Holiday Productivity - Do It!

There seem to be 2 schools of thought on holiday productivity.

1.Productivity goes down during the summer (and Christmas) months because people are winding down and taking holiday

2.Holidays are good for productivity because they give you a break, allow you to re-energise and be more productive on your return

Now I actually believe there is a middle view – that BECAUSE you take holiday in those months you can be super productive all year long!

Why do I say this?

Well just think about the effect of going on holiday. It can be the one thing that really makes you focus because you have an immovable deadline – a time by which you MUST achieve or complete certain things.

How much do you get done in the few weeks or days before your holiday?

Well it is possible to achieve more in less time whenever you want to, not just in the in the run up to holidays.
So how do you do this?

Well first you need to understand the ‘end-effect’. Many of you say to me that you only really seem to get motivated and into action properly when you have a deadline looming - that’s the end-effect in action. So what is this really about?

It’s about having a defined rather than an indefinite period of time in which to carry out your work, and it’s about your most effective work being produced towards the end of this time period, particularly when there is a very definite cut off point.

So what if you apply this not just to holidays, but to your daily breaks, lunch breaks and finishing times? What if you apply it to very short periods of time – say 5 or 10 minutes?

Because for many of you your work and personal lives run into each other so you’re deprived of natural end-effects.

Success Action Tip

Work on a subject or action area continuously for 5 minutes without stopping. This ‘not stopping’ is very important, so resist the temptation to check as you go, just keep going and at the end of 5 minutes stop dead. Use a timer to help with this.

(I got this tip from Mark Forster and it’s one I use whenever necessary myself, and one I encourage my clients to use too if they struggle with lack of focus.)

At this point you can review what you’ve done and what you will often find is that you’ve completed more than you expected.

The added benefit of stopping dead is that your mind will want to complete and because you’ll probably feel that you’ve not finished you’ll want to get on with it! But I urge you to resist the temptation to keep going because this will negate the end-effect, and leaving it for a while will probably enable you to progress further because your subconscious will still be working on it!

Try this when you’re procrastinating, lacking focus, or when you become aware you’re not being particularly productive. It’s also a great technique to use for getting unstuck and clearing resistance, because it allows you to be more creative. Just select an issue or problem that you’ve been putting off thinking about or dealing with and write for 5 minutes without stopping.

You’ll be amazed at the insight you can gain and the new perspective it’s possible to achieve with this simple action and in this short and concentrated time frame.
Once you gain momentum you can then start to increase the bursts of time for each activity or project (by 5 minutes at a time.)

If you want to increase your productivity all year round action this Success Tip. Do it and let me know how it works for you.