Know What You’re Doing: Foundations of Productivity

Productivity is made up of two parts: doing the right things in the right way. Both of these require that you know what you’re doing…and why.

Productivity requires a solid foundation if the methods are going to be successful. Just like every building must have a solid foundation if it is going to remain standing, productivity must also have a solid foundation unless you want it to crumble underneath you.

We are at the last of ten-article series on the foundations of productivity. Today we will look at a fundamental…and possibly the most important…rule: know what you’re doing.

Know What You’re Doing

If you decide to go on a trip, the first thing you have to decide is where you are going. If you want to minimize time and distance traveled, you need to know what the best route is. But the best route in the world doesn’t matter if you don’t know where you are headed.

Knowing the destination is the same in productivity. You have to know what you are trying to accomplish…and why…in order to have optimal productivity.

Why This Is Different Than Focus

Focus is much different, but often confused, with the concept of knowing what you are doing. Focus is knowing and remembering what you are doing in the moment. Knowing what, and why, you are doing something in the larger sense is your road map to success in the larger project.

Think of it in terms of a journey. Focus keeps you from driving off the road. Knowing where you are going gets you on the right road in the first place.

3 Ways To Clarity

Luckily, there are some easy ways to get yourself on the right track, and see where you are going, without aimless wandering.

What Is The Point?

“What’s the point?” This is not the statement of someone bored out of their minds. It is a valid question.

Why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you attempting this project?

Let’s say you are contemplating climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro. What is the point of you doing so? Is it because you have had a deep and abiding desire to experience the mountain, Africa and the climb? Or is it because someone said you should do it?

Why you are doing something is a very important thing to know. If the motivations are not your own, but rather thrust upon you, you will be hard pressed to finish the goal. When the goal is truly your own, you will be much more motivated to finish it.

Where Will This Lead?

Another factor is to know if your goal is an end itself, or if it is a stepping stone to something else.

There is nothing wrong with intermediate goals.

However, we can set intermediate goals to get us to the big prize, but those intermediate goals might not be appropriate.

Are you writing a how-to book because you have something to share, or because you want to be a best-selling fiction author?

Instead of setting those intermediate goals whose purpose is only to spur you on to something else, check out with an expert if it is appropriate. Talk to a fiction author and see if writing non-fiction is truly a direct stepping stone. Talk to a mountaineer and find out if climbing Kilamanjaro is necessary or helpful on your joureny up Everst.

Begin With The End

Once you know where you are going, you need to keep that end in sight. Otherwise you can be tempted by things that really won’t further your cause.

If you are on a roadtrip and stop at every roadside attraction, you will get where you are going, but the stops weren’t germaine to the trip itself. Yes, they might have contributed to some fun and excitement, but were merely distractions from the main business.

Projects can have waysides like that as well. You may be wanting to plant a vegetable garden, and get sidetracked researching plants that won’t grow in your area, or researching building a greenhouse. Tangential, yes. Necessary, no.

As you are working toward a project, always keep that end in sight, and ask yourself if the current actions move you closer to that goal.

Conclusion

Knowing what you are doing and why can boost your productivity better than any other foundational tip. Be clear on where you are going, and why, and you will be in a better position to get them done.