to the lazy of busy-ness. The problem is we end up doing a lot of stuff that we are better off not doing at all. Being able to text-and-drive is not something to be proud of. It is very dangeous. And, it is a perfect example of what Drucker was talking about when he warned against efficiently doing that which should not be done.

I say forget about multi-tasking, and quite using exhaustion as a status symbol. Instead, focus. Work on your answer to the question, “What do you want to be remembered for?”

The reality is, most people do not have goals, much less a mission statement. Productivity is dumb if we do not know where we are headed. To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat, if you do not care where you end up, it does not matter the way you travel.

A lot of us simply react to the things life throws at us. And, life throws a lot of things. This allows people to stay busy on what Covey would define as "urgent" but not "important." Instead of reacting, Stephen Covey recommends we, "Be proactive." Identify what is truly important and work on those things.

Another of Covey's Seven Habits is to, “Begin with the end in mind.” It is a critical element of effectiveness. But, again, it is scary.

Productivity is really about being effective. And, effectiveness is really an exercise in discipline and self-control.

Effectiveness is about looking at the universe of possible options, and selecting the very few things we will actually work towards. There is more out there than we could ever hope to do. This conundrum requires us to use discipline and have self-control.

Drucker reminded us that all biological systems must eliminate its waste products, otherwise it poisons itself. Productivity gains are mostly the result of organized abandonment.

Until we have clarified our mission, until we have crystallized what is truly important, I think it is silly to worry about becoming more efficient.