Production vs. effectiveness

I’ve never felt like a particularly organized person. One look at my desk would confirm my suspicions. But a couple of years ago I started really leaning in to methods and tools that could transform me from a scattered visionary into a somewhat less scattered visionary.

That journey crossed my paths with 2 tools that have significantly challenged and changed me in that area. Wait — before I tell you the tools, did you notice that I said they challenged and changed me? That’s a topic for another day, but let’s at least acknowledge that change doesn’t happen with a challenge.

If that’s what you needed to read today, feel free to stop reading.

The tools: an app called Todoist and a man named Carl Pullein who does a lot on YouTube explaining how to use that app. Feel free to check out one or both or neither of them.

Now, let’s talk about production and effectiveness. I think for so long, I valued the first more than the second, and if I felt like I was productive, then that meant I also felt effective. So, when I started using Todoist, I made long lists of things to do each day so that I could check off that I’d done them. The more checks, the more productive I was and the more effective I felt. (I may have at one point actually added items that I’d already done just so that I could check them as done. Don’t judge me!)

This year, as I continue to try and declutter my life and my soul, I’m realizing that having less to do and doing them with more consistency will actually lead to more effectiveness, even if it doesn’t appear to be as productive. A quick example will help us wrap this up.

For over a year, 2 of the items that appeared in my “Today” view on the app were “Meet step goal” and “Move 30 minutes.” For whatever reason, I saw those as very different items before and listed them separately (probably because I could check 2 boxes instead of just 1 — look how productive I am!!!).

Now, I’ve removed the one about moving for 30 minutes because if I meet my step goal, it means that I was moving for at least 30 minutes throughout the day. I’m just as effective even if I don’t appear as productive.

The question we have to ask ourselves is what do we value more: being effective or appearing productive?

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