Productivity

What does it mean to be productive?

Productivity is the third word in our series, and it is a fun one. The moments, not matter how small, where we move things forward and get steps done are what productivity is all about.

Productivity can often go unrecognized. I know all to well from where I started this journey, getting lost in focusing on what I hadn’t done, still need to do or totally forgot about. But productivity happens every moment someone is committed to a path to achieve our goal. Once again whether a personal or professional goal, when committed to it – each moment it is worked on, this is productivity.

Productivity is the path to the outcome. It is every step taken – forward, backwards and sideways – to accomplish the tasks needed to get to where we want to go.

After the Seed is Planted

Productivity is everywhere. Whether in a business plan, or even a garden, watching something be built or grown, each step in the process is magic.

The garden provides a beautiful analogy for productivity. For the garden, the soil is turned and prepared, the seeds are planted, weeds are pulled, the right sun and water are provided, and each day you can watch and protect the plants as they grow. Maybe there are some pests to be dealt with, or maybe the plants have become ill. So it is time to adapt, find the solutions to those issues, apply them and keep going. Eventually, with the right attention and care, the plants begin to grow, and eventually they begin to blossom.

This process takes time and effort. When I realized this, at the first journal entry back in January, this was part of the shift I felt. And then I wondered, so how do I make the most of my time?

Making Time Your Ally

“Make the most of it” is my current mantra, recently inspired by a loss in my life. The “it” changes for me in different situations. In this example, making the most of time is real and there are hidden moments in each day that I can find and apply to my top tasks to be more productive.

Time is the only limitation we have. We are all limitless beings, capable of anything we put our minds too. We can do anything, yet we cannot do everything. So again, I pondered, how do I make the most of the time I have?

The answer came in a conscious decision on what I wanted most in my life. With that clear, I refocused and recalibrated. In this decision, it became clear that time is the main resource in productivity and is often the one commodity often overlooked. That may sound odd, as so many of us have lived with thoughts about time like, “I wish I had more time” or “If there were only more hours in the day”. I was thinking those thoughts and saying the words almost on a daily basis. But they are just thoughts about time, and I realized what was needed: to shift my attention to the time we have, how I was using it and make it my ally.

Making the most of my time didn’t mean giving every single minute of the day to this one goal. Life must have balance. Without balance, we burn out, we get lost in the fatigue and exhaustion – I know it all too wel. Been there done that! And also, we must not use balance as a way to avoid or procrastinate on what needs to be done. Been there and done that too!

I found that when I worked with time, and made it my ally, I found the time to get the things done I wanted and needed to do.

Being in the Flow

We talk about “Adapt & Flow” at Ten Touch Creative. Adapt is based on “If I can I will, If I can’t I will Adapt”, and Flow is about Focus. This focus is relaxed, where you tune into your intuition to know what needs to happen next. Not the “should be doing’s” – the what feels to be the right and best next step. Flow is ease, it is not forced or overly intense. Flow comes from a level of knowing inside of yourself that is so strong you can’t deny it.

It has been a journey to find my flow, from all the many messages coming at us all day, every day, and all of our lives – it is a daily practice (another power word – coming soon). Flow began to develop for me, in the moments where I learned to tune out all the background noise, both learned experiences as well as the news and information all around me everyday. Where I began to believe in what I believed, and trust myself. A connection took root, which is a new journey to my truest self. The work has been worth it as I am learning the parts of me that know what needs to get done and how to get there. In the flow, productivity came as a natural result. I stopped worrying about what everyone else is doing, and focused on where I was and started from there. What was it that I need to do to keep going, to get to the next level, and move things forward.

Productivity is defined as “the effectiveness of productive effort”. It is flow that truly maximizes our effectiveness and moves us forward, to be productive and create or achieve what it is we set out to do. It has been one of my favorite parts of the journey to replace perfection.

Want to know more about how to make the most of it, find your flow, or make time your ally? Contact Ten Touch Creative today.