{"id":16748,"date":"2024-11-06T08:55:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T16:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=16748"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T22:03:36","slug":"productivity-opening-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/06\/productivity-opening-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Productivity – Opening Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Productivity is the second foundation in my year-long project<\/a> (and course<\/a>) to improve the universal elements essential to a good life.<\/p>\n

As I write this, today is the first day of my month-long productivity challenge, although you\u2019ll probably be reading this in the newsletter around a week later.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> I didn\u2019t want to publish my month-end fitness update and my first-day productivity update back-to-back, even though that\u2019s how I\u2019m writing them. Here are some links in case you are interested in seeing my plans<\/a>, results<\/a> and notes from books I read<\/a> during the first foundation.<\/p>\n

Why Be Productive?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a mistake to think of productivity as merely your ability to get things done at work. It\u2019s an even bigger mistake to think of productivity as the speed of getting work done.<\/p>\n

Instead, productivity is your capacity for doing the things you intend to do. That includes your work or studies\u2014but it also includes your household and personal responsibilities, hobbies and interests, relationships and more. Anything you intend to do that actually gets done counts toward your productivity.<\/p>\n

The mistake of focusing exclusively on work when we think about productivity is that it leads to a lopsided definition. Since only work output is being tracked, you can feel a kind of superficial sense of productivity simply by prioritizing work.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s even worse when we define productivity as the speed of work completed. This turns you into a widget cranker\u2014someone who churns out material without giving thought to quality, importance or impact.<\/p>\n

Taken broadly, however, productivity is an essential foundation. Having the capacity to do the things you intend to is a prerequisite for accomplishing any other goal.<\/p>\n

My Productivity Strengths and Weaknesses<\/h2>\n

Productivity has been a central theme in my writing for this blog for almost two decades. Thus, you might think it should be something I\u2019ve mastered, and I no longer need to think any more about it.<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, foundations don\u2019t really work that way. We all need tune-ups to our foundations every once in awhile. I\u2019m no exception.<\/p>\n

When I reflect on my past productivity, some strengths emerge:<\/p>\n