The 4Ps of Productivity for Work

Stop being busy and start being productive. Perhaps you've heard the expression "Be productive, not busy"?

It's one of my favorite sayings and I've adopted it as my work-life philosophy.

You see most people mistake movement for achievement and at the end of the day rationalize it by saying 'Im busy'. Perhaps this is you?

Stop this endless and unfulfilling cycle and instead practice the four Ps of productivity that is all about not being busy and getting s*** done excuse my Italian.

You'll find that they will help with your overall goal setting, and goal achieving and structuring your days better.

This will lead you to a more efficient and functional life that works at a much higher level.

So here they are:

1. Purpose

I know the word ‘purpose’ is overused and over-marketed in today’s world, but the truth of the matter is that purpose is important.

It’s central to our human existence and is the great motivator of our lives.?

A life without purpose is no life at all. You'll just drift from one thing to another.

A life of purpose is a life of meaning.?

So much dissatisfaction and frustration in life stem from not having a purpose or at least not having a very good purpose.

Waking up to just 'go to work' isn't a purpose!

Purpose is that fire in your belly and is what gets you up in the morning.

It has nothing to do with going to work, paying the bills, or taking your kids to school.

It's deeper than these!

It makes you come alive and cements who you are in this world.

If you dont know your purpose you need to do some soul-searching.

A good place to start is by spending some time in silence each day and asking yourself What do I really love doing? What do I really want?

With time the answers will come and they will get stronger and stronger so you'll know.

It's impossible to be productive if you dont have a purpose.

You'll just drift from one thing to another and get swept up by the mundane.

2. Priority

As the pace of life increases rapidly along with the pace of information we can easily drown in this ocean of overwhelm.

Most people are drowning in this ocean --- it's all the things that need to be done.

Endless to-do lists, calls to be made, emails to be checked, etc etc.

This is where you can easily lose sight of the important stuff.

In order to not lose sight of the important stuff you need to prioritize.

How do you do this?

The best way I have found is structuring my days excluding Sundays (my day off) around six goal-achieving activities. I write these down the night before.

These are essential goals that move the needle in my life and give my days order and direction and I avoid getting enslaved by daily trivia.

I dont have a to-do list, I have a goal list.

I suggest you do the same. But dont have more than six as it gets overwhelming.

If you dont get all six done in one day, just move them across to the next day but always come back to six.

Dont have nine goals the following day. Always bring it back to six.

Discipline yourself to do this and I promise you it will change the way you approach your work and it will make you productive.

Get rid of your to-do list and have a goal list.

3. Progress

You need to be making progress daily to get the ball rolling (momentum) in order to be productive or else it will just feel like Ground Hog Day.

That is every day is the same and you are stuck. Not a great place to be.

To make progress you must first have purpose and priority established, the two Ps in the four Ps.

Structuring your days around six goals will torpedo your progress as it makes you laser-focused on what needs to be done.

Structure is vital to making progress in life.

It's important to track and measure your progress as this allows you to see how far you've come and still how far you have to go.

A simple review at the end of your day to see what worked and what didn't will help you immensely with this.

All the top business people and entrepreneurs in the world do this. They keep metrics of what works and what doesn't.

It's crazy to think that many of us keep track of digital metrics (website visits, social media reach, etc) but don't even stop to think of personal metrics ( your progress).

4. Persistence

Persistence is what will keep you going when the going gets tough and it will get tough.

Just look at your week so far, you’ll see challenges have come up. If they haven't, then consider yourself lucky.

Daily life brings with it a generous portion of challenges that can easily side-track you and make you lose your focus and productivity.

To counteract this, you need to take a pause to deal with challenging situations but then find your way back to what needs to be done.

This is where being persistent comes in. Persistence is a superpower that keeps you going when the going gets tough.

So nourish it and exercise it consistently and it will serve you well throughout life.

Summary

The 4Ps of productivity can truly be a game changer for you if you adopt them and make them part of your work-life philosophy. Encourage your work colleagues to adopt them.

To recap here they are-- Purpose, Priority, Progress, and Persistence.

Remember?productivity isn't about getting more done, it's about getting the right things done.

Many people confuse this and it leads to a lot of confusion and misinformation on what productivity is.

Eliminate the confusion and just focus on the four Ps.

To Creating a Better You,

Sandra