Have you ever met the person who just seems to have more hours in a day? They create more. Accomplish more. They just seem to do more than others. Their productivity levels seem to be on steroids.
There are several types of people when it comes to producing:
Consumers. This group does not create anything, they simply consume the content that others create.
Initiators. This group starts things. They have ideas by limited implementation.
Reducers. They try and kill everyone's ideas. They are the negative people toward every idea. You will find them often saying, "Let me play the devils advocate."
Producers. These are the individuals who are able to 'get the job done.' They don't go above and beyond. They have a bulleted list or job description and do it.
Innovators. These people not only do what is asked but they create content relentlessly to help advance their church, business, or non-profit.
Every organization needs innovators, or producers on steroids. They will produce in their sleep or wake up with creative ideas that will push their mission forward. Now, the misconception is that they have more time in a day. Nope, that's not it. The truth is the greatest innovators simply make better use of their time, their life, and their priorities.
SPORADIC vs STRATEGIC
The greatest of leaders will know the difference between chaos and content. Now, I am not the most organized person, but I value the rush of strategizing. Nothing is accidental. It is intentional. The emails I send, the posts I share, the texts I make - all of them are strategic, not sporadic.
Too many leaders live in the sporadic. They have no plan, but they have a lot of passion. Well, passion without a plan is just a problem. As the old Russian proverb goes, "If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one”." High produces have a strategy. They schedule their lives weeks or months in advance. They say "no" more than they say "yes."
What's your strategy?
URGENT vs IMPORTANT
Everything is urgent to the person going through it, but it just might not be important. If you are a leader you have probably heard this. My context is a pastor so I will frame it this way. "Pastor, you have to do this or else people will leave the church." What they are actually saying is that it is important to them - which makes it urgent to them. But just because it is urgent to one person that does not mean it is important to advance your business or ministry.
Those who are high end producers, or producers on steroids, will always choose important over urgent. I remember hearing this years ago, "Lack of planning on your part, does not constitute an emergency on my part." That is a 100% reality that every leader has to embrace.
What is important to your purpose?
MISSION vs DISTRACTION
Now, I truly struggle with focus. If I was diagnosed I probably would have some form of ADD or ADHD. I can be in a conversation and get distracted by anything. In fact, I get distracted in my own mind and shift in and out of conversations. I have been like that ever since I could remember. So, unless I stay highly aggressive I will get distracted by some "thing." Problem is, it is usually someone else's thing. I have to stay on mission.
On June 19, 2023, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "When the new opportunities come say "NO" - build what you have been give." That was hard and fast, but then I felt this in my spirit, "Focus on your field." I put this deep in my journal in BIG letters. Not every opportunity is from God. So, I have been saying NO a lot. I am staying on mission - building our church, launching a new campus, building leaders, and planting churches. That is it. I will stay on mission.
What causes your greatest distraction?
Well, if you are reading this you may have been looking for the secret pill to productivity. I am sorry, there is no pill you can take, but there is a principle you can embrace. Live and lead with a strategic mission that is important to your calling. Then give all you got to what God has called you to - that's productivity on steroids.