“What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things.”
– Tim Ferriss
How do you react when your workload seems to be never-ending?
Do you put your head down and plough through; or do you raise your head up and assess?
Productivity isn’t about getting more things done, it’s about getting the right things done. A well-worn but important mantra when thinking about productivity.
Like yesterday’s quote, this is about assessing the right things on which to focus.
You have to decide what you believe is the most important thing you need to do right now. You have to decide if ‘urgent’ is the same thing as important.
One of my core values is: Step Back.
When you finish one task, pause for a moment – only a moment – and mentally Step Back. Reflect on whether the next task you intend to do is still the best (or necessary) task to tackle.
Over time I have learned that putting my head down and racing from one task to another has often been the wrong choice. Of course, I will still go down the odd task rabbit hole but more times than not I remember to Step Back.