adminMatthias Ruziwa : H R Issues
While top performers interpret busyness as an indication of wasted energy, organisations are faced with an increasing endless barrage of distractions, from the vibrations and alerts on our smartphones to the breaking news stories and viral Whatsapp messages awaiting us at our desks. Today, the magnitude of information rushing toward us from every direction has surpassed our capacity for consumption.A few years ago, being productive mainly required good time management. In this modern day productivity is now requiring managers and employees to master time, energy and attention management. No matter how much time and energy you have at your disposal, you can’t be productive without mastering the art of attention management. Technological innovations have led to round-the-clock work schedules and mounting expectations.
Our business assignments have grown more collaborative, requiring more coordination, conference calls, and meetings. The end result is that work has become more complex and it is beyond reasonable doubt that we need strategies for being productive so as to achieve our strategic objectives.
In this article, the writer makes an attempt to share insights on how to achieve top performance in the wake of massive technological innovations.
a) You need to develop a habit of owning your own time. Our most satisfying work comes about when we’re playing offense, working on projects that we ourselves initiate. Many of us know this intuitively yet continue allowing ourselves to spend the vast majority of our days playing defence, responding to other people’s requests.
You can own your own time by blocking out time to work away from email, programming your phone to only ring for select colleagues, and resisting WhatsApp messages first thing in the morning until you have achieved important tasks.
b) Learn to recognise busyness as a lack of focus. There is a satisfying rush we experience when there is too much on our plate: we feel needed, challenged, even productive. And yet that pleasurable experience is an illusion.
It robs us of our focus and prevents us from making progress on the work that matters most. Sociologist Christine Carter, Ph.D., an expert at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Centre, put it this way: “Busyness is not a marker of intelligence, importance, or success. Taken to an extreme, it is much more likely a marker of conformity or powerlessness or fear.” Instead of viewing busyness as a sign of significance, top performers interpret busyness as an indication of wasted energy.
c) Far too many of us continue to believe that an “ideal worker” is one who works constantly, often at great expense to their personal life, but there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Being productive requires recognising that you cannot work for extended periods of time and maintain a high level of performance. As humans, we have a limited capacity for focused attention. We have been seduced into thinking that if only we try harder and work longer, we can achieve anything.
Top performers take a different approach. They recognise and honour their physical limitations by getting plenty of exercise and sleep taking time to disconnect from email for some portion of their off-hours.
d) Learn to intentionally leave important tasks incomplete. We often race to finish assignments quickly so that we can move on to the next item on our list. Instead of aiming to complete important tasks in one sitting, try leaving them incomplete. Doing so will encourage you to continue thinking about your work in different settings and, in the process, position you to uncover creative solutions.
e) Encourage your employees to take vacation leave. Make a habit of stepping back. In a knowledge economy as opposed to the industrial age system, productivity requires more than perseverance — it requires insight and problem-solving.
Researchers indicate quite clearly that we are more likely to find breakthrough ideas when we temporarily remove ourselves from the daily grind. This is why the best solutions reveal themselves when we step into the shower, go for a run, or take a vacation. Top performers view time off not as stalled productivity but as an investment in their future performance.
f) Help others strategically. High achievers, tend to be givers — those who enjoy helping others without strings attached. While giving can certainly help you succeed, research also reveals that helping everyone with everything is a recipe for failure. So how do you do it right? Top performers, avoid saying yes to every helping opportunity but always remember that the Bible says “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
g) Avoid priority dilution. Have a plan for saying no. The more commitments we agree to take on, the more likely we are to experience what is called “priority dilution.” This is when the sheer number of obligations we’ve committed to prevent us from doing the work that matters most.
One method of counteracting priority dilution involves having a strategy in place for saying no in advance, so that you don’t have to stop and think about how to phrase your response each time you need to turn someone down. Create an email template, or write out a script that you can use when doing it in person. When dealing with a manager who is asking you to take on more than is reasonable, think outside the yes/no paradigm.
h) Do things today that make more time tomorrow. A final theme to emerge is that top performers look for ways to automate or delegate activities that are not a good use of their time. Always ask yourself, “How can I use my time today in ways that create more time tomorrow?” Evaluating your to-do list through this lens makes it easier to commit to activities that are not immediately enjoyable, like automating bill paying or creating a “how to” guide for other team members to help you delegate repetitive tasks more easily.
We have entered a new age in which managing your energy and time is not enough. Today, the magnitude of information rushing toward us from every direction has surpassed our capacity for consumption. No matter how much time and energy you have at your disposal, you can’t be productive without mastering the art of attention management. We need to cultivate in ourselves the skills mentioned above to succeed at work.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author. Matthias Ruziwa is an experienced and progressing Strategic Human Resource Practitioner based in the Midlands Province, City of Kwekwe.
You can contact Matthias at the following email address: [email protected]/whatsapp 0773 470 368.
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