3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Productivity

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Yesterday, I was excited to share the news of my latest endeavor. Today, I'm struggling to focus. 

I rarely turn on the television during the day but, after yesterday's events, I am once again glued to the news. Late in the morning, I finally resigned myself to the idea that I wouldn't be turning off the news any time soon, so I brought my laptop back to the family room and put the television on mute so I could at least get something done in between actual news reports (as opposed to a rehash of yesterday's news). 

Whether your obstacle is breaking news, too much to do, or something else entirely, here are three keys to re-thinking the to-do list when productivity is an uphill battle.

Do what you can. I knew this post needed to get written but, even with laptop at my fingertips, I was too distracted to start there. So I opened my email. I knew I could manage a scan-and-delete session. That led to taking action on some e-mails, which led to taking action on some other items that I'd been turning over in my mind, but that hadn't made it to the list yet. Once I started working, it was easy to keep going. Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part.

Ask yourself if what you're doing is more important than your to-do list. I know that sounds silly but, sometimes, we're so driven that we lose sight of the fact that the thing that's "interrupting" our productivity is worthwhile. Case in point. Laundry, writing and household stuff is at the top of my Saturday list. If I don't do those things on Saturday, they get bumped into another day, knocking the rest of my schedule off-kilter. But last Saturday, my daughter wanted to meet to go shopping after work. Sure, I could have stuck to the to-do list, but time with my daughter was more important, so the to-do list got broken up into smaller pieces that could be inserted bit-by-bit into other days. Sometimes, to-do lists can actually skew our priorities.

Try to get to one top-tier item if possible. News or not, it's Thursday, so this post was getting written. Dinner will also get made, and I'm still on track to get some writing in, even though that will happen much later in the day than I planned. When you end your day having crossed one thing off a daunting list, focus on what you've accomplished rather than what you haven't. Sometimes, progress comes in small doses.

We can't be "on" all the time -- it's not healthy. Sometimes, productivity is overrated. Other times, it comes in the form of doing things we've long wanted to do, but haven't yet made a priority. My email scan-and-delete session led me to schedule several things I'd been toying with but hadn't committed to yet. 

To-do lists, like any other tool, should work in our service, rather than the other way around. And sometimes, the most meaningful thing we can do in any given moment isn't on the list at all.