Key takeaways
- Productivity is personal and qualitative; busy is not the same as productive.
- Tackle the hardest, most strategic task first thing, and block your calendar in chunks that match how long work really takes.
- Your work is not email and meetings; step away visibly so the team learns it is acceptable to focus.
- Write down wandering thoughts so your mind can have ideas without holding them, and break big tasks into action verbs.
- Reframe stress as a signal that something matters, ask your team for help, and batch related tasks to avoid context switching.
About this episode
“[Measuring productivity] is way more qualitative than quantitative in the age of knowledge workers.”
Productivity means something different to all of us. It’s dependent on the work we’re doing, the frame of mind we’re in, where we are, and so many other factors. This personal element to productivity is the first thing we dive into with productivity consultant Theresa Ward. Theresa speaks from her own experience, her well-read knowledge base on the topic, and her work at her consultancy, The Fiery Feather, where she helps clients with process, productivity and team culture.
The interview happened to align with World Productivity Day 2020 (which falls during the global coronavirus pandemic this year). Parts of the discussion are timely—like how we’re staying productive during current global events—but the overarching advice is evergreen, and touches on the following topics:
- Finding when you are most productive
- What is deep work?
- How can you approach deep work to be more productive?
- Tips to cut distractions and stay focused
- Finding motivation to get work done
- How stress impacts work
Theresa mentions a handful of great resources in the episode:
- When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink
- Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating by Brian Tracy
- Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
- The Pomodoro Technique: The Acclaimed Time-Management System That Has Transformed How We Work by Francesco Cirillo
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
- The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal