Productivity: It's All Hogwash and Sparks

Last week I held a free teleclass on busting up the myths we hold around productivity. It was great — we covered some really good ground — and, there was one myth that we didn’t cover that I saw pop up on a forum I frequent.

The person posting said,

“I’m going to back off of productivity a bit today, and only work until noon. Then I’m going to go out to lunch with a friend, and take some time to relax this afternoon.”

No big deal, right? Sure, her productivity may suffer a little, but we all need a break sometimes, right?

GONNNNGGG! Let’s drop that idea right here, right now.

Which idea?

The one that says, “I need a break — so my productivity is going out the window.”

Why that’s totally bonkers

If you look through the lens of a heartless tyrant, say pre-spectral-encounter Ebenezer Scrooge, then yes, taking a break means your “productivity” is dropping.

But let’s look at this through a different lens, a more holistic lens; a lens that takes into account the fact that you are human, and that your life is about (gasp) more than business…

What is your business’ most valuable asset?

Is it your computer? Your office space? Your phone line? Of course not. While tricky, you could easily work around not having these things.

Is it your patrons? Your list? Your network? These are important, no doubt. But like the moon, customers come and go, your list shrinks and swells, and friends drop in and out of touch. As Shakespeare had Juliet say:

“O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon…”

No, as important as clients, customers, alliances, networks, and referral sources are, they cannot be your most important asset.

Is it your time, then? Some would say yes, but I beg to differ. While maximizing time is a worthy pursuit, time cannot be your most valuable asset. It is a precious resource, and depending on how you use it, can be a powerful ally or a real pain in the rear.

Here’s a favorite quote of mine, spoken by Captain Picard in the movie, “Star Trek Generations”:

Someone once told me that time is a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey that reminds us to cherish every moment because they’ll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we live it.

As you have no doubt experienced, time has the tendency to expand or contract to fit the work you have to do (and, it happens in reverse, too). So while you can make the most of the time you have been given, it is a fixed resource — we all have the same amount of time to work with.

Maximizing time’s impact makes sense… but how do you do that?

If you understand your most important asset, you will understand how to make the most of time.

Your most important asset? You.

And not just you, but your spark. Your sparkle. The unique contribution that your heart brings to each and every moment you are engaged with customers, while writing, while performing every service and creating every morsel of value that makes up your business.

Without that spark, there is no business.

(Can someone else run your business? No — because then it would become their business. Someone may steward it for a time, and you can have help, of course… but once someone else sits in the captain’s chair, it becomes their ship, not yours.)

The preservation of your spark must be of paramount importance in your mind. You have to keep watch over your vitality and your freshness, or else there will no “water in the well” to share with anyone else.

So now can you see why my reply to that initial remark about, “productivity suffering because of taking a break,” was an unequivocal, “Hogwash!”

It’s important to take a holistic view of productivity.

No, that’s too tame. Let me try that again.

You’ve got to take a holistic view of productivity. Got to. Must. Because until you start seeing productivity as a whole-being concept, and an exercise in “spark-preservation,” you will subtly be undermining the very vitality that the success of your business rests upon every time you think, “Oh, I can’t take a break, because I need to work.”

Instead, tell that little doubting voice inside, “Taking a break can mean the maximization of my contribution. It allows me to show up at my best… (so buzz off).”

Let the importance of your heart’s contribution sink in for a moment. That’s it, breathe. Feel it. Know it as true. Honor it.

And now, as you go about your day and your week, recognizing the importance of your spark, do what must be done to take care of your vitality. And as you do, watch what happens to the quality of work you get done, the level of creativity you display, and your ability to be present in what you do.

All of which will make your “productivity” soar.