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Saturday 9 November 2019

Beating the Productivity Paradox

It doesn't take much thought and effort to realise that we live in strange times of "Productivity Paradox", where the pull of everything that's considered to aid us in becoming more productive is actually pushing us away from productivity (in various ways). Think about all the apps, tools, softwares, and many similar tech-enabled gadgets, that promise to make our lives seamless in every possible way but ultimately leave us confused and exhausted.


Somehow, inspite of all our efforts, most of us still struggle to match the speed of this advancement that's permeating our life (both at a professional and personal level). Since desperate times call for desperate measures, a lot of us take recourse to the conventional short-cuts (the path of least resistance) of working hard or working more to make up for the lost productivity rather than take the road less travelled of addressing the other "work" based aspects.


It's easy for anyone to notice a drop in productivity and one of the simplest ways to determine the same is to be observant about any decrease in the quantity/volume/ amount of output for any specific  set of input. Simply put, the moment we feel that we are not getting the desired result for our effort is an indication of a drop in productivity. Of course, defining the "desired result"is crucial as we need to ensure that it commensurates with the effort. 

Identifying Unproductivity is easier than correcting it. The VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world that we are a part of is too demanding and eats up a great chunk of our resources, ranging from our attention to energy to time, and so on. Addressing the Unproductivity effectively is a matter of identifying what aspect of our "effort" we need to target. This "missing link" holds the key
to resolving the issue comprehensively and this missing link could be Focus, Efficiency, Clarity, Goal, Effectiveness, Prioritisation, Time Planning.  


When we deal with a high-pressure multi-dimensional world that's also complicated, complex and distracting, then a uni-directional approach to address productivity issues is bound to fail. What we need instead is a multi-pronged approach, using a multitude of tools, techniques and strategies, that covers every conceivable aspect of productivity. 

Getting better at handling technology is definitely an enabling factor to deal with Productivity/ Unproductivity but more important is to understand what that tool aims to address from among the various aspects that comprise our "work". Here's a compilation of various Personal Productivity Tools  (not necessarily digitally driven but definitely supplemented/ complemented by technology)  that address different aspects of Productivity and prepares us well to beat the Productivity Paradox effectively. 





"Focus on being productive instead of being busy - Tim Ferriss"

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