BUSY PEOPLE V/S PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE

Some of us feel as if there are just not enough hours in the day. We are constantly rushed and struggle to keep our head above water. People who are always busy may appear to be accomplishing a lot. But are they being productive?

The fact of the matter is BUSY DOES NOT MEANS PRODUCTIVE. Just because someone is constantly performing tasks, does not necessarily mean that they r moving closer to any major goal.

There are many fundamental differences between Busy People and Productive People.

Busy People have many goals but Productive People have priorities. Multitasking may seem to be a valuable skill but if you try to read 4 books at once, do you really think you will retain any of the knowledge? Trying to reach too many goals at the same time is slower than handling each goal, one at a time. Productive People on the other hand set stubborn priorities and can categorize their goals in such a way that the most critical things get handled first and receive the most attention. So, if your top priority is to reduce extra body fats, no matter what you should start your day with 1000 push-ups exercise without any excuses and distractions. Do not let emails, texts or any other lesser tasks interfere with the highest priority. Once the higher priority task has been completed then and only then you can move on to the next priority task.

  

The next major difference is busy people quickly say YES to everything. While productive people will say NO, or will take time to consider and calculate before saying YES. Bruce Lee once said “One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily INCREASE, but daily DECREASE. The height of cultivation always runs on Simplicity.” This basically means having less in your life will lead to more clarity, creation and production. If you say yes to every little request, you are filling your schedules with tasks that are not getting you closer to your ultimate goals, freedom and success. Productive people have learned to shut the door to the distractions and side-tracks.

There is a philosophy in economics called 80-20 Rule which states that clear majority of a profit comes from a small fraction of a client base and 80 % revenue comes from 20% or less customers. Conversely, 80% of your headaches and problems comes from 20% of your difficult clients. So simply saying no to difficult client or stressful tasks will lead to more success and allow you to focus on the greater target.

This 80-20 Law evidences can be also found in many regular chores. The most frequently used 20% of the words account for 80% of the word occurrences in language. The richest 20% of the humans have 80% of worlds income. In the US, 20% of the patients use 80% of the health care resources. In 2002, Microsoft reported that 80% of the errors and crashes in windows and office are caused by 20% of the bugs involved. People wear around 20% of their clothes 80% of the times.

How do you spend your free time when you are not at work? Do you have any hobbies or like certain leisure activities that help you relax and feel better? If watching TV and just lying on the couch accounts for 80% of your precious downtime, it will only bring you 20% of actual enjoyment and happiness. Change this around and find a hobby that will be beneficial to your body and mind.

Busy people get things done just in time but on the other hand productive people set unrealistic deadlines. If you are going to trip in a month, how long will it take you to pack? An hour before your flight you will still be scrambling around trying to finish packing. But let’s say you had a gun to your head and you are told to pack in 10 min. Could you, do it? Of course, you could because work always takes the full amount of time you allow it to. So, if you set a goal with no deadline inside, that goal will just keep getting further away. By settling an unrealistic deadline, you force yourself into immediate action.

The most Productive People have only one to three things on their daily to-do-list whereas, busy people have more than 20. So next time before making to-do-list, ask yourself your highest priorities and what things can you eliminate so that you won’t feel that you are inventing things to feel busy. With such productive mind-set, vision becomes clear and success becomes reality.


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