The point of efficiency is not to make room for more work
Photo by Zach Betten on Unsplash
If you’ve been in my orbit for any amount of time, I assume that you know I’m quite far from the “productivity bro” philosophy. My goal, always, is to help you learn to use your time in a way that aligns with your goals and values.
I want you to do more of what you want and less of what you don’t.
I want you to have downtime.
I don’t worship at the altar of productivity (or any altar for that matter). I reject “hustle culture”. I don’t want you to eke productivity out of every moment (unless that’s what you truly want, of course!).
Better managing your time is not about “doing all the things”. That’s impossible anyway.
We’re all gonna die with a big long list of things we didn’t do. You, me and everyone else who breathes on this planet. And that’s ok. It has to be. Because it just is.
Don’t get me wrong. I care about productivity. I care about efficiency. I care about focus. I care about time.
But the point of efficiency is not to make room for more work; it’s to make more time for whatever the heck you want to do more of, whatever you want to do with your time.
Personally, I learned productivity and time management skills for many reasons, but chief among them is that I LOVE having time for myself.
As much as I love what I do (and trust me, I really do), I love reading and traveling and cooking and board games and hanging out with my family and friends and going on walks and eating at restaurants and laying in the hammock and knitting and crocheting a whole lot more.
Here’s a (partial) list of things I did this week just because I wanted to:
I scrolled TikTok for an hour (ok, maybe 2)
I watched several episodes of New Amsterdam (because I LOVE a medical drama and I’ve already watched all of Grey’s Anatomy and ER)
I crocheted a fuzzy purple pillow (What am I going to do with it? Who knows! Find someone to give it away to I guess; I certainly don’t need another pillow in my house. And purple definitely doesn’t match my decor.)
Listened to almost all of a book about the Sacklers
Did any of those things bring me closer to my goals? Did any of those things have a “purpose”?
No and no.
I just enjoyed the time. That’s it.
No higher calling.
And absolutely no guilt.
Here’s the thing: You don’t need my permission, but I’m going to give it to you anyway: It’s OK to do things simply because you like doing them. Not everything has to have a greater purpose.
And being efficient with the things I have to do, the obligations, allows me the ability to do so much more of what I want to do.
I want that for you, too.
Productivity can be a scary word. It’s a capitalist word for sure. So I’ve co-opted it.
The dictionary definition of productivity is “the quality or state of being productive” with productive defined as “having the quality or power of producing especially in abundance”
But here’s my definition: Productivity is doing what you intended to do.
If you had a better handle on your time, if you didn’t feel like you were constantly rushing from one obligation to another, with a storm cloud of tasks raining down upon you and no way to capture them all, what would you do with your time?
And how much longer are you willing to carry this burden?
When will you make time for yourself?
If you don’t have answers to these questions, then I invite you to join me in Time Well Spent: Time Management for Real People.
I only offer this program twice a year, and it’s enrolling now through Feb 9th, 11:59 PM Pacific.
By the end of this program, you’ll experience 2 key changes, changes that will really change everything:
You’ll feel in control of your time
You’ll be a lot less stressed
How do I know? Because that’s what literally everyone says after completing it.
In this program, I’ll help you take stock of what’s important to you, and then build sustainable habits, practices and skills to help ensure that your time becomes truly yours.
Join us and enroll today! More info at https://www.alexishaselberger.com/enroll