Grace Agada: Don’t Confuse Being Busy with Being Productive

One of the questions I get asked all the time is “how do you achieve so many things at the same time? What do you do to become more productive?”

I used to be a busy and overwhelmed workaholic. I worked hard on my job but I also gave people a lot of my time. The more time I gave away, the more my productivity dropped. It was not until I read the book No B.S Time Management For Entrepreneurs by Dan Kennedy that I changed all of that. I realized I was losing valuable time and I created structure and discipline around my time.

The better I became at managing time, the more valuable and wealthy I became. If you are not yet a multi-millionaire, chances are high that there is still a lot you can do with your time.

The Reality of a Busy Life

Perhaps you confuse being busy with being productive. They are totally different, and if you want more financial success in your life, you must move from busyness to productivity. Productivity is simply the ability to get the right things done in good time. It is the ability to focus on the 20% activities that produce the 80% result. ​Productivity helps a person turn time into money and live a balanced life. Spending the day in a ‘time treadmill’ where only a few unimportant things get done and pending tasks abound is a terrible way to live. Few things are sadder than a person who knows what to do but cannot muster the energy to do it. People who live like this are the least likely to succeed.

How Time Affects Productivity

You can become more productive when you pay attention to how you are using time. Time is the most valuable resource in the world. It is also scarce and irreplaceable. Time lost is life lost and all of Dangote’s money cannot buy one minute of yesterday’s time. Yet, time, on its own, carries little value. What gives it value is the productive work attached to it. Time invested in meaningful work is what leads to peak productivity. In short, becoming more productive is about mastering the act of giving meaning to time. Productive people know what they want and how to get it. Their energy, feelings, thoughts, and actions are congruent with one another, and their inner congruence leads to inner strength, meaning, and happiness.

How then can you become more productive?

Have an overarching purpose

Human beings take action for a reason and no one becomes more productive in the absence of a purpose. Having a purpose motivates you. It gives a person the ability to take action and push through obstacles, and this is the key to success. One of the ways to arrive at a strong purpose is to answer the following questions: Why do you want to be successful? What is the meaning of your life? How significant are the things you do every day? What makes life worthwhile and valuable for you?

Having clear answers to these questions is the secret to peak productivity and financial success. If you live life without a purpose, you cannot achieve productivity.

Set clear success goals

Setting clear goals is the key to bringing purpose to life. Purpose, on its own, does not lead to success. It is the ability to express purpose by achieving your goals that creates wealth. Achieving peak productivity is about setting clear goals and taking timely and purposeful action to reach those goals. What are the ultimate goals that would make a difference in your life? Are you investing time to achieve them or are you wasting time on trivial things?

Achieve the goals in the right order of importance per time

All goals cannot be achieved at the same time. While they may all be important, not all of them are important to the same degree per time. Since we have several goals and limited time and resources, we must rank our goals in order of importance. What goals matter for your success? Which goal is important per time? How do you achieve these goals and what do you do to your minor goals? These, and many more, are important questions to answer. Answering these questions is the key to achieving peak productivity.

To experience a truly productive life, you must give purpose and meaning to time. You must also set productive goals and achieve them in the right order.

To learn more about how you can achieve peak productivity and become more financially successful, send an email to [email protected] to get the Peak Productivity Formula, a free training program that will transform your financial life.

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