If you’re like most people you probably have a lot to do

And most of those to-do’s you have it in your head. I know it because I use to myself. But I don’t anymore. I have it done! And you will have it too if you understand something very simple.

Activity doesn’t mean productivity.

For many years I would believe that since I was active in many areas of my life, eventually something successful would come up out of it. Could I be more wrong…

We are wired to believe that working is to-do stuff, and since we “work” we must be “rewarded”.

I found out about this “mistake” a couple of years ago and I have to thank my mother for it.

When I would visit her, she would always complain about how tired she is working all day doing house-holding works. So, I offered to help her to do the work so she could rest.

We started to work together and I noticed something very strange. She would go around the house twice or multiple times for no obvious reason. When I asked her why she would work like that the answer was “because this is how the work is done”. This is how she has been working for years, this is how her mother use to work and I suppose this is how anyone she knew used to work.

Now, I’m no specialist on cleaning the house but it was clear to me that she could save much more time, working with a plan in her mind and cutting the back and forth. So I started to make some changes. Asked her what we had to do, and put a priority in my mind starting to remove priorities after finishing each task.

We finished in two hours. And only because the first hour I had to convince her to even try something different.

That was great, she was happy and we could take a walk after. But she still continues to do the “work” as she “knows” because I “don’t know” how to clean a house and she does!

That made me think though…

I too have things that I “know” how to do!

That made my mind spin and saw myself going back and forth just like my mother on my own tasks. Immediately I started to do what I know best. I took a pen and a paper and started keeping notes. What are the tasks that I do repeatedly when I work? Can I do those tasks more effective? Can I combine?

The results were amazing!!

I had wasted so much time doing stuff that I never thought that I was always out of time. But I thought I was productive because, hey, I was “working”.

It’s been a couple of years now, and I have reduced the time-wasters tremendously. It’s easy to see it now but when we’re in action, we never think what to do differently. We just do what we “know”.