We need to change the way we think about being productive. We believe that we need to be efficient, to try to get as many tasks done in as little time possible. We cram our day full with one task after the other in a mad dash to win the day. You know what I'm talking about.

Hurry, hurry, rush rush. No time for lunch, no time to stop. Quickly moving from one task to the next with the goal of checking off so many tasks from our list as we can in as little time as possible. Being efficient.

But are we stopping to ask ourselves if those tasks need to be done at all? Are those things we're rushing to do really important at all? Or we're just mindlessly rushing through our to-do list, pinballing from one item to the next, exhausting ourselves.

This is why we slip into bed and feel we didn't do enough or get enough done, that we weren't good enough even when we skipped lunch and did 5 tasks at the same time. Enough.

We're so busy working to be efficient that we don't have the time to catch our breath and ask ourselves the important question: Why? Why are these tasks on our list? Why do they need to be done? Why are we killing ourselves to do it all?

Productivity isn't about being efficient,It's not about filling our day with tasks to quickly check off. It's about being effective and asking ourselves if those tasks need to be done at all.

Productivity isn't getting more done, it's focusing on what matters most.
Dishwashers are efficient, refrigerators are efficient.

They're working hard with the least amount of resources and effort. And that's possible because they're machines, machines designed to do one thing over and over again. Dishwashers clean plates and Fridges keep things cool.

Unfortunately, when people focus on being efficient, the resource we target is time. We fail to realize that being efficient is about getting things done, being effective is getting what's important done. There's a big difference.