If you’ve been in the productivity/personal development space for a while, you’re probably tired of hearing that to be a higher achiever and reach the levels of success you want, you need …. wait for it ….
Consistency, discipline and habit building. All you need to do is time block your tasks and do the job.
This approach may work for some as it certainly does for me to a certain extent). But it is not for everyone and I would argue it should not be applied to everything in life. If all you do is habitual, consistent and programmed, you lose spontaneity and randomness that brings flavour to life.
If you’ve given up on trying to emulate the productivity habits of your favourite gurus with not much success, you may want to consider the Elizabeth Filips method which I’ll be introducing you to.
The two pillars of productivity
Let’s first see what traditional productivity is about:
- Arbitrary schedule done by time blocking empty slots. The best way to make sure things will be done is to schedule them in advance in a calendar.
- A focus on discipline instead of motivation to work. Since motivation comes and goes, discipline is what matters.
The new Elizabeth productivity ethos
1- We should distinguish between real work and arbitrary work:
- Real work is something that has to be done, has a deadline set by somebody else, and cannot be influenced (team meetings – project deadlines – crying babies …). For real work we cannot rely on motivation and need to get work done when it needs to be done.
- Arbitrary work is work that we schedule in our calendar and do in our own time. It usually involves long-term projects.
2- Relying on motivation instead of discipline is helpful (it’s weird to hear it in reverse, isn’t it?)
Imagine you had a rough day at work, the commute was hell and you’re not feeling yourself today. You come home and remember that you’ve scheduled a week ago a 2h time block to work on a specific project. It is the last thing you feel like doing but since you’re a disciplined person who cares about achieving his or her goals, you suck it up, pick up your laptop, cry quietly inside and start working. You feel slow, unfocused and stupid. By the end of the 2h, you are only able to finish 1% of what you have initially planned to. If you were motivated that day, the work would feel more fun and engaging. It will feel like a breeze and you may be able to achieve more than what you intended to.
Instead of forcing yourself to work, you can schedule it in a specific time when you’re motivated to do it. This assumes that we trust ourselves to be motivated in the future which is hard to believe. But according to Elizabeth, we can influence our motivation more than we think. The proof is the last minute motivation you get before a deadline.
Sharpen the axe:
Elizabeth brought up a fabulous quote “give me 5h to shop down a tree and I’ll spend 4h sharpening the axe”. We need to do the same with work. You can spend some time motivating yourself to do the thing instead of showing up with a blunt axe by:
- Focusing on skills vs the results:
Results are not enough to fuel the motivation and the process can be boring. Instead of focusing on them, break down the work into the tasks you’ll be doing and see what skills you will be gaining from them. Imagine you have to present a new product strategy launch to your boss. Instead of focusing on how your boss will be proud or the promotion you may get (which can be a valid motivator as well), you may want to focus on how you will sharpen your strategic thinking, and improve your presentation and marketing skills. - Tackling your emotional barriers:
Ask yourself: What do I want to do instead? Why do I no want to do this task ? When do I think I want to do it? What would make me more likely to it ? Am I afraid I am going to fail ? What am I really worried about ? …. By answering these questions you may feel more motivated to do the task.
The worst case scenario is that the deadline will be close and you’ll have to do it anyway. But at least you are making sure that you’re being efficient by working with yourself not against it. And you will end up enjoying yourself way more than relying solely on discipline.
Will this method work for you? Try it and let us know.
