Three Resources of Productivity

In productivity, making use of time is only one piece of the puzzle. There are two more precious resources that we need to take into account. This is how to be incredibly productive.

The three resources of productivity

1. Time
2. Energy
3. Attention or Focus

Time

Time is equal to everybody. We all have the same 24 hours a day as any successful person on the planet. We say ‘I didn’t get much done today’. What is happening is that we either didn’t have the energy or can’t focus.

Energy

We get our bodies’ energy through proper nutrition, rest, and exercise. This is not that hard to get compared to focus.

Attention or Focus

In productivity, the most limited resource we have is not time or energy, but our attention. Of the three resources, this is the most difficult to get. Time is already given. We gain energy through sleep, food, exercise, and good health. While our Focus/Attention is what everybody battles.

We battle procrastination by having the will, drive, or passion. Our will-power is also a limited resource. The drive is our motivation for a goal to succeed. Passion, however, is much more, a force from within that helps us to go on.

Passion might be your place of gathering your ‘unlimited’ source of energy. This is what helps our physical body to ‘do’. Passion is much deeper. The question is, do you have your attention to your passion?

Productivity increases and then decreases.

We can do busywork. But the quality of work that we give makes all the difference. We can claim to do a 60-hour workweek. But we can only work so much productively to our most important task, which often requires deep focus. We can truly only focus in a few hours and after that, we must rest and do other things.

Productivity, that is the quality of being laser focus at any given task fluctuates. Knowing that this is not constant, makes us want to take advantage of when we can be productive in a day. Do your most important task at that time. Some people find it to be very productive in their first three hours of the day.

A tool we can use to boost our focus

Mindfulness is the single best tool to get our attention. The core practice is to breathe, be aware, and stay present anywhere you may be. We become aware of the wandering, distracted mind. Which allows us to be in the present. Then we can quietly turn off the noise and be back with ourselves.