It is me again. Recently I have noticed that I have been working very long hours and not getting results; I realised that something is missing. I am working hard, plan everything, doing too much, but the results are not getting close enough. I am following everything theories says Plan Do Check Act, but hang on, Deliver no results!!?
What is wrong here?
Thus I have decided to review my own process of productivity matrix and establish a new one. It is derived few methods from here. It is for assessing risk and mitigate any flaws. I am trying to improvise my own image and building new tools and business on top of it. It is a steep learning curve and hard to grasp on many touching points. Sometimes I felt exhausted and burning out so drastically. It is natural, and as a human being, I felt that too.
One thing is for sure when I looked back on my achievements and analysed them. I felt proud, and when I look forward, I still see the mountain to climb. Hence, I thought, Okay, Let me share my own process. It might be helpful to others, or maybe I would see it as a journal.
Right, Let’s dive deep into it.
Day in day out, everyone works hard to survive or thrive. It is our natural circadian rhythm. We are now in the working cycle era, let us say morning nine to evening six. Thus our brain is hard-wired with the habit of getting this sh*t done. Pardon me, correction Never-ending s**t !!!!
Usually, I tend to do lots of preparation before I started to work, but recently I have shifted to better methods. It is not a silver bullet for the problem. But it is one of the best solutions; I have ever tried. Let me share with you the Pie Chart.
This is really a road map for how to make a day productive.
Let me elaborate more.
Every day we work around 8 to 9 hours, and to utilise time effectively, we need a plan from the start. Assuming that we have a plan (or we can plan for making a Plan… How irony!!! seriously.) and the first 30 minutes or so, we should spend to review that plan and build a mental picture of what we want to get out of the end of the day (See, ending first at the beginning). It helps to set a mind on the priorities and actions required. What to do, how to do, and how to deliver at the end of the day.
Why this way?
It will focus on the results, which helps to set two things: how far are we from the end goal and what to do next to be there, right on the spot. At this pace, it helps individuals keep on track and without feeling burned out—the sense of achieving results daily.
Now its time for actions. This is where most of us get into a battle but can be well balanced if you have a SOLID plan or visualised your end goal for a day only. We should spend the maximum available time on these phases. You worked hard, and hours passed by. Now, it is time to deliver something good, something you proud of, no matter how small or tiny, but little progress is better than no progress at all. So you do your best to deploy or deliver something which adds value to entire ecosystems. But this way, it allows alignment with bigger goals and contributes every day, efficiently and effectively. Think of this as a continuous improvements cycle of your own new version. You are adding values constantly and continuously; you are improving yourself.
It is only possible if we allow ourselves to review the process and measure our progress daily. It is not about picking up on weaknesses or pushing more work or limits of self but gradually working towards better value-driven quality. It is about how effectively and efficiently motivate oneself and deliver daily commitments.
We have reached nearly the end of the day, we have tried to achieve everything we planned in the morning, but something is still left or maybe achieved what was planned. Bravo… It is now time for planning again for the next day. And it is imperative if we follow these rituals rigorously, it will bring tremendous results. Not only that but our wellbeing at work and value increases.
Thus, out of eight hours of working, you should spend or more to say, take time to plan well. And before that, review your own work’s results, how was it, what went well and what was not? At the end of the day, before going home (or sign off from your desk), plan for the next day.
Reasons to do planning again?
The same next morning, I start with a quick review of the previous day plan, and If I need to shift any priorities, I will put in the actions and work towards deliverables. Thus my process improvised like Plan, Action, Deliver and Review. It will establish the procedure and may be laying out the successful roadmap of the value proposition.
Now its time for my revision, and hopefully, I will plan better than today.
Till next time.
Ciao.
If you want to discuss it further, you can contact me here.