Overwhelming Good

These past few weeks have been breaking new ground for me in terms of my productivity. With Probity’s “5Things” plan, I’ve been setting daily goals and accomplishing them with a fair bit of efficiency. I’ve been waking up early, exercising every weekday morning, and I’ve been feeling good about the work I have completed. But it’s not perfect yet.

I’ve realized that while my working efficiency has increased tenfold and more, my non-working efficiency has been completely stagnant. I believe that, in order to really begin to recognize my full potential, I have to engage myself in a plan of Total Efficiency. In other words, I need to exercise and maintain my efficiency not only in the work that I’m doing, but also in all the other aspects of my life. And I’m talking ALL the other aspects. Everything from calling friends to exercising to waking up to speaking to going to the bathroom to playing games to surfing the internet to showering. I can apply the same techniques that I’ve been practicing for productivity in my work to my recreational and personal development time. That way, rather than simply setting aside time to work and for the rest of the day let time fly by, I can be more effective with ALL of my time. If I maintain that cognizance, I believe I can be more productive and efficient in general. Plus, I’ll be able to accomplish things that I’ve been putting off, rather than just applying the bare minimum of time to my work each day. Heck, I think it might actually even make me be able to have more effective personal development, and have more densely recreational free time.

There are two elements to totalefficiency: applying the general productivity techniques (i.e. timeboxing, scheduling and tracking my time, 100% focus during that time, and sharing my activities with others for accountability) and evaluating how I can be more efficient with each “task” I do.

I’ll close with some examples:

Calling friends: Although I may not want to “limit” my time in this category, thinking about the time I am spending and being cognizant of my efficiency will make me less passive on the phone. Actively participate in the conversation, and identify what the goals are prior to the conversation (e.g. thanking someone for help, asking for advice, sharing particular stories, catching up on their lives) to make sure I’m working towards those.
Exercising: Head in the game! I may be sleepy at 6:30am, but if I’m not dilly-dallying, then I’m not only getting in better shape, but also getting finished with my exercising sooner.
Waking up: Figure out a reasonable time to set an alarm. Get the sleep you need, and then wake up. Setting a second alarm to go off fifteen minutes after the first is okay, setting seven alarms every five minutes is not. Multiplying the alarms only achieves interrupted sleep and lateness.
Speaking: Get rid of the “um”s! I’ve been doing that for far too long. Say what you want to say, don’t waste your own time & effort and others’ time & ears with filler words. This will help make my speaking more clear and concise, hence more effective.
Going to the bathroom: Good god. Just focus on one thing at a time. 100% focus, no multitasking. Everything gets done faster.
Playing games: Set aside a certain amount of time. Figure out what games to play, or what you want to accomplish. Instead of screwing around not actually playing the game you want to play, just get it done with and do it. No need to waste more time working up to it.
Surfing the internet: Ditto. Set a time, and set goals.
Showering: Focus! Set aside enough time to shower effectively, but maintain focus throughout so I don’t find myself mind wandering while I stand there, soaking.

If I can upgrade the level of effectiveness I have with my free time, I’ll be well on my way towards accomplishing more and getting much closer to Total Efficiency. Any other suggestions?