Breaking the Rules: Using Productivity to Achieve Success

Productivity and creativity are often viewed as two opposing forces. While creative minds tend to embrace chaos and unpredictability, productivity requires structure and discipline. However, as this article argues, productivity can actually be the key to unlocking creativity and achieving success.

Learning to be Productive

For many people, the idea of learning to be more productive can seem daunting and restrictive. The common perception is that productive systems have too many rules and limitations attached to them. However, it’s possible to adapt and tailor different systems to suit your own life and way of thinking. But first, it’s essential to learn the rules so that you can break them effectively.

Getting Things Done

One of the most popular productivity systems is David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD). GTD is a highly detailed system with many rules, which has been tried and tested by millions of users worldwide. While initially, it might not be suitable for everyone, after using it for some time, its effectiveness becomes evident.

Using GTD helped the author to get to the next level of success in their life, creating habits and routines that worked for them. By following GTD’s guidelines, they were able to achieve all of their objectives and reach their goals. It’s essential to recognize that GTD is just one example of a sophisticated system that has been proven to work.

Tossing Productivity Out

In an article titled “Toss Productivity Out,” Leo Baubauta of Zen Habits advocated for not relying on productivity systems, rules, and setting goals. While it’s possible to live without these structures and routines, it’s essential to note that it depends on where you are in life, what you have achieved, and what you want to achieve.

If your life is chaotic, it’ll require control, new habits, and routines. While it’s important to aim for a life free of structures, routines, and systems, doing so inadvertently leads to the opposite. The drawbacks of living without structure and discipline become evident when chaos creeps in, and you can no longer manage your time effectively.

Productivity: A Stepping Stone to Success

Productivity is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a stepping stone towards achieving success. It’s like training programs in the gym, you don’t have to follow them for life, but they enable you to create positive habits that become the driving force for success.

To create positive habits, you need to start by learning productivity systems like GTD, which offers a framework for success. Once you’ve achieved some level of success, it’s possible to toss productivity out and break the rules. But this should only happen once you’ve established a solid foundation.

Make Productivity Fun

Productivity doesn’t have to be rigid and boring. Instead, you can create your own system that works for you specifically. By prioritizing what works for you and adapting it into a set of rules that are unique to you, you can make productivity a fun and fulfilling process.

Breaking the rules and having fun doesn’t mean you should ignore well-known productivity practices altogether. Rather, it means learning how to strike a balance between freedom and discipline, structure and flexibility, and rules that work for you.

Final Thoughts

Productivity has a crucial role in helping you achieve your goals and dreams. While it might not be the most exciting concept, it can be empowering once you learn the rules and make them work for you. By combining structure with flexibility and breaking rules where necessary, you’ll be able to create a productivity system that unlocks your creativity and achieves success.