Are You Productive or Just Very, Very Busy?

by Suzanne Lieurance, the Working Writer's Coach

There's a big difference between leading a productive and fulfilling life and having a BUSY life with no time to do the things you really want to do.

Yet so many people (especially writers) figure they HAVE to be busy, busy, busy every moment of every day or they aren't being productive.

But you want to know a secret?

Most of these people who feel so frazzled and wish they had more time, probably aren't as productive as the person who has a very narrow focus and tries to complete ONLY a few projects each and every day.

busy woman


Answer These Questions
How many projects are you working on right now?

Are most of these projects related to your overall goals, or do you constantly find new things that attract your attention, so you keep adding more and more projects to your to-do list?

Your Daily To-Do List
If your daily to-do list is too long, you probably don't have a narrow enough focus.

Go back and look at today's to-do list.

Pick one or two things to focus on that are in alignment with your overall goals.

Focus on ONLY those one or two activities and you'll probably be able to complete those activities (at least in part) by the end of the day.

And you won't have spent your time simply being BUSY.

You will have been highly PRODUCTIVE.

And isn't that what you really want?

Try it!

Suzanne Lieurance is a full time freelance writer, author, speaker, and writing coach. Get free daily emails with tips like this post when you register for The Morning Nudge!

8 comments:

Mary Jo Guglielmo said...

Great post. Focus is an important key to productivity.

Karen Cioffi said...

Great pointers, Suzanne. I've been working on focus myself and it does help.

Kathleen Moulton said...

I LOVE how you break it down and make is simple. I need constant reminders, Suzanne!

Thanks,

Kathy

Heidiwriter said...

Busy-ness does not necessarily mean productivity. And I know what you mean about focus. Good post, thanks.

Dianne G. Sagan said...

Suzanne, I agree completely with you. Sometimes it's easy to get off track with all the little distracting things that aren't that important and I find myself busy all day long with little to show for it at the end of the day. As long as I keep my focus on what I call "my blue chips" I accomplish so much more. Great post!

Magdalena Ball said...

Excellent advice, Suzanne, and so relevant in our busy world.

Anne Duguid Knol said...

hehe just read this as browsing through and am taking the hint.Back to what I should be doing...

Shirley Corder said...

Oh yes, Suzanne. So true. My focus is so easily scattered in a dozen different directions. Which of course is another way of saying I'm out of focus!

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