A member of our Life Balance community recently sent me an email with a simple quote that he thought I might like from the May 3, 2008 edition of the Economist magazine:

"Productivity isn't everything, but in the long-run it is almost everything." Attributed to Paul Krugman, from his book "The Age of Diminished Expectations."

In thinking about this quote, I decided that I either agree or disagree with that notion based on what it means to be productive. I have not read the book, so I have no idea of how the author defines productivity. I have only my own definition to work with.

In my experience, as the co-author of a time management software application, Productivity is a healthy balance of "Proaction," "Action" and "Reaction" to attain something that you feel is worth the trouble of exerting all that effort -- ideally something that makes you or those around you happy. :-)

Action is what generally passes for "Productivity." Showing up on time. Taking responsibility. Doing the work that needs to be done. Following through. All good stuff.

Reaction is responding to the Action of others and the current situation. Sometimes we think of that as a negative thing, but that is not necessarily the case. Reaction includes taking directions. Changing and accepting new requirements. Reassessment. Flexibility. Going with the Flow. Also good stuff.

Proaction is the third leg of the triangle, which is thoughtful planning. Neglect of this third element, Proaction, is generally what causes an unbalanced life. When we are not living a balanced life, our productivity can easily become skewed either toward ineffective Action, or ineffective Reaction, or a cycle that alternates between both extremes.

I see many people start to flail when they focus solely on either Action or Reaction. I'm sure you see them too. They usually look frantic, worried, upset, or annoyed. They may initially get a lot done, only to burn out and become exhausted and discouraged. They may end up in the middle of any number of archetypal messes that originate in a fundamentally mistaken understanding of Productivity, which can be summarized as, "I'm busy and tired, therefore I am Productive." Some of these folks even talk about productivity all the time, but they don't necessarily get THAT much more done than those of us quietly looking around to see what needs doing next or how to pitch in and help out.

Productivity is not making yourself and everyone around you crazy as you grind yourself into a pulp. It does not mean only doing what others say they need you to do. It does not necessarily mean adhering to arbitrary requirements or schedules.

There can be reasonable delays, things that go wrong, changes of plans, or deviations from the intended route from here to there. You can have a moment's peace and time for contemplation without being considered a slacker or lazy. There can be room in your day for serenity, whim and serendipity.

People often think that being Proactive is scheduling the week ahead to be the next great blur of Action. It is not simply the piling on of the next round of projects and tasks. Being Proactive also includes the elimination of tasks AND the readjustment of tasks to suit your greater purpose. For the Proactive person, tasks are admitted to the to do list when they serve to motivate and stir the heart.

To be proactive, we need to figure out what makes us happy, what we want and why we want it, and what projects and tasks are worth the trouble. The process of identifying the successful outcome of our proposed actions, and evaluating the next reaction to current circumstance, REQUIRES time to stop to think a moment before you start to DO something else.

Maximizing Productivity requires actively balancing these three elements -- ProAction, Action and Reaction. Taken together, I personally believe, Productivity could be "everything, or almost everything," because when you are living a balanced life, you include the quiet time, the rest, all the odd little things you find uniquely necessary to be effective in the Proaction phase of Productivity as well as in the Action and Reaction phases.

When you have all three elements harmoniously entwined, the three strands form a very strong braided rope that holds everything together -- that which we choose to do, the things we must do, the things we choose not to do, the things we have to let go -- and most importantly, the time we need to understand our own motivations and to make better planning decisions based on a sound, grounded, and repeatable process.

Copyright @ 2008, Catherine E. White, permission is granted for this article to be redistributed and shared with others in its entirety as long as links and attribution are maintained.
Catherine E. White is president of Llamagraphics, Inc. developer of the Life Balance software. Life Balance provides a structure for your goals, projects and tasks that is priority driven, so you can to make better decisions about how to use your discretionary time. To learn more about the software, please visit http://www.llamagraphics.com/