1. Your Time is Precious. Make It Matter for You.
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
It was the end of March 2020; the world was in a panic and so was I. I sat on my bed frantically scrolling on my phone, searching for masks, as tears dripped down my face. As a frontline healthcare worker, I felt the visceral threat of COVID-19, and I was helplessly afraid.
Snapshots of the life I had lived flashed before me: arriving in the United States, graduating from high school, college, medical school, residency, and work. It felt like I had accomplished a lot. Yet, it now felt so little. All that time. What had I used it for? And did it all matter now?
As a productivity nerd, I had read the books, subscribed to the blogs, listened to the podcasts, and downloaded the apps. What I had learned had helped me get things done; but there was something missing. I was surviving, but not thriving, because my time was not being spent in a way that mattered to me.
The threat of COVID-19 made me realize that my time had to matter to me. My time is too precious for it not to matter.
I needed a new approach that was centered on my values, my vision so that my time would matter. And, maybe for you, a pandemic or other significant life experiences event has brought you to a place where you’re thinking about your time. There is space here for you.
Or perhaps, it hasn’t been a particular experience or event for you, but you feel overwhelmed, as if you’re hanging on by a thread. There is space here for you here too.
Or maybe, you’re thriving right now. You’re productive and efficient as traditionally defined. But, you want to continue to thrive. There is space here for you here too.
Regardless of where you are or what your story has been, if you desire to boost or streamline your productivity in ways that matter for you and are sustainable, then this is your blog.
As we go on this journey together, I will share advice and tricks from my learned and lived experiences that are intended to both inspire and motivate you to action. I don’t have all the answers, but I hope we can find them together.
Let’s get started together by redefining what it means to be productive and efficient and introducing you to the Time Matters approach to productivity.
Definitions A New Definition of Productivity
When I shared that with friends that I was launching a productivity blog, some of them had an immediate visceral reaction. Why? Because we live in a culture where productivity and time are linked in ways that can be harmful, or, even toxic. We feel pressured to squeeze more and more into every minute in order to “maximize” our time. And “time well spent” is not defined by our personal values, but by how crammed our schedules are or how many things are checked off on our to-do-list.
This attitude has created an antagonistic relationship between our time and our personal and professional goals, resulting in two extreme behaviors: procrastination or perfectionism. Both can be unhealthy mindsets that fuel self-sabotage and, at its worse, self-defeat.
Once I explained to my wavering friends that Time Matters is a different type of productivity blog, they felt reassured.
For a values-based productivity approach to work, we must redefine what it means to be productive and efficient.
Productivity is about building and releasing a product. And, that product has to be linked to your values and vision.
You are productive when you are getting things done that are valuable to you.
You are efficient when your time aligns with your defined values.
Yes, it is that simple.
Now, let’s move on to the first step towards a more productive life.
The Approach
Redefining these two key terms allows us to introduce the approach: VHS (values, habits, systems) approach. This approach works from the bottom up with values as the foundation. Nearly every other productivity or time management approach is focused on the systems, - or the how to - not the why, which is values.
So, what is the solution? Start with your values. Define what is important to you and let that motivate and guide how you spend your time. This is about sustained and values-based productivity. It is not about learning a new to-do system, email hack, etc. All of that can be helpful, but it is not the most important.
Values
Your values are your compass. And your values define who you are or who you want to be, not who you ought to be.
For me, I defined several values that are important to me, but my top three are faith, family and community. My faith is my literal compass that guides all my pursuits. My family is my home that I always come to and my community encircles my home.
What are your core values? Define and write them down.
And, keep in mind that as we grow and live life, our values may change or shift in priority.
Habits
Every adult - I hope - shares a common behavior that starts each morning, that is brushing your teeth. Bad breath is usually your cue. This triggers an action. You brush your teeth. The action leads to a reward. Tingling in your mouth (depending on your toothpaste) and fresh breath. This is a habit — the unconscious decisions and behaviors we engage in daily. Some, like toothbrushing, are essential. And some, like checking our social media accounts multiple times a day, can be harmful to our time.
How are your habits or behaviors aligned with the values that you have defined for yourself? Let’s say you have defined wellness/health as a core value. What habits do you currently have that align with that value? What habits are harmful to it?
Systems
There needs to be a method to getting what matters to us done. And, this is what systems are all about - I call them the tricks and tools of productivity. This is where the gadgets, apps, how-tos, etc fit in.
There are a lot of productivity tools and hacks that you can find on the Internet. However, these will only work to make you more productive when you have defined your values and shaped your behaviors to align with your values.
The VHS approach will come up time and again (pun intended) on this site. If you ever need to revisit the core concepts, this is a great place to return to.