My Secret to Productivity is Not Really a Secret
By
Ben Yoskovitz wants to know our secrets – our secrets to productivity. He is holding a group writing project called The Ultimate Guide to Productivity and Adam Kayce of Monk at Work invited me to join in.
My secret to productivity isn’t really a secret – you have to LOVE what you do.
That said, I am not always the most productive person. I frequently fall victim to my two arch enemies, procrastination and perfection. I have to really take great care in which projects I take on to avoid these two menaces. Over the years I have learned what types of projects get me fired up and which don’t. In the old days, I was not in a position to turn any work down and I often had to take on projects that I didn’t love. Try as I might, the results of those projects show my real feelings and over time I am learning the power of “no”.
As I get ready to face the next decade in my business, the power of “no” needs to get stronger so that the power of “love” can guide my business to more productive, successful, meaningful work. In the fall I will find myself with larger blocks of time that I will need to manage. Something tells me that if I don’t love my work, I will be wasting an awful lot of time.
Alister Cameron also participated in this project and his post goes even more into depth about the importance of loving your work – i.e. passion and purpose.
I found some of the other participant’s posts to be very timely, too, like Wendy at eMoms At Home’s need for leverage and ChrisG is right on the money when he describes getting into a flow state – I call that times when you just have to “run with it”.
Need the zen? Dawud is all about staying focused and Adam needs clarity. Gayla’s zen is in the spreadsheet, and then some days its all about the caffeine!
Everyone is welcome to take this to their blog and share with us! However, I play by the rules, so I am personally tagging:
- Randa Clay of Randa Clay Design
- Lisa Sabin-Wilson of Just a Girl in the World
- Tara of Graphic Design Blog
- Yvonne Russell of Grow Your Writing Business
- Daniel of the Wrong Advices
19 Comments
May 2nd, 2007 at 5:58 pm
[...] My Secret to Productivity is Not Really a Secret by Char Polanosky [...]
May 2nd, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Hi Char,
It’s so true; love makes the world go round. Or, as an old friend once said, “Love is the answer — now, what was the question?”
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:19 pm
[...] (the lady to initially tagged me with this) says her secret is doing what you love to do and learning the power of saying “No”. I have to give a wholehearted “Hear [...]
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Never being one who can turn down a game of “Tag, You’re It!” – I happily did this one. Productivity is a great topic to converse about.. I love to read the secrets of others. Yours especially hits home for me.. learning to say ‘no’ has been an ongoing battle for me since day one! Thanks, Char!
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:14 am
Lisa – thanks for sharing your tips, too.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:21 am
[...] My Secret to Productivity is Not Really a Secret “My secret to productivity isn’t really a secret – you have to LOVE what you do.” (tags: productivity passion blogging) [...]
May 3rd, 2007 at 7:07 am
Thanks for including me Char. Great topic too. Hopefully I can get a post done in the next couple of days. I’ve been a little swamped lately.
Cheers.
Dan.
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:16 am
Hi Char
Thanks for including me…must get some work done..productivity and all that, but I am thinking on it and will post soon.
May 3rd, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Dan and Tara – I can’t wait to read your entries. I do know the swamped feeling though!
May 4th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Hey Char!
I think you are really right on. Passion is really what makes you go on through the night – work is like play!
May 4th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Mine’s up! Thanks for including me too.
May 6th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
[...] Yoskovitz is holding a group writing project called The Ultimate Guide to Productivity Char at Essential Keystrokes tagged me to take part. It is also well worth taking a look at Randa Clays secrets to [...]
May 8th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
[...] a group writing project and is asking for peoples secrets on productivity. Charlene from Essential Keystrokes, Maki from Dosh Dosh, and Zep from In-Sect have all invited me to join [...]
May 11th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
[...] at Essential Keystrokes wrote her “not a secret” secret to productivity. One sentence explains it all: You have [...]
May 12th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
[...] There are at least 86 posts all with great tips for productivity. Don’t forget to check out my entry, in case you missed it the first [...]
May 24th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
[...] My Secret to Productivity is Not Really a Secret by Char Polanosky Tags: blogging, ultimate guide to productivityPopularity: 1% [?] Like this post? Shre it with your friends: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
June 14th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
I can relate to the procrastination part of things. I am constantly distracted with kids, other wonderful blogs and phone calls. I found a wonderful article over on John Chow’s website by Jane May. http://www.johnchow.com/maximize-your-daily-efficiency
She has some great ideas for getting work done.
Also I finally decided to just turn the darn phone off, except for when my fiance calls me. The kids I am still working on.lol
June 26th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
[...] What motivates you in your business and personal life to get things done? [...]
July 2nd, 2007 at 1:48 pm
[...] My Secret to Productivity is Not Really a Secret by Char Polanosky [...]