Productivity - The Struggle With It

As I begin this hub, I will start off by saying; this one is for me as well as hoping you can finding something in it for you. Productivity - The Struggle With It.

It seems lately I have had a very hard struggle with Productivity, so I decided I would try to see why and put it in writing so that maybe, just maybe, someone else might find something beneficial.

We know that the definition of Productivity is a measure of the amount of output per unit of input. In plain English.. it is what we get in return for our time spent doing something. When we are struggling with trying to see what we need to do next, we are wasting time in being effective with our labor.

In any job or work it is important to know exactly what you are capable of.  One cannot do their job well if they are not capable of doing the task required to do it well and be productive.  It is not common this day and time to have a job in which we are not capable, but I have seen some occasions when one may have wanted a promotion to something they were not quite ready for.  To show and receive the end results of Productivity on any job we must be capable of performing the task at hand.

We all want the best Yield for our labor in whatever it is we are doing. If one cannot sell enough cars to get sufficient commission to pay their obligations, then they must think about doing something else. It stands true for inner satisfaction as well...if you are working your butt off and are not happy in what you are doing...you are not being productive or truly recieving the full potential of doing something you love even if you are getting the big bucks.

Yield means that we are receiving something for what we are doing that is worth the labor and our efforts to get the job done. This goes back to the thought that not only are we looking for a harvest with income to reward us for our efforts, but we need satisfaction of the soul and mind. It means that to produce the best of all worlds, we must love what we do to really do it well. There must be enthusiasm and joy for it to be quality productivity. It does not matter how well we do it, if we do not enjoy it.

In other words the payoff for our labor must be more than money. If we do not have something at the end of the day besides money, we are going to get in a rut and find ourselves unhappy and eventually unproductive...again...

In any job anywhere, there must be clear responsibilities for all and with the responsibilities, there must be a knowing that teamwork brings the best results.  It also means that policies and procedures must be adherred to and if broken, it should be by authorized personnel.  Planning is always what makes the end results note worthy.

Ways to Beef Up Your Productivity

Getting started....sometimes this is the hardest part of getting something done and being productive

Know when your most productive time of day is....morning, afternoon or evening.

Make your own work space... a place to be quiet, alone without interruptions unless necessary if you work at home...

Distractions...should be minimal but that includes the phone, email, the kitty cats, the dog, the husband or wife with their little things they need to tell you...

Take the time to plan your meals and shopping so that it does not stop your daily work routine

Make a calender for the day or week and plan out your work...it might be well to do this the night before... this is the hardest for me because I want to make it up as I go..but I have to get back to a plan....

Do the hardest part first...what you dread doing.

Ask yourself if you are being productive with your work...set your goals which should be reasonable and doable..not something unatainable...but set goals and hold yourself accountable...and motivated..

Orginanzing your office is of primary signficance...get rid of junk papers that have been read, clean up your space and have a free path to the printer and fax...

Study and learn more of what you think you are weakest in....

Focus on the results more than the number or abundance...this means that make sure your results are greater than your output...for instance if you are killing yourself doing something and are not getting an end result or benefiting, then something is terribly wrong. You cannot outdo yourself and not be accomplishing something worthwhile...if you are placing emphasis on the right areas of what needs the most attention...then that is what will bring the results..

Learn to say no...you can't be everything to everybody and do what you must do to be productive...

Give yourself a break....do not be too hard on yourself and criticize yourself for not accomplishing what "you" think you should... take breaks when necessary to clear your mind

Focus on your work and not what or how someone else does their job

Be yourself and know what you can do...

Just recently I wrote something about working in an environment where the amount of work, the Abundance of it; was one of the keys to success. It was not the most important key, it was only one key. It was working in a group auditing loans and gathering pertinent information from the file as to how the loan was originated. A lot of paper work goes into originating a loan and a lot of information must be reviewed to include the appraisal. It is not something you can do in five minutes and do it well...but time is another key to the success. This is something I am very familiar with because I have done it for a long time. Yes, it is easy to get caught up in trying to audit and review 40 files a day. The bottom line was this; it did not matter if I could review 40 files a day, it mattered if the information gathered was the information needed to make a decision that the loan was saleable to the Investor...probably Fannie Mae. So my Productivity demanded accuracy and abundance but the accuracy was the most important.

We can strive for numbers or abundance in trying to get something done; whether it is reviewing loans, writing articles, selling cell phones or whatever the job may call for; but the end results will also include the quality of work which has been done.

Another example is when I was an underwriter of loans. The number of loans per day was important, but what was of greater importance was that I did not miss something in the file that would have made it a decline. I had to reveiw the borrower's credit worthiness, which included, the ability to repay the loan, that there were assets sufficient to close the loan and enough remaining for reserves, the income stability, and that the property was suitable for collateral of the loan. Meaning going behind the Appraiser to make sure the property had been evaluated properly.

It takes a lot of time to gain full confidence of our abilities to work more speedily and still do the job well. When accuracy is the main focus, it is important to keep at a slow pace yet learn where to cut corners and cut out what is not so important. For instance in the above, I learned that it was not my job to read every disclosure...that was compliance. I was underwriting the loan for approval or denial. I was the one the Loan Officer got mad at if I declined the loan. So, I had to be productive more ways than one....I had to do the job well making sure my decision was fact, not fiction and could prove it; but have sufficent numbers as well.

 ...an uninteresting article, a topic over our head, something we have not studied enough therefore, we have not been productive. Why? Because no one is going to read it, and they are certainly not going to comment. Of course I am referring to Hubpages in this situation.

On Hubpages; it seems to work like this, the more hubs you have, the more readers you have and the more money you can make. But, it does not end there. You must have significant, knowledgeable and informative hubs which makes someone want to read them...and the latter seems to be most important. Also, what seems to be important here is also, how you are rated and who knows that because you can't tell that I know of. I forget to rate others sometimes, but I think that this is something that is common...I think. Of course you and I know that each of us enjoys different subjects. Sometimes what strikes me as a great articles and interesting to read, might be boring to you...it depends upon the person.

What gets me in a rut is deciding where I need to write as I know I need to promote my work, what I need to write about and the most important part is getting the links. I can write until I am blue in the face but if I do not get the links...I have not been productive on Hubpages. So, to get the links you must write more articles. It is a constant effort to write and somehow keep the productivity going strong...at least you think. If I can't get quality vistors though, I have wasted my time writing and I have not been productive.