A few years ago during a break in a leadership class I was teaching, a manager named Michael walked up looking unsettled. His boss had told him he needed to be more productive, so he had spent a few hours analyzing how he spent his time. He couldn’t find any tasks to drop from his calendar
Being prolific is not about time management
There are a limited number of hours in the day, and focusing on time management just makes us more aware of how many of those hours we waste
- A better option is attention management: Prioritize the people and projects that matter, and it won’t matter how long anything takes
Attention management involves noticing where you get things done
Productivity isn’t a virtue. It’s a means to an end. If productivity is your goal, you have to rely on willpower to push yourself to get a task done.
- Focus on why you’re excited about the project and who will benefit from it
- Attention residue: Your mind keeps wandering back to the interesting task, disrupting your focus on the boring task
Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Wharton, is the author of “Originals.”
For more on building your career and connections, listen to WorkLife with Adam Grant on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts
