October 7, 2011

Toss Out Productivity

  —Evaluating how you prioritize is as important as the mechanism you use.

A recent post on ZenHabits entitled Toss Productivity Out has piqued my interest. The title says the post is about productivity but a lot of the content strikes me as a comment on the benefits of understanding your priorities. Understanding and focusing on priorities simplifies your life.

Take the simplification argument used against getting organized. If you simplify you are effectively making choices on importance. If not then you introduce complexity into your life. Simplification forces you to prioritize. If you focus your priorities life becomes simpler.

The same argument can be made on the number of goals you set. And again for focusing on a couple of things to be done during the day instead of keeping detailed context lists.

The post makes other points against productivity methods. These look like an argument against selecting productivity methods that don't help you identify what's important.

In all, the important message is about managing priorities and about selecting ways that support the identification of your priorities. Evaluating your productivity methods in light of how they help you determine your highest priorities and then focusing on them is a great way to simplify.