Forget Productivity, Focus on Working Purposefully

When you’re trying to change the world, it can easily feel as if there isn’t enough time in the day to do all of the things you’d like to do. As a result, we look for apps, lists, and ideas on how to do more in a short amount of time. But is this the best approach?

Over on 99u, Sam Spurlin argues that focusing on productivity doesn’t get to the root of the problem: whether we’re working on things that matter in the first place. We’re all given the same amount of time, so once we gain clarity, being productive gets much easier.

"It becomes less about tips and tricks and more about making sure you’re allocating the most scarce resource in the universe, your attention, in ways that most closely align with who you are and what impact you want to have on the world. It’s about eliminating the unnecessary tasks and demands that are eating away at your 150 billion bits so you can focus on something that helps another person or creates a little more beauty in the world or solves an important problem or makes you feel like you’re on this planet to do something worthwhile."

Read the rest of his insights here.

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by Allison Jones