One Landmine to Personal Productivity

One Landmine to Personal Productivity

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Landmines have one objective they are laid out to injury, destroy and kill. They are hidden just under the ground, and quite. What if in our lives, let’s say in the area of personal productivity there are landmines in our life. These little, or perhaps not so little, destructive elements that are creating barriers to succeeding in our productivity.  

Many times when we look at personal productivity, we think about systems and tools. However, what if it is deeper than that. What if pride can destroy our productivity. 

Today I know we are encouraged to be proud, but let me explain what I mean by pride. I see three parts to it.  

  1. Thinking we are better than others
  2. A need to feel special.    
  3. A need to show others all you have done.   

We can negatively perceive our selves when we do not check off everything on the to-do list. We can get a false identity from how much we accomplish and we ride the emotional roller coaster of the ups and downs.    

Really who are we trying to impress may be a question to ask?

When others do not live up to our standard, we look down on them. There is an attitude that we know better than others. That, in turn, hurts teamwork or partnership, and it pushes others away. We need others to succeed. As we help them succeed, we succeed. 

What do we do?

A loss of humility causes pride. Humility is about remembering the facts and truths. Humility is about remembering to give dignity to others. Humility is remembering we are not a superhero. Humility is recognizing our needs and weakness and graciously expressing them. Humility is being ok with failing. Humility leads us to learn from a situation. Humility can help us in the area of personal productivity. 

What is one of your landmines to personal productivity? 

Limits

Limits

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Over my summer vacation (2019) with my family, I read three books pictured below.  After finishing the books, I realized there were some similar themes found in each.  One such topic was around the idea of limits. In the book by Peter Scazzero chapter 8 is entitled “Receive the Gift of limits.”

“Understanding and respecting our boundaries and limits is one of the most important character qualities and skills leaders need in order to be long-term lovers of God and others.” (Scazzero, Peter “The Emotionally Healthy Church,” p. 141)

 Some often see limits as a negative thing, but what if they also can serve a positive role in our life.   Peter Scazzero see limits as a spiritual issue as well.  

I put a limit on my life so that my kids do not grow up without a dad around.

I put a limit on what I eat or where I spend my time so that I can receive other benefits. 

God puts limits around my life that serve as guard rails to lead me to wholeness.  

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 shares there is a season for everything, a time to plant, a time to grow.  Given the season of life, you are in what are reasonable limits you need to embrace, to not miss the beauty of life around you.  

Scazzero comments that “anger, depression, and rage, for example often function as oil lights in our lives, informing us that something is not right on the inside of the engine of our lives. (Scazzero, Peter “The Emotionally Healthy Church,” p. 148)

Where are you at?

Limits have this way of reminding of us of our need for others in our lives and that we are not God.   

In my life, I often expect too much from my self and admitting my limits is hard.  At times the needs or perceived needs of what needs to be done are higher than my supply.  In my life, this leads to anger and loss of focus. I have found my productivity system is essential here to help me know my limits and set them.  It helps me to celebrate what does get done and gain focus. 

Accepting and knowing our limits is a humbling experience and can lead to lower stress and anxiety.

At the same time, we should ask ourselves are there limits I need to break through because they are as Scazzero puts it “Character flaws?”(p.155)

Questions for reflection

To be a better father, I need to …?

What limit do I need to accept in my life?

What limit do I need to breakthrough?

How could the limits I have be good?

In my business, what limits are good, and what are bad?

4 Rhythms to personal productivity – Part 3

4 Rhythms to personal productivity – Part 3

Posted on by Matthew Laker

Weekly routine

“I am only one, but I am one.  I can’t do everything, but I can do something.” – Edward Everett Hale

“Change might not be fast, and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
― Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

This is the third post in a series sharing my productivity rhythms.  

Check out part one or part two.  

My weekly routine is something that has come later in my journey.  It is something that has had its ups and downs in my life. I struggle to do all the parts but do find it helpful. Some weeks I get it done swiftly, and other weeks it takes a little longer.  

At the time of writing this post, I take time aside late Sunday night or Monday after my workout.   This time allows me to see what I did this week and organize the coming week. There are four components to this rhythm.  

1)Big wins from the last week, things thankful for, lessons learned.

I take a few minutes to look back over the week and ask what my wins were.  This is hard for me. It is essential for me, especially I did not meet my goals or complete the task.  It allows me to find something to be thankful for and not get cynical. The lesson learned is not always filled in, but I think it is an excellent question to ask.


2)Setting Big three and did I reach last weeks – what do I do now?

I first started this in my daily rhythm but started asking the question at the beginning of the week. By the end of the week, what are the three big things that need to be done?  

Then it helps establish what is essential in my daily rhythm also where I set my big three for the day.  My weekly big three end up driving my regular big three.


3)Review the task list and setting up

I find I have tasks that have to happen each week and task that come up due to current projects.  This is a moment to review what was done over the week and what is a priority task for the up and coming week.   At times, I will even assign the task to certain days. This may be scheduling time in the calendar or just adding it to my day task section.  For the most part, however, I am just trying to figure out the top tasks that need to get done.


4)Review calendar coming week.

I take a look at my calendar and what is coming and where I need to be.  This is a big picture time to help me know what my week looks like.

I am learning in this rhythm that it helps me know what is a priority this week.  

In this process, I find it also helps to create an ideal week.  The ideas is to look at your week and how would you organize all aspects of it.  What would I do when? What is resulting as I work on this is that certain days I do certain things.  This is important because other people are dependant on me to get things done so that they can do their job.  There are challenges however to give margin in our weeks and not get to worry when a curveball comes. We have to keep it flexible.

What do you find helpful to stay focused in your week?

Check out the other post in the Series

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

4 Rhythms to strengthen personal productivity – Part 2

4 Rhythms to strengthen personal productivity – Part 2

Posted on by Matthew Laker

I was halfway through my day, and it was one of those days that was not going as planned.  I had a long to do list, and looking back not enough time. On top of that, there were a few unplanned interruptions and the day was getting away from me.  It is in these moments I am learning the importance of what I call the daily rhythm.

My daily productivity rhythm allows me to gain focus and remember what I need to focus on for the day.

There are 4 Rhythms that I have developed that are not unique to me.  However, when I stick with them, these rhythms help me reach my goals, accomplish my work and stay focused. Check out part one here

My Daily Rhythm

Each morning at some point I will take a look at my day and ask by the end of the day what are my big three?  Yes, this is not something unique to me, but it is something that when I do not do it.  I find myself just running from one task to another.

There are days I change it to become my daily big four.   

But I have learned that some times in trying to accomplish more I do not accomplish much.  By asking my self what are the three big things that at the end of my work day I want to achieve.  I have found that this keeps me on track. What this means is I have to say no to other tasks to do these first.

I will at times turn to the day’s page in my planner and find that one of my big three is chosen for me.  This comes from some planning ahead, but I will cover that in the next post.

In 2019 I have started to wrestle with the number 4 being part of a big daily goal.  This goal is not work-related but is a personal goal. For example, I need to pay the bills today.  On my days off I still think through what are the big 3 for today. Those days I will write down rest, to remind myself to take a break.

Tasks and appointments

I have moved from analog to digital and back and forth over the years. My sweet spot seems to be a combo of both in this area.  I have a digital tool that I put my tasks into, and this helps to track all the tasks, a big picture if you will. In that software, I can set due dates for those tasks, but each day I do still write in my planner what would be nice to finish.  My reason is this lets me prioritize my tasks.

I use google calendar to set my appointments and even book some of my longer tasks.  In the third quarter of 2018, I started writing down in my planner how I use my time. If I meet with someone that goes in the planner, even if it is in my google calendar, this allows me to go back at the end of day or month or quarter and see how I used my time.  This also helps when I have to send reports in, I can look back and know what I did and where I was.

In planning my day, I have also learned to give some margin. My problem is trying to jam too much into the day or time.  Margin allows for unplanned interruptions and even some thinking time in the day. Alongside this for some personalities, we need to give ourselves some grace and celebrate what has been done.

Next post I will share my weekly rhythm.

What tools or systems are helpful in your life?

Check out the other post in the Series

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3