Productivity has always been important
Although productivity might seem something that became important only recently, after the industrial revolution, it has been a topic of discussion ever since ancient eastern and western philosophy started.
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“Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates
Don’t take on more tasks and responsibilities. You end up doing many things in a mediocre way. Instead, focus your time and energy on a few important things.
“Better a little which is well done, than a great deal imperfectly.” – Plato
Set 3-4 important tasks that will directly contribute to what you want to achieve in life.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius.
One unproductive day can destroy your whole momentum. And that can set you back months.
All your small actions combined, form your system for living.
And that leads to the big outcomes in life: More happiness, fulfillment, wealth—all a result of your system.
“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” – Aristotle
No matter how hard you work today, never see it as a sacrifice. You will end up resenting yourself.
“Neither blame or praise yourself.” – Plutarch
When you blame yourself often, you end up hating yourself. And when you praise yourself too much, you end up loving yourself in an unhealthy way (a form of narcissism). If you overdo it, you sacrifice the quality of your work.
RELATED IDEAS
Employees also have other concerns that hamper productivity and efficiency. It may be personal problems, a lack of will to work, or any other factor not in a manager's control.
The modern workforce enables employees to be the means of production themselves, using their knowledge, expertise and experience. The output is the quality of the results and the creative decisions made in a day.
Creativity is not something we “do”. We cannot force ourselves or grind out a completely new creative idea for a blog post or essay.
Relaxing and doing nothing can actually be a vital part of the creative process.
It is all about balance.
It encourages you to claim your successes and to deflect your failures.
When something good happens, you take the credit, but when something bad happens, you blame it on something out of your control.