I can’t believe this gem of an article escaped my notice a few months back. Thanks to a friend who brought it to my attention. Maybe you didn’t see it either, or never got around to reading it.
Here’s an interview with two of the people who have most influenced my approach to working smarter and happier. You’ll need to subscribe to Harvard Business Review or pay if you want the full length PDF. What they offer you for free, though, is not half bad.
Being More Productive
An Interview with David Allen and Tony Schwartz by Daniel McGinn (May 2011)
Here’s the absolute bottom line:
Tony Schwartz: Organizations need to recognize that human beings are basically organisms containing energy. And that energy is either being renewed or being dissipated over time. An organization has to realize that part of its responsibility, whether it wants it or not, is to ensure that people have full tanks of energy. This is one of the big variables that will determine which organizations thrive in the next 10 or 20 years.
David Allen: Think about it this way: While we’ve been sitting here talking, stuff has been piling up in our in-boxes and our voicemails. Some of it has the potential to meaningfully shift our priorities. When we turn to this accumulated stuff, we’ll need to eliminate old business that is pulling on us, that’s taking our attention, and reallocate our resources to these new priorities. You can only do one thing at a time, and you only have so many resources. You either feel OK about sitting here talking to us, or you feel bad about the 9,000 other things you’re not doing. Everybody needs a system to make those choices wisely.
Read the rest here: Being More Productive
