You have a serious concern for your personal productivity. It’s annoying to realise moments where you could have done things more efficiently. Why? You are someone who hates to see time being wasted. But when you reach out for help, all you receive is “foreign” advice, far removed from your experience.
At this point, most of us throw up our hands in frustration. I certainly did when I moved back to Jamaica in 2005. I quickly realised that much of what I had learned about being productive didn’t work locally.
It was humbling.
As a teacher of time management programs, I thought I knew a thing or two. Instead, I was struggling to apply a formula I had used for over 20 years of professional life in the USA.
But I decided that I should find an expert to understand my new situation. If there was a “Personal Productivity in Developing Countries” book, I required it.
After searches on Google and Amazon, I gave up. So I tried searching “War Zone Time Management”. Nothing there either.
But what I wanted seemed obvious to me. I needed to manage my task-load productively in ways that fit my hectic circumstances. And culture. This meant I could not simply mimic what experts in New York or London were doing.
Therefore, I had to dig deeper for some answers. Here are the main findings which became part of my second book, Perfect Time-Based Productivity, and today shows up in training and conferences.
Finding #1 – We teach ourselves the art of task management…but haphazardly.
We all know we learn how to run at an early age. However, it’s not the sprinting Usain and Shelly-Ann practice as professionals. That has to be learned, which means that several habits must be unlearned.
The same applies to task management. After we are shown the concept of time as eight-year-olds, we begin to create tasks. At the start, it’s mostly a memory game.
Finding #2 – Challenges to Becoming Better
Improving your skills in this area isn’t easy. Unlearning old habits is hard, and this topic is just not taught in school. Instead, it’s sink or swim for students.
Also, task management is not an occasional obligation. Unlike sprinting, you are doing it all the time, every single day. Therefore, you just cannot pause to step back and reflect in order to improve. You must develop while you are executing.
Furthermore, this isn’t an optional activity. We are required to use one technique or another so we can be fully functional adults. The only question is, at what level will we perform? And should we do so consciously or not?
Finally, if you have a knowledge worker’s role, you must adopt digital technology. The most common are email and WhatsApp. Some also employ task management software, perhaps supplemented by paper – the most ordinary technology of all.
This all makes the job of becoming a better task manager hard. In this case, being smart or experienced doesn’t help. The playing field is level and anyone can ascend to greater heights with the right knowledge.
Finding #3 – The Key to Improvement is Not a Guru
While great sprinters need coaches, you probably don’t have one for your task management. Therefore, you must mimic what they do and become an expert at diagnosing your current performance in this area.
The best place to start is with the defects – moments when you notice a problem which indicates you have fallen below your desired standard.
For example, each time you forget a task, find yourself late, lose track of an email message or feel overwhelmed…these are all helpful signs that your system has broken down. To determine the best solutions, you need to engage in conscious self-diagnosis.
Do so with the leading tools available. Some are described in my book, but there are self-diagnostic tools offered in workshops, webinars and articles. Their intent is to help you get to the source, so that you can fix problems and effect improvements.
Unfortunately, most of us are satisfied way too early. We look around at others in the office and decide what the average performance might be. Then we set our aspirations accordingly. We end up being mediocre.
However, if you are committed to world-class achievement, there is a lot to choose from. While local role models may be hard to find, they should also be envisioned from case studies. They’ll assist you in departing from one-size-fits-all answers to crafting custom solutions.
In summary, unlike the mid 2000s when I returned to Jamaica, this challenge can be met. “Jamaican Productivity” need not be an embarrassing joke. We are faster on the track than anyone in the world, and can also become just as individually effective.
Francis Wade is the author of Perfect Time-Based Productivity, a keynote speaker and a management consultant. To search his prior columns on productivity, strategy, engagement and business processes, send email to columns@fwconsulting.com.