Notice Your Habits & Energy As You Tweak Your Productivity

Number 147

A dialogue in the May issue of the Harvard Business Review asks two leading consultants whether the secret to effectiveness is the right system or the right state of mind?

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, is well known for his view that you can produce more with less input if you put the right system and practices into place. His many fans say they have become more efficient by adopting his process, widely known by its acronym, GTD. The idea is to create “clear space” for creative work by routinely capturing all your projects and commitments into lists, and breaking big challenges into smaller steps, including specific “next actions.”

Tony Schwartz, on the other hand, says that getting more done in less time requires learning how to better manage your energy. He and his colleagues borrow from the science of high performance in sports and elsewhere, as they teach knowledge workers how to perform at sustainably high levels. Schwartz, whose most recent book is Be Excellent at Anything, says that performing at your best requires you to manage four types of energy:

• Physical energy, which depends on factors like fitness, nutrition and sleep.
• Emotional energy, which requires cultivating positive emotions and, as a leader, communicating them to others.
• Mental energy, which means better managing your focus and turning on your right brain for creative work. And
• Spiritual energy, which is about defining purpose, because when something really matters you bring far more energy to it.

So where do you get started if you want to get more done, with Schwartz or with Allen? That’s a trick question, because the answer is that you must begin with yourself.

Before turning to wonderful experts like these, spend a few days noticing and making notes about the details of your workday. With one corner of your mind, sit back and, in a nonjudgmental way, start the search for barriers to your best level of performance. Notice your routines, and observe how you regularly approach your projects. Ask yourself questions like these:

• Are you getting the most out of prime time? Notice the time of day when you seem to have the most energy, when you are at your best. For many people that is first thing in the morning. Are you devoting your most productive hour to your most important project? Or are you frittering it away on routine email or other low value tasks?
• How are you wasting time? What are you doing when you are least productive? Do you spend minutes looking for information because your files are a mess? Or do you engage in meetings or conversations that last too long because you aren’t clear about your agenda? Do you have to redo tasks because you didn’t keep good notes the first time?
• Are you talking yourself out of enthusiasm? Notice not only what you routinely do, but also what you are thinking when you are at your best or your worst. Do you drag yourself into a deeper slump with negative repetitive thoughts, like “this is so stupid” or “I never get any credit”?
• How do you feel when you are at your best? In as much detail as possible, observe what it feels like when you are doing your best work. Describe how you function when your energy is flowing and you’re getting things done at a rapid clip.