In software development, the search for increased productivity often feels like the quest for the Holy Grail. And I imagine other professions are no different. It feels like every day I read about another methodology, system, way of working or a tool promising to boost your productivity and finally make you the 10x programmer you always wanted to be. Whether it’s “Getting Things Done” to organize all your projects, breaking your time into Pomodoros for maximum efficiency, or using tools like Todoist, Things, or Bullet Journaling (if you prefer pen and paper), the pressure to optimise productivity is relentless. Listening to the tech podcast while you are running or doing reps in the gym. I am feeling my anxiety rising just listing these and I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I have been caught up in all of this as much as anyone else. There is something addictive about checking items off a list. Society programmed my monkey brain to get a sense of validation by achieving goals - by producing. I’m still working on breaking free from this mindset, and this article serves as a reflection on that subject.

Productivity does not equal effectiveness

Let’s say we have a clearly defined goal - a desired outcome. If it’s not something very simple, we break it down into specific, executable steps (tasks). In this case the productivity will be the speed with which we complete these steps.

It might be that we are super productive in achieving those but end up no closer to the goal than we were before. Productivity is output, not outcome. Output is usually much easier to measure than outcome, so we often use it as a metric even though we are interested in outcomes. The problem is that what we measure is what we get. So, if we measure output, that is what we will get. We might get some outcomes too, but there is no guarantee for it.

I can’t even count the number of times I was super productive… in rowing in the wrong direction. I stared doing sports because of my back pain. Sitting too much, it turns, is no good for the back. While it was hard to start, at some point the endorphin highs kicked in (runners high) and I started loving it. So did more and more of it, at some point, running was on my daily todo list. It was months until I realised my body also desperately needs enough rest, and by running too much, my back pain was increasing and even my stamina was peaking out as I was not resting enough.

Forgetting the big picture

Focusing too much on execution, on productivity, often leads to forgetting the big picture. What was the goal, the outcome I wanted to achieve in the first place? So, productivity becomes and end in itself and those pursuing it nothing more than hamsters on a wheel.

Even if we do not forget the goal, it is crucial to always focus on outcomes not output. To step back regularly and evaluate if the current plan or strategy is still serving us in getting us closer to the goal we are pursuing. With every step we make, we learn something new, and this new knowledge should inform the decisions we make in the future. We might change course completely with this new knowledge, if we found a better path to the goal. This at the heart of many agile methodologies: small steps and re-evaluating after each step taken.

Even if we didn’t move, didn’t make a step, we might need to re-evaluate if time has passed as the world does not stand still and in the new context, the strategy we had before might not be optimal anymore.

If I continue with my running story, if I re-evaluated regularly, I would realise that my strategy was no longer serving my goal of living without back pain. If I did, I would rather spend a portion of that time with other activities that would get me closer to my goal, like doing Yoga and strength training, strengthening the muscles supporting my back and most importantly, having enough rest. I eventually got there, but I literally ran in the wrong direction for quite a while.

Not questioning the goals

Another thing I have often experienced while focusing on productivity too much, was that I no longer questioned why I was doing that in the first place? When focusing too much on productivity, on how much we already invested into reaching a certain goal, we will be much less likely to question it. This is sunk costs fallacy at work. The more I invested into something, the harder it is to let it go.

This is very wasteful, as it can free up my valuable time and mental capacity much more than any productivity optimisation ever could.

It might even not be as drastic as dropping the goal altogether, it might only be refining it, but in either case it refocuses on the outcome.

This was perhaps the most difficult thing for me to learn. I grew up learning that one never gives up on what was started. So, once I started studying mechanical engineering I was not giving up on that. Even when I realised, I am not particularly interested in that subject or the jobs open for that qualification. I could do it, so I was determined to. It took a burnout for me to change course. I could havre saved a lot of time and energy if I had realised that sooner.

Beyond the goals

How often do we question why we are doing the things we are doing? Why are we choosing the goals we choose? How often are we honest with ourselves as to what we want? Yes, those are hard questions and the road to finding the answers is even harder.

I find, however, that when I really examine those things and am really honest with myself as to what I want and why I want it, pursuing that becomes much easier. Motivation becomes intrinsic.

Beyond that, I am convinced that investing time to re-evaluate things from the top down regularly is much more valuable than investing into any method that would enable me to produce output faster, read emails faster, write code faster or anything like that.

I would suggest investing time to continuously review:

  1. What are my values? Do I still value the same things?
  2. What are the big picture goals (vision) would bring me closer to my values?
  3. What concrete goals would move the needle on the big picture ones?

This works similarly for personal life or running a professional organisation. It’s not easy and it requires a lot of honest self-reflection.

The last point, concrete goals is the most volatile, will change most often, the values much less often. But we learn and grow, and our values can change over time too.

Values

This is a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially in corporate context. But how often do we genuinely reflect on them? In organisations its often just a thing to write on a wall or some marketing material. As individuals we often talk about our values but rarely really pin them down.

Purpose is there on a similar level as values. Values are a framework that constrains but also focuses our efforts, purpose is the guiding light. For individuals this is the groundwork for religions and philosophy. Organisations should have an easier time finding their purpose, although what I have seen so far they are usually even more abstract and enigmatic than those of most religions.

One of my values is freedom. In context of my career, freedom to choose the work I will do, freedom to do the work in a way I see fit. Therefore, any goals that I might set, any vision will be evaluated in how well it supports my value of freedom. It will very much influence my decision making in taking on a project or a position.

Vision(s) and goals

I would define vision as the goal that is not necessarily attainable. It is more abstract, something we might only move towards but never really achieve, or anything that might take a long time to do so.

For example, my vision is to have a cosy home. As an introvert this is the most important place for me. It is where I recharge and the best place for me to be creative (another of my values). A concrete goal to support my vision of having a cosy home could be getting a new sofa. But even in the unlikely event that I have implemented all the ideas that would improve cosiness of my home, I still need to maintain that - therefore a vision, unattainable goal.

Conclusion

I am still struggling with finding my own balance. Knowing something in theory is much different to implementing it in practice, especially when it comes to deeply ingrained behavioural patterns. Writing this blog post is on my To-do list in my Things App. I am still internalising the fact that I am not my productivity.

But I am getting better at it. More and more often I manage to avoid getting swooped up in the nitty gritty and focus on the big picture. And if I am being honest, big picture is being effective only as far as it enables me to have the maximum amount of time doing things I love. And there neither effectiveness nor efficiency really matter, I don’t want to be either of those while lying on the beach.