•4 months
Habits vs. Workflow
With the end of summer and the arrival of autumn (we still have some time until autumn), my thoughts increasingly revolve around issues related to productivity. One of the topics that constantly grabs my attention is the difference between habits and workflows.When most people discuss personal productivity, they usually focus on improving their habits that help them manage tasks. For example, grouping tasks related to email to efficiently manage the day.However, there is another key aspect: fundamental workflows that define what you work on and how that work is done.For example, if you are a project manager in an advertising agency and spend most of your time sending emails to team members to get answers to client questions, then this action is a default workflow that assumes asynchronous, unstructured messages are the preferred method of obtaining key information.Workflows are probably more important than high-level habits when it comes to influencing how effectively you create valuable things (the definition of "productivity"), yet they are often overlooked.For most people, the workflows that govern their professional lives are processes that have emerged accidentally, without much intention or plan.I am convinced that this should change, as the benefits of analyzing these processes are enormous.Let's look again at the example of a manager in an agency. Better habits related to managing the inbox can only bring benefits to a certain extent, as long as the basic workflow requires asynchronous, unstructured communication throughout the day.On the other hand, when this process is objectively analyzed, better alternatives may emerge.A manager in an agency, focused on maximizing the return on attention capital (both their own and the team's), may conclude that everyone would function better if instead of messages, there were 10-minute synchronous meetings held daily at, for example, 12:00 and 16:00, during which answers to questions can be efficiently obtained and further actions planned.Instead of just focusing on habits that help deal with the tasks resulting from these workflows, spend a little more time evaluating your workflows.
With the end of summer and the arrival of autumn (we still have some time until autumn), my thoughts increasingly revolve around issues related to productivity. One of the topics that constantly grabs my attention is the difference between habits and workflows.When most people discuss personal productivity, they usually focus on improving their habits that help them manage tasks. For example, grouping tasks related to email to efficiently manage the day.However, there is another key aspect: fundamental workflows that define what you work on and how that work is done.For example, if you are a project manager in an advertising agency and spend most of your time sending emails to team members to get answers to client questions, then this action is a default workflow that assumes asynchronous, unstructured messages are the preferred method of obtaining key information.Workflows are probably more important than high-level habits when it comes to influencing how effectively you create valuable things (the definition of "productivity"), yet they are often overlooked.For most people, the workflows that govern their professional lives are processes that have emerged accidentally, without much intention or plan.I am convinced that this should change, as the benefits of analyzing these processes are enormous.Let's look again at the example of a manager in an agency. Better habits related to managing the inbox can only bring benefits to a certain extent, as long as the basic workflow requires asynchronous, unstructured communication throughout the day.On the other hand, when this process is objectively analyzed, better alternatives may emerge.A manager in an agency, focused on maximizing the return on attention capital (both their own and the team's), may conclude that everyone would function better if instead of messages, there were 10-minute synchronous meetings held daily at, for example, 12:00 and 16:00, during which answers to questions can be efficiently obtained and further actions planned.Instead of just focusing on habits that help deal with the tasks resulting from these workflows, spend a little more time evaluating your workflows.
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