Productivity for the Sake of Productivity

26 June 2010

I’ve been writing a lot about productivity and ways to increase it lately. Then at some point in time the question arose: Why bother? First of all, when you love your job then you want to do excellent work. Being productive results in getting a lot of work done which is great for your company. Seeing your company thrive is satisfying.

Let’s say you work for yourself. What I’m recommending here is not that you should increase your productivity for the sake of productivity. Well, it’s great if you manage to do twice the amount of work in the same time. Reward yourself! Take the rest of the day off! Read a book, go to the gym, enjoy your passions!

Don’t live to work, work to live.

You’ve got some goals to achieve and quite often there is some money involved. What ever it is - family, car, house, traveling, gadgets - you need a certain monthly income to reach these. This number might be \$1,500/month if you’re a minimalist or \$10,000+/month if you’re looking for a rather expensive lifestyle. Please make sure to set tangible goals. If you’ve earned \$2,500/month for years but are reaching for \$25,000/month then you have two choices:

1. lower your goals
2. get your ass in gear

Which ever way you choose, hopefully at some time you will reach these goals. What’s next? Pushing the goals? If you like the idea of having more money and think it makes you happy then that’s the way to go. Quite often it turns out to be the wrong way because more money doesn’t equal more happiness. Have a look at Why I quit by Karol Gajda for a personal experience. Now we’re getting somewhere. What I suggest is defining monetary goals and once you reach them adjust the amount of work you’re doing instead of the goals. This might mean working 20h/week instead of 40h or still working 40h/week but having a couple of months vacation each year. As always, I know this won’t work for everyone, especially when you’re working for a big company with strict rules. With this in mind: Enjoy your life!