Category: “Personal Productivity”

A common mistake that people make when they start to feel the need to be more efficient and better organized, is trying to use the same tools they already use for other new things. They think that, using the same stuff for everything, they will do fewer things and, therefore, will be more productive. Big mistake. Mixing different things usually does not simplify anything; on the contrary, it creates confusion and complexity.

In addition to your usual and familiar routines and daily work tasks, you surely have in your to-do lists a handful of tasks that will require a certain level of creativity to get done (and sometimes, a lot of creativity will be necessary). These tasks can be hazardous to your productivity. On the one hand, if you don’t feel very creative, you may put these tasks off. On the other hand, though, these more unusual and creative-oriented tasks are often the ones you will want to do the most in those moments when you feel especially lucid, and this can become a detriment to your ability to accomplish other tasks that may be more important at the time but which don’t seem as interesting or fun.

This week, an article fell into my hands and attracted my attention, since the author speaks about laziness—or at least, a certain kind of laziness—from a very positive perspective. Although the article is specifically about why application users try to not complicate their lives, I think the bottom line can be applied broadly to the phenomenon of productivity.

Highly efficient people know when they have to start a task and when they have to wait. To be a great performer you need to learn to listen to that inner voice that tells you to wait.

I am absolutely convinced that the main reason why many people are not well organized and continue to live burdened by the pressure of their work and personal tasks, is that they fail to establish the necessary habits needed to keep everything in life under control.