Why focusing on tasks can lower productivity (and what to focus on instead)
Hello,
Welcome to this week's edition of Course Builder’s Corner.
I have 3 things to share with you in this issue.
I. Update on my follow through project
II. Article: Why focusing on tasks can lower productivity (and what to focus on instead.
III. Two ways I can help you
Let's get started
I. Update on my recovery from exhaustion
By the end of June, I was suffering pretty extreme exhaustion.
I wrote about my plan to come back from that here. The cause was sleeping difficulties. The solution was exercise which always helped me sleep better in the past.
So I began to exercise more. Some brief exercise before bed which helps me get to sleep. Walking during the day to interrupt bouts of sitting and running for cardio. To help me follow through with running I registered for a race that took place on August 6th.
I invited a friend to race with me. Here's a photo of us after the race:
It was the slowest 5k of my life but I was proud that I got back on the path of health and fitness.
Now onto the main event.
II. Why focusing on tasks can lower productivity (and what to focus on instead)
In 2014, thousands of people played music while they slept but not a sound was heard.
They were playing a silent album called Sleepify from an LA-based funk band. Spotify pays 7/10ths of a cent every time a user plays a song. The band, tired of being paid pennies for their music, decided to upend the Spotify system. They asked fans to play their silent album on repeat while they slept. The band went from making almost nothing on Spotify to earnings of nearly $20,000 with a shift in strategy.
When we want to improve our results, we too, often require a shift in strategy.
To be more productive most of us are told to work harder or faster and spin the wheels more quickly. But what we really need is a shift in our approach. One such shift is from focusing on completing tasks to focusing on creating intermediate packets.
What on earth are intermediate packets and how do they help?
Intermediate packets are small creations you use to make something larger. You can think of them like Lego bricks. Legos can be used to create a cathedral, an ocean liner or a space station. The work products you create can also be used in infinite ways when conceived as intermediate packets
The outline I used to make this article was an intermediate packet that was adapted from a presentation I gave several weeks ago. Assignments I've created for one course have become intermediate packets that were used to teach my clients to create their own lessons. In your work, whatever you create can be used again as long as you realize they can be reused.
But the advantages of thinking in terms of intermediate packets is not limited to their reuse in the future, they are helpful right now.
When you create intermediate packets, you can see progress materialize as each of your mini creations adds up, you start to see the cathedral materialize. But if you only focus on completing tasks, these items are checked off and disappear into the ether.
You can create value in a short span of time.
Fifteen minutes is long enough to create something small that will help you produce something big. You can create a back of the napkin diagram for a business model, list ideas to go into a future book, jot thoughts about an article you'll write ... all of these actions create intermediate packets that would help you build a bigger thing.
There's no pressure to finish the project immediately, since you are focused on creating one packet of value at a time.
You may see some advantages of focusing on intermediate packets instead of just tasks but how do you do it?
There are three main methods.
You can create them by making them yourself
You can find them in your systems - your notes app, your hard drive, old emails, etc.
You can source from others - searching online, conversations with people (as long as you take notes)
I recently had to make a decision about whether to join a very expensive and time-consuming writing course
Before deciding, I did some writing in a note to widen my options. This note is an intermediate packet. I asked "If I couldn't take this course, what would I do?" That led me to brainstorm several options. This question also helped me realize it wasn't the skills of the course I really wanted but accountability to keep writing.
So I made another packet listing out ideas that worked for me in the past to help me stay accountable. I decided to use Beeminder.com to charge me $5 every time I missed a day of writing since that worked before. I ended up with a plan I felt good about to get back into the writing habit. No expensive and time-consuming course required.
But isn't this just a fancy way of saying break a project down into smaller tasks?
It’s easy to think that intermediate packets are just the standard advice to break a project into smaller tasks.
And it is similar, but it is also different.
Tasks are verbs. They are things you do.
Intermediate packets are objects (even if only digital). They are things you make or find.
Here are a few examples of tasks converted to intermediate packets to make the distinction more clearly.
The task of reading a non-fiction book can become the packet "a list of the top 3-5 ideas from the book.
The task of examining web analytics can become this packet "screenshots of stats + commentary and questions."
Reviewing student assignments from a past course can become "a note that captures student insights and errors."
The task of figuring out which computer to buy can become the packet "a personal wish list of features."
Once you realize that the goal is to make something every time you sit down to work, the possibilities are endless.
Summary
A focus on creating intermediate packet has several advantages over a focus on completing tasks
They can be re-used, they allow you to see your progress, and create value in a short span of time.
You can make them yourself, find them in your digital systems and get them from research and other people
An intermediate packet focus is different from "just break the project down" advice since you are making mini-creations as you go instead of just checking tasks off a list
Changing my focus from completing tasks to creating intermediate packets has allowed me to get a lot more done and with less stress. I haven't been able to figure out how to make $20,000 in my sleep yet but maybe someday.
III. Two ways I can help you
The Atomic Course Blueprint - Want to create a course without the usual overwhelm? Try creating a tiny course. Find out more here.
iPARA: How to organize your digital life for action- Is digital disorganization keeping you from reaching your goals? What if just four folders could let you not just stay organized but actually get things done. See for yourself here.
That’s it for this week. I’ll see you next week with another issue.
Glad you're feeling better 👍👍