Stress-free productivity does exist

Productivity is nothing without “Doing”. Those lists, plans, projects, goals, and visions, are nothing if you do not spend quality time to meet your commitments. Everybody gets things done, no doubt, but the quality of our work makes a difference. It is important to care and provide a good finish. We tend to do too many things at once. Perhaps we do not fall into multitasking, but it seems that we are giving up the idea of focusing on just one thing.

This week we have updated the daily tasks report email and have added a new weekly report about your GTD management.

I have to say that I am finding extremely interesting the reading of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, by Daniel Goleman. In my opinion, knowing how to pay attention where we need to do it at every moment is, probably, one of the most valuable skills today, and also, one of the most difficult to achieve. This book addresses the issue from a perspective based entirely in science, which gives the material exhibited a special relevance, well above most of the common posts and guru-tips you can find on the internet.

One of the main bad habits in the field of personal productivity is the assignation of subjective priorities to our daily tasks and projects; a problem that stretches back to the traditional management systems.

I am not a fan of the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. For two reasons. Firstly, because resolutions do not work. They are actually just wishes or dreams with no target date. They are usually defined in such a generic way (“enjoy life more”, “learn something new”) that do not involve any specific action you should take to achieve them. It is like trying to win the lottery without purchasing any ticket. You know it’s not going to happen.