What’s Holding You Back From Being More Productive?

Unless you’re already working less than six hours a day most days and are leading the life you want to lead, with a business generating profits at the rate you want and a fulfilling personal life, you could probably benefit from more effectiveness in your business.

There are a variety of reasons why people tell me my methods or suggestions won’t work for them, and they're … mostly wrong. Most people can take something from my LaserBrainTM methods, even if they don’t want to or can’t implement it all.

“I have ADHD (or some other neurodivergence)”

This is a very common comment that I hear. Yes, there are some differences in neurodivergent (ND) brains such as ADHD, autism, etc., compared to a neurotypical one, but any human brain is still a human brain. 

You will have to adjust for some of the differences, but you may find that your differences actually help you in some way. For example, people with ADHD and those on the autism spectrum both are able to hyperfocus. You want to get a lot of stuff down in a really short amount of time? Hyperfocus is the way.

It might be harder, depending on what “flavor” ND you are, to get into that hyperfocus. That’s where you need the boundaries – which I have had for years due to my own flavor, which renders me absolutely incapable of anything but a meltdown if someone interrupts me while I’m focusing. You also might need to do something with your hands while you’re working (stim) so that the extra energy is elsewhere in your body. Or maybe you need to listen to certain kinds of music.

Similarly, people tell me they have a lot of thoughts. Who doesn’t? I’m genuinely asking, because I don’t know anybody (ND or not) who doesn’t have tons of thoughts zipping around. When you have a lot of thoughts about things that aren't finished or need to be started, you can write these down so your brain knows you’re onto them and will get to them. (I did not say “type them” on purpose.) 

You don’t actually have to have a plan or a date to work on your thoughts and ideas for this to work. All you have to do is write them down.

“I don’t have time to learn a new system (or framework, or whatever)”

I know, it’s a paradox. You want to spend less time working but you (think you) can’t find the time to learn how to work in a different way. There are a few reasons for this, which again, depend on the person. 

Some people say this because they don’t actually want to spend less time working. They think it’s something they SHOULD say or they SHOULD want, but they enjoy being busy or having people depend on them. Running from place to place “jumping on” (ugh) call after call helps them feel important and valued. 

Not judging if this is the way you really feel. I will just mention here that I know plenty of women who felt this way but changed their minds after a loved one died or they had a health issue that had them reexamining their priorities. But sometimes, this state of affairs sometimes really does just bring joy.)

Some people say that although they want to spend less time working, they don’t believe it’s actually possible to work less and still have the income they want. Much less to actually attain more money and work less. 

Note that work expands to fill the available time, and working long hours = more success is capitalism’s kool-aid. Again, not judging you for drinking it. We get it through a firehose, especially when we start working. 

However, I know actual people who don’t work all the hours. They refuse to hustle and grind and still have a successful business. They’re not superheroes, they’re ordinary people who have figured it out.

Finally, some people are so overwhelmed with everything there is to do that they’re unable to prioritize what’s really necessary. Taking time away from their business to learn how to do things genuinely seems like a complete impossibility. If this is you, you will absolutely benefit the most from learning how to be productive.

The way to be more effective – to get the results that you want – is not necessarily  learning another app or software. Or adding new but different work to what you’re already doing. It’s really about aligning your work schedule with your natural energy ebbs and flows, and doing the right things at the right time of day. You also need to set (and hold) boundaries, which sometimes seem scary, but can benefit you in your life, not just your work.

“Productivity is just time management (and blocking my calendar doesn’t work)”

Productivity is more than time management, although some of the principles will probably help you be more effective. The idea of time management is that you block out your calendar in whatever time increments you like and assign a task or project to each time block. 

Effectiveness requires a lot more than that. If you get your best demanding or complex work done in the morning, you can schedule all the blocks you want. But if you schedule that work for any time after lunch, you’re not going to be anywhere near as effective as you would be if you took your own energy into account. 

Time management (at least as practised in the US anyway) also seems to imply that all calendar blocks should be filled with something. If you have five minutes before your next meeting, what can you cram in there?

Because our brains are not computers, sometimes the best and most effective thing to take is take a break. Not to read emails or scroll social media, but to get a drink of water, or even stare out the window to look at some nature (which will help you destress.) Or even to do a breathing exercise to help you feel calm and in control.

The other very important thing for effectiveness which isn’t addressed in simple time management methodologies is to keep the time you block out for focused work – ideally, cognitively complex stuff and work that only you as the business owner can do for your business – as a regular occurrence. Without interruptions.

Avoiding distractions during this time is key. Interruptions make it hard for you to get back to where you were before you were interrupted, so if you’re not protecting this time, you’re not actually going to have it.

Also, you have to keep that time sacred and not allow it to move all over the calendar just because it’s a convenient time for someone else. Successful entrepreneurs operate on their own agenda and timeline, not anyone else’s. You have to protect the time from being encroached upon by anything (other meetings, notifications) or anyone (team members, clients, vendors) else. 

If you focus on effectiveness - not efficiency – you’ll be able to get the results you want without having to work more hours or working harder than you already are. You can’t outwork a computer (or someone who’s young and hungry) but you absolutely can work smarter, which is a bigger advantage.

Recap (tl;dr)

Unless you’re already at the extremely productive end of the productivity spectrum, you can be more productive in the workplace. There are some common reasons why people believe they can’t be more effective, but by shifting their perspective they see that they can.

Bewitched, bothered, and be-whelmed? You don’t have to be. Schedule your free consultation here to see how we can work together to improve your effectiveness.

Image by Morgan Housel via Unsplash.