REPLACE BUSYNESS WITH PRODUCTIVITY, EVERYDAY

“Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.”—Socrates

In 1916, an entomologist Dr. Jean Henri Fabre conducted an experiment titled: The Life of the Caterpillar.  

In his research, Fabre placed a number of caterpillars in a circle, observing their movements. For twenty-four hours, the caterpillars unquestioningly followed one another around and around in a steady procession. 

These insects had the energy to travel behind each other in long uninterrupted pathways but they lacked the intelligence to stop to question the direction in which they were moving. 

Casually, it might seem good that they were united; however, it was a senseless unity, as you shall see. 

In further experiments, Fabre placed the caterpillars around a saucer full of their favorite food—pine needles. For days, the mindless creatures moved in circle after cycle in exhaustion until they started falling off—one by one—dying from starvation; though a large supply of their favorite food was few inches away.

The experiment proved that the caterpillars were extremely busy but not smart at all.

Quite often, many of us lead a life similar to that of meandering caterpillars. We find ourselves pulled under the pressure of busy urgencies that really don’t lead to significant accomplishments—in the long run. 

Though we may convince ourselves that we are industrious, but in reality we are just plodding along with the herd much more like the pathetic bugs described above.

This article is a warning shot to prevent us from the fatal fate of those insects.

As Henry Thoreau once asked, “It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants; the question is, what are we busy about?" 

Ask yourself that question, everyday: What am I busy about?

It will help you keep in mind that the main goal of each day is to make progress—big or small—towards a worthwhile end; whether for 90 days, a year, three years, five years or ten years down the line.

Imagine how much we could achieve if we learn to put critical duties ahead of everything else, each day.

Since we all have only 24 hours in a day; this is a skill we will have to learn sooner or later, if we don’t want to regret too much at the end of our lives.

Which is why I ask myself now: How do I use most of my day doing meaningful work, instead of busy work?

And how do I live my days, without putting the things that matter most at the mercy of the things that matter least?

The simple answer I found is in always keeping the main thing, the main thing; that is, putting the truly first thing first, every single day.

PUT THE FIRST THING FIRST

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” — Paul J. Meyer

Stephen Covey was the one who popularized the idea of putting first thing first in his powerful book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. And that’s exactly the strategy we need to master to escape the tyranny of busyness in our everyday lives.

Therefore, we should make a habit of putting the first thing first to lead a naturally productive life each day. This will safeguard us from any chaos that may occur during the course of any day.

And if we learn to apply this surprisingly simple idea regularly, we will hardly have any day in the year that is totally unproductive. Even on the worst of days, we will be significantly immune from the waste of spending a whole day on frantic motion as Frank Bunker, American engineer and author said:

“There is no waste in the world that equals the waste from needless, ill-directed, and ineffective motions.”

FIERCELY APPLY PARETO

The Italian sociologist and economist, Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 20 percent of activities yielded 80 percent of results and 80 percent of activities yielded 20 percent of result. And that remains true today.

Obviously, tasks are never really equal.

So, immunize yourself from drifting.  Put your first thing first by remembering the words of the leadership expert, John Maxwell that, “You can’t overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”

In other not live like the caterpillars, always remember that the most effective people are not necessarily those who do the most things; the most effective people are those who usually do the most important thing first. 

To them, unless the most important thing gets done, everything else is a distraction. They don’t surrender their direction to the urgencies of everything else; instead, they set their own priority and lead.

From now on, replace busyness with productivity by applying this simple idea, every single day.