To reach the level of production that you are desiring – forming productive habits is a must. I recall when I was employed at United Parcel Service how they had a method of teaching that would lead you to form productive habits. By forming a productive habit, this allows you to do certain things without thinking. It frees your mind to concentrate on those things that need specific random attention. I am sure you don’t have to think about walking down the street, running, riding a bike, chewing a piece of steak. These are habit forms. The tricky thing is that we could form a habit that is non-productive that could hurt your daily production or health. This is why it is good to have a personal coach tp help get you back on track.
As a driver for 13 years in the state of South Carolina and specifically in Greenville, SC – our supervisors would sporadically ride with us to see if we were being productive. This would be measured on how much time we spent sorting, how far back we would step into the vehicle, what finger we would put the key on when pulling it out of the ignition, how we would step down out of the vehicle in a safe productive manner, how we would measure the traffic versus safety all around us and how much time we would spend carrying on a conversation with the customer. The goal was to deliver 25 stops an hour which may sound easy but when you include 50, 50 pound packages to deliver (handcart a block and put them in someones basement) that would almost take 30-45 minutes alone. At 25 stops and hour that’s 1 stop every 2.4 minutes. I am sure you are already feeling the pressure. United Parcel Service is all about safe production – but without production there is NO BUSINESS and customer service.
What kind of business are you in? Are you in an industry that requires production? Are you in sales? Do you have someone assessing your daily activity to ensure you are getting the results that you or they want? If you don’t you should consider having a mentor to help assess your daily activities and process to find where you are losing your time, analyzing in a neutral setting and helping you be productive. It is important to form PRODUCTIVE HABITS which lead to SUCCESSFUL RESULTS!