How to Identify and Overcome Your Productivity Obstacles

Hello there!

I have a shorter one for you this week but it is a key aspect to focus on when we are sorting out where and how to ‘make more time’ for ourselves.

For the last three months, I’ve been working everyday on a new SaaS app. It’s not AI or automation related, very niche actually, and it launches this week so I’m super excited. This has nothing to do with this newsletter, but I wanted to mention it here.

Let's explore the three most common culprits that can limit your productivity: Time management, energy management, and goal management. These are vital components of your daily productivity equation and should be evaluated before you buy the next trending tool.

I’ve provided my checks and balances to ensure that my focus for improving my time spent is in the right area. I review these once per quarter (January, April, July, October) to make sure that I’m performing across these three sectors of productivity.

Time Management
The popular one to blame.

The first suspect on our list is Time. Is it slipping away from you without significant achievements to show? This is where we normally aim our focus when we are trying to be more productive.

Here's how to find out:

Perform a Time Audit: For a week, document how you spend your time. Be meticulous. From work tasks to breaks, jot everything down. Trust me, this sucks but once you see where your time is, you clean it up quickly.

Once you've gathered this data, analyze it. Are you spending too much time on low-priority tasks? Is there a chunk of time unaccounted for or lost to distractions? Are you spending time on social media that isn’t resulting in progress?

Action Item: Carry out a time audit for a week. The insights from this exercise should be eye opening. The month after I conduct mine I usually feel like there is TOO much time in a day.

Energy Management
The sneaky culprit.

Next up is Energy. Feeling constantly drained can be a massive barrier to productivity. Let's see if it's your silent thief.

Start noticing your energy levels at different times of the day. Are you more energetic and focused in the mornings or afternoons? Do you experience an energy slump during specific periods?

As part of your time audit, you may notice that your energy levels and unproductive periods correlate. This shows you you don’t have a time management problem but rather an energy management problem.

Pay attention to how your lifestyle choices influence your energy.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Is your diet fueling you properly?

How often do you exercise?

Action Item: Track your energy levels throughout the day for a week and note any patterns. Also, assess your lifestyle habits and their impact on your energy levels.

My biggest improvement to my energy focused on two areas: Sleep consistency and diet.

Goal Management
Right path or wandering aimlessly?

Finally, we turn our attention to Goals. Ill-defined or misaligned goals can subtly divert you off course, leaving you aimless. By definition, if you are aimless, you can hit nothing.

Is this the case for you?

Take a critical look at your current goals. Now, you might expect me to ask if they're SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound).

However, I've found a much better framework — FAST (Frequently Discussed, Ambitious, Specified, and Transparent) goals. Read more on FAST goals.

Here's why I prefer FAST over SMART:

Frequently Discussed: Regular discussions keep your goals front and center, ensuring they don't get lost in the day-to-day busyness. I do this through friends, family, and a group chat of ‘industry innovators’ aka friends that have the same mindset to move ourselves and our communities forward.

Ambitious: Aiming high encourages innovation and motivates you to step out of your comfort zone. It’s fine not to meet what you specify but you will achieve more through ambitious goals than regularly setting achievable ones.

Specified: Clearly defined steps provide a roadmap to follow, reducing ambiguity. Don’t spend too much time here. Just note what success looks like.

Transparent: Shared goals provide collective responsibility. Share what you are working on on social media,with your friends/family, or on a personal blog.

Now, reassess your goals with this framework. Are they FAST? If not, they might be contributing to your productivity struggle.

Action Item(s): 

1. Rethink your goals using the FAST framework.

2. Make sure your daily activities are aligned with these revitalized goals, focusing on tasks that bring you closer to achieving them.

3. Most importantly, have some goals set.

Let me know what you think of these roadmaps. I’d also love to hear any results you’ve had recently. Simply reply to this email. A good system to enact after reviewing these is the Triple-E productivity system I use and discussed a few months ago. You can read about that here.

Until next time,

Evan

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