Everybody wants to be more productive. And team leaders will do all sorts of things to try to increase productivity throughout their organization. There’s no shortage of books, podcasts, trainings and systems designed to maximize results, and there’s no end to the number of influencers and experts who are happy to tell you the hidden secret to performance or sell you the magic pill for productivity.
And you’ve probably tried a lot of them…because they never work long-term.
Almost anyone can try out a new system and achieve improved performance for a short while, but sustainable high-level performance is much harder to achieve.
In fact, the only way to reliably maintain that increase in productivity is by learning to Do More, More Naturally.
Your ability to both Do More (stay accountable to a purpose) and do it More Naturally (aligned to your natural way of operating) will dictate where you fall on the productivity matrix on your way to the goal of sustainable performance.
Even the strongest system and best considered advice will only work if you can execute it in alignment with your natural way of taking action.
We all have instinctive strengths that dictate how we naturally operate when free to be ourselves. (You can read more about that HERE and how to apply it HERE.)
Going against that natural way of doing things is a fail-proof path to frustration.
As for doing more, it’s not about time management. It’s about focusing on how you operate best and on what matters most. Don’t keep telling yourself, “I’ve got to manage my time better so I can fit it all in.” That’s not going to work.
We all have a certain amount of mental energy available to solve problems, make decisions, and execute. You need to hold yourself accountable to using your strengths to their highest and best possible use. Aligning your instinctive strengths with your actions puts you in a “flow state,” where work feels effortless. It naturally frees up your time and, more importantly, your energy.
Ever find yourself asking why am I even here at work? What am I even doing right now? You’re not accomplishing tasks at the level you expect no matter how hard you try because you’re constantly having to work against your strengths and your natural way of doing things. You find yourself procrastinating all the time and falling behind. Even worse, you end the day feeling like you didn’t accomplish anything, but you’re still exhausted!
When nobody is held accountable for high results and nobody is allowed the freedom to be themself, you end up with bureaucracy.
Accountability alone, without doing things in your natural way, can be even more punishing.
Let’s say you are performing at really high levels. You’re cranking out a lot of work, but you’re not able to use your strengths. That ultimately leads to this massive depletion of your mental energy or burnout. It’s just not sustainable.
At an organizational level, holding people to a high level of standards for output and not giving them the freedom to do it their own way or use their strengths, results in an authoritarian vibe. There will inevitably be a lot of burnout, and a lot of turnover.
Having the freedom to be yourself is always a good thing!
But freedom without accountability isn’t a path to productivity either. You must take responsibility for choosing to do the right things that will achieve the necessary outcomes. Doing very little, but more naturally may sound great, but it doesn’t lead to consistent results either. It leads to a complete lack of direction and organizational chaos. You get to enjoy freedom, but it’s unproductive freedom…not a great look for a business team!
Ultimately, you need both elements of the winning formula.
When operating More Naturally, you’ll be able to do more and achieve better results while using less energy and experiencing less stress. Combine that with a focus on accountability and performance, and now you’ve got the sweet spot of sustainable success.
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Want to know how to consistently Do More, More Naturally?
We actually wrote the book on effortless success, and it’s available for purchase now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible.
Enjoy a free download of the first chapter at Kolbe.com/DoMore to start your path to sustainable performance!
