Episode 1093: What is Productivity?

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1093 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:06] Rob Berger: I'm Rob Berger, author of retire before mom and dad. I encourage you to find your own journey to true financial freedom. And one way to be inspired to do that is by listening to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:21] Scott Maderer: When I talk to people about what are the right things, what should you be spending your time on? Almost always people have an answer to that, but then when I ask, what are you actually spending your time on? Again, they usually have an answer for that too. And the two don't match, they know they're not doing the things that are the most important things.

[00:00:42] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true column in the inspired stewardship podcast, who will learn [00:01:00] to invest in yourself.

[00:01:01] Invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:08] In today's episode about impacting the world by stewarding your time. I talk with you about my definition of productivity. I also share why understanding this is so important, and I share why having the wrong definition can really get you moving the wrong way. As we talk about stewarding your time.

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[00:01:55] I talk a lot about productivity. And one of the things that I haven't [00:02:00] always shared is what I actually mean by that word. I ask other people all the time to define the words they use, because I think. Understanding how someone is using a word becomes really important when you're communicating, because at the end of the day, oftentimes the way someone else hears it or what they believe the word means may be different than what you actually meant by it.

[00:02:25] So with that in mind, I wanted to define a little bit about what I mean when I talk about productivity. To me is really about getting the right things done. Now that's a. Definition that sort of begs the question a little bit, because what does it mean by getting the right things done? I think for a lot of people, they think about getting more done or

[00:02:51] getting

[00:02:51] Scott Maderer: the things done more quickly.

[00:02:54] But in my case, I really mean about aligning what you are doing, [00:03:00] the purpose and the meaning and the connection that you have. With what you're doing, if you're doing things, because you're just living out what someone else wants you to do, then that would not be productivity. Even if you're getting a lot of things done, even if it's very effective, even if it's getting a lot of rewards for you, it's still not really productive because it's moving you in a direction in that isn't the direction you're supposed to be going in.

[00:03:30] This is why it's important to understand what it means to get the right things done, to examine your motivations, to examine your values, to examine what you really want out of life and what you're being called to do to think about all of those components and connections and relationships. With all of the blessings that you've been giving so that you can really [00:04:00] live out what you're supposed to be doing, not just get things done so you can check them off the list, getting 'em done so you can check them off.

[00:04:08] The list is more what I would call effectiveness or efficiency, not productivity. Having the wrong definition really steers you the wrong direction when you're thinking about getting the right things done. And instead you're thinking about getting more things done, then all you're paying attention to is how many items get checked off the list.

[00:04:33] And oftentimes what ends up happening is you do a lot of things that maybe they're urgent task or they're things that are on fire or they're things that you can just knock off quickly, but they don't really move the needle for you. They don't really change things in your life and you end off putting off the things that are really important.

[00:04:51] The things that make a big difference, put off, getting your money straight, you put off building your relationships. You put off. [00:05:00] Health you put off changes and other things that aren't easy to do. You put off the challenging task that actually make a big difference because you're simply focused on getting more done, not paying attention to what are the right things.

[00:05:19] It's really about intent. Intentionality. Productivity is about being intentional with how you use your time. It's about stepping back and really thinking about it. So that at the end of the day, it's not just items on a list. It's really items that make a difference in your life. It's putting the things in the forefront that really change what's going on.

[00:05:47] Change it for the better they bring you more in alignment. They bring you living out more of your calling. They give you more bang for the bucks. So to speak. These are things [00:06:00] that oftentimes are not easy, but the funny thing is more often than not their simple. When I talk to people about what of right things, what should you be spending your time on?

[00:06:11] Almost always people have an answer to that. But then when I ask, what are you actually spending your time on? Again, they usually have an answer for that too. And the two things don't match. They know they're not doing the things that are the most important things. But they're out of alignment because they haven't actually stopped to think about it so often we're so busy, just getting things done that we don't stop to think is this the right thing to do?

[00:06:38] One of the most powerful questions you can stop and ask yourself is what. Is the most important next action for me to take. And I would include in that, what is the most important next small action that I could take? Because oftentimes when we think about important, we think about big task, but you need to take that big task and [00:07:00] break it down into what is the next smallest step that I can and take.

[00:07:04] And then you actually need to take it. This is why accountability. And this is why having people around you that hold you up and say, you can do this. and you need to do this. This is the calling that you have. This is the direction you should be going. And you knowing that in your heart and having a big enough, why a big enough reason to do it, even though it isn't easy to do it because it's the right thing to do.

[00:07:33] That is what really changes your life. And at the end of the day, that is what I mean when I talk about being productive. Thanks for listening.

[00:07:43] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. [00:08:00] If you like this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to sign up for our stewardship of time tips series by going to inspired stewardship.com/time or texting 4 4, 2, 2, 2 time tips.

[00:08:20] And that'll get you our best tips on stewarding your time until next time. Invest your time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.