A systematic approach to getting (the important) things done 

Have you ever wondered why most people major in minor things? It comes as no surprise that a majority of us are continuously frustrated and annoyed at our own in ability to fully optimise our use of time and resources. We often are running around filling our schedules with elaborate tasks in effort to be more productive? If a list of “To do’s” is all that was necessary to achieve true efficiency, then why do a bulk of people feel overwhelmed by the things that they need to get done, and in most cases very few ever get the really important things done. I’m about share a systematic approach on how planning your activity around your values and leveraging tasks and activity for maximum impact can assist you enjoy more freedom and accomplishments. One of the first key points to remember is; Activity without purpose is the drain to life quality and experience.

Adding more action items to your day to day activities isn’t effective enough on its own to produce the desired result. What I recommend you follow and apply is what I call a value driven action plan. This action plan comprises of three systematic processes. The first being Value Identification, the second is identifying your Motive Drives and the third is a putting together an Action Plan (call it VMA for short). Using this productivity system you are able to clearly identify the values drivers and motives behind your activity. This systematic approach fits any circumstantial model, not only will it affect your level of accomplishment in the work place it’s also applicable to your personal life. So we’ll look at each of the three parts and how you can access and apply these principals and begin producing immediate results.

The value identification process will assist you in assessing and pin-pointing your primary values, what end result you desire and how all these parts add up to your overall efficiency in meeting these values. So before you go about scheduling your action items, consider which of those may have the biggest impact in bringing you closer to your desired outcomes. A good method could be doing Pareto’s 80/20 Rule analysis of your would-be efficient effort allocation. So determine, what are the 20 percent actions or activities which could deliver 80 percent of the desired outcome. Having done that you would have identified the necessary tasks to leverage. The rule states that 80 percent of the effects (results) in business, economics, ecology etc stem from 20 percent of the efforts (input).

Motive Drivers are the engine to your value based objectives. Why would you remain disciplined in your pursuit of your goals? What are your primary motives for action in this regard? Remember action unaligned with significant purpose is the drain to your time and energy. Why is this? Because, too often we mistake activity with productivity and these two don’t necessarily interrelate. So once you’ve identified your desired result, you’ll then be able to create linkages to these outcomes by associating your day-to-day actions with compelling motives. This will serve you in keeping your daily schedule primarily focused and aligned with your desired outcomes, and that’s productivity; When every action item scheduled contributes, in part or in its totality, toward the execution of a much bigger agenda.

First of all, your action plan needs to be continuously audited and checked to ensure that it aligns with the necessary and required action to meet your value based objectives. Once you’ve gone through the value and motive identification steps, then you can proceed to the articulation and clear description of the action items; because, what we do is often determined by a clear vision of the outcomes we want to achieve and our emotionally associated motives to those desires. It’s important to document your action plan somewhere it would be easy and convenient to retrieve the written plan on a regular basis. You could make use of your smart phone; there are an assortment of applications available to assist in meeting this functional need. Outside of your long and mid-term objectives, it’s critical to make a list of 4-5 specific actions you schedule and commit to on a daily basis that will lead to a few steps closer to the goal after completion. When scheduling these actions you can be flexible with how and when you allocate the time and duration necessary for completion. Do this without failure in effort for the next few months and tell me if your results wouldn’t have drastically improved from where you are right now.

The idea around this productivity system is for you to apply the minimal effective inputs to achieve maximum results. Now this isn’t about taking half measures, that’s not what we’re talking about here. The objective is to apply 80 percent of your efforts toward systematic planning and 20 percent toward effective and efficient action. So we’re prioritizing the biggest action blocks, with the highest opportunity for leverage. Using these principles you’ll be able to free up so much of your time, energy and mental capacity for even greater enjoyment and fulfilment in other aspects of your life. The primary objective is to create a productivity system that liberates your time and life quality instead of constricting it by having you “keep busy” doing the wrong things really well.