Is your office a prison cell?

Take a good look at your work space.  How does it make you feel when you’re in it?  Do you even have a work space? Or, are all your papers sprawled out over the kitchen table?

The first step in mastering workflow is to define a work space you love.  I didn’t say “like.”  I said “LOVE.”

 

You won’t want to do anything if you hate your work space. The space doesn’t need to be large.  You only need enough room for a desktop and 2 – 3 file drawers.  My first office was in a closet similar to this.

“One of the best tricks for enhancing your personal productivity is having organizing tools that you love to use” [1].

“If your filing system isn’t fast, functional, and fun, you’ll resist the whole [organizing] process” [1].

1. David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2001), 96.

Quick Tip: Baby steps

Are you struggling to get motivated today? Can’t get out of the bed, or off the sofa? “Baby Step it!” Think of the very smallest next action you’d need to take to move forward.

For instance:

Your guest room needs painting. What is the smallest next action you can take toward getting the job done?  

Do you know what color you want? Maybe your baby step is to go online to explore paint colors or D.I.Y. sites for ideas. 

Or, if you have paint and supplies, maybe the first baby step is putting on “work” clothes.  

The key to baby steps is to only think about that one small action.  Immerse yourself in the moment. Once you’ve completed a baby step, decide on another one.  In no time at all you will have baby stepped your way through the inertia of procrastination into productivity.

“Baby Steps” is a concept taught at Flylady.net

The cure for procrastination is purpose

There are people who are doers/servers. They are created for and motivated by doing for the sake of doing.  These are wonderful people; I thank God for them.  But, I am not one of them.  I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to overcome procrastination.  I’ve tried every trick in every book… none of it cured my lack of motivation.  Those “tricks” were merely temporary fixes, but nothing caused me to permanently change.  I’ve come to realize, you can learn how to work more efficiently but only purpose can motivate you “to” work at all!  Certainly one can find temporary motivations:

• The threat of a large tax penalty may motivate you to finally file those back tax returns.
• Relatives calling to say they’ll be over in an hour may motivate you to clean the pile of dishes sitting in your kitchen sink.
• A letter saying you have one semester to pull your grades up or be placed on academic suspension may motivate you to pull a few all-nighters to get a passing grade.

But, theses are external, and most importantly, temporary.  If you want to overcome procrastination at its core, you’ve got to identify with your purpose.  Why are you here?  What contribution are you suppose to be making?

You’ll know when you’ve discovered your purpose when you can answer yes to these two questions:

1. Would you actively participate in this endeavor, even if there is no personal financial gain?
2. Would you actively participate in this endeavor, even if others already do it (some even better than you)?

An example of this would be an artist who loves to paint.  If you asked that person, “would you paint even if no one purchased your artwork?”  A real artist would say, “Of course! Yes! I can’t stop painting; it’s what I’m born to do.”  Then, if you asked them, “would you give up painting if you discovered someone else was better skilled?”  Their reply would most likely be, “Never! I paint because I must express what’s within me, not because I am the best.”  So it is true of everyone, we must be purposeful as an expression of who we are and why we were born.

Purpose is the glue that brings everything in life together in a meaningful way.  I get up as soon as my alarm goes off in the morning because I desire to engage my purpose.  I don’t procrastinate because my purpose ignites me like a rocket and I can’t wait to express it throughout my day.  Life without purpose is drudgery.  Everything is too hard, too arduous, too complicated.  Tasks like paying bills, calling customers, cooking dinner, writing a paper, studying for an exam, even washing my face can be just too difficult without a reason why.

You may have come to this blog looking for productivity information to help you move forward in your life endeavors.  You may even be looking to take on some one-on-one productivity counseling.  But, before hiring someone to help you with Workflow and GTD, stop for a moment and ask yourself this question:

“Am I trying to force myself to do what I was never meant to for the sake of money, position, approval, prestige, fear, or even because I’m good at it?”

If the answer is yes, productivity systems like GTD, Franklin Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and FlyLady aren’t going to help you.  You’ve got some real soul-searching to do first.  Find out why you are here…. because purpose is the only reason for getting up every morning.