Does Business Productivity Matter?

Sometimes, when it comes to systems, people assume that all they need to succeed in life or business is more productivity. I mean, we all have the same 24 hours, right? It’s how you use them that matters.

No. 100 times no.

Not only is there so much more to reaching your goals than being productive with your time but we don’t all have the same 24 hours.

Recently, an Instagram post by Melissa Hartwig (of the Whole30) touched a lot of people when she explained how her life today gives her way more time than when she was building a business, had an infant, and was dealing with a divorce.

I loved the post because Melissa was able to beautifully share her own privileges as a reminder to us all to stop shaming each other.

That business owner who has never created an online program doesn’t need a productivity hack, she needs grace and understanding that new things are harder to do.

The freelancer wondering, perhaps for hours, how to set up a contract for a photoshoot doesn’t need to hear “stop wasting time,” he needs resources and grace because it’s something that should be done right.

And overall, it’s the easy, cheap way out to throw assumptions at each other about how much time we should and do spend on any number of tasks.

Some people can rock out a blog post in 30 minutes and it goes viral with hundreds of comments with very little SEO. Other people will take days to craft a post and then more time promoting it to get some traction.

Have you ever noticed that anyone working slower than me on the same task is “wasting time” and anyone working faster is “rushing?”

There’s a very simple reason that I love systems (one of many) and that is that when you have a proven and easy system to follow you can get more done in less time. I.e. be more productive.

But the whole goal of systems isn’t just to work quicker but to ensure that things are done right (quality) and is effective (via tracking) and aligns with your overall purpose (strategy).

In a very weird example, it takes me back to an experience shopping with a personal stylist, many years ago. We were in a particular store for the last few hours and in and out of the dressing room the stylist ran, hanging up dozens of tops for me to try. After the first two, I realized there was a big issue and had to stop her from bringing me any more clothes. Yes, she was moving fast and getting through this department before the store closed for the night, but every single shirt was the wrong size and style for what we’d discussed.

Accuracy in your work is important.

Ensuring that what you do makes an impact is critical.

And those things take time.

When we spend our energy judging others on how they’re using their time it’s wasting valuable resources.

You can’t see how someone else spends their nights, the responsibilities and worries on their plate, the battles they might be fighting.

Sharing my systems is never meant to be a way to time-shame other entrepreneurs into working faster. When done right, systems allow you to work efficiently and purposefully, taking the time you need to take for the task.

We all have 24 hours a day, but what fills our lives, our minds and our days is very, very different. Everyone is trying to find their own balance when it comes to time and unless you have a time machine, focus on your own calendar, responsibilities, and commitments.

Learn and test how you can be more effective and productive, if you need to be, and remember that the tasks you now find easy and effortless were not always so.