3 Massive Time Savers
Sometimes our busy brains can work against us.
Being aware of these three mental blindspots could be a productivity game changer for you.
- Completion Bias: We are wired as humans to get satisfaction from task completion. You will be familiar with this if you ever completed a task that wasn't on your to-do list and you then added it just to give yourself a satisfying tick. The problem with this is that it can take our attention away from our strategically more important tasks (that client pitch) to complete easier and less meaningful tasks (quick emails) which should be put back until later.
- Multitasking: Vanderbilt university has research showing that multitasking led to work taking 30% longer to complete with twice as many errors. This is because every time we switch tasks we expend time reorientating ourselves. Also, our focus suffers because a part of our mind is still thinking about the task which we have just left.
- The effort trap: Equating a big sense of fatigue with productivity is a dangerous game. This is because it is based on an assumption that we are getting the right things done. If we spend our days attending physical/zoom meetings (without ever asking do I need to be here), replying to email pings as a habit or spending time on projects which are well past their sell by date then it's time to stand back and see the bigger picture. If you do this you may actually get more meaningful work done in less time by focussing on the right things.
Making this knowledge work to your advantage leaves you more time for restoration and rejuventation.
I have a whole module dedicated to schedule optimisation and higher energy in my Peak Performance Code online course.
