Want to Be More Productive? Change Your Productivity Philosophy

Adjusting your productivity philosophy is a practical way to be more productive without relying on tools, apps, or calendars first.

A productivity philosophy is the set of beliefs and assumptions you make about productivity, including how much work you should do, how you should feel while you’re working, and what success looks like. Productivity isn’t just about what you do—it’s about how you think about what you do.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by projects and tasks or stifled by productivity tools and tips, the solution to finally getting things done may surprise you. If the above resonates with you, then you may need to work on changing your productivity philosophy first.

In this article, you’ll learn what a productivity philosophy is, why your beliefs impact your actions, and how to shift your mindset around work. You’ll also learn practical ways to improve your productivity habits so you can be more productive overall.

Feeling overwhelmed by your workload? Download my free Productivity Mindset Planner™ to help you plan your day with clarity and calm.

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Key Takeaways

• A productivity philosophy is a set of beliefs and assumptions about work, including how you work and what success looks like.
• Common unhelpful productivity beliefs include setting boundaries as being a weakness or constantly working long hours.
• Productivity beliefs affect your work because they shape how you approach and complete tasks overall.
• You can change your productivity philosophy by identifying unhelpful beliefs and replacing them with supportive ones.
• Practical ways to improve long-term productivity include strengthening habits like focus, energy management, and prioritization.

Table of Contents

What’s a productivity philosophy?

A productivity philosophy is a set of beliefs and assumptions you make around productivity in your work. This may include your definition of productivity, how much work you should accomplish in a day, how you should feel while working, and whether or not you were successful in completing tasks.

Your productivity philosophy may be created from your own beliefs and personal experiences. It may also be the amalgam of beliefs and thoughts you’ve absorbed either consciously or unconsciously from your interactions with others. This may include your daily interactions and long-term relationships with colleagues, coworkers, staff, family, and friends.

How do your productivity beliefs affect your work?

Productivity beliefs affect your work because they directly influence both how you approach and execute you work. You can think of productivity beliefs as the framework your work actions follow.

As a productivity coach, I see this in action all the time. For instance, if a client believes they must work long hours, then they’ll most likely work long hours. And if a client believes they must put in a lot of effort to get things done, then they’ll put in a lot of effort.

Obviously, it’s always a good idea to err on the side of caution and produce solid, quality work. But for the most part, you’ll want to find ways that will allow you to work in a way that’s both comfortable and sustainable for the long term.

What are common unhelpful productivity beliefs?

Unhelpful productivity beliefs are quite common. In fact, they’re probably more common than helpful ones!

Some common unhelpful productivity beliefs include:

• Setting boundaries is a sign of weakness
• Multitasking is absolutely necessary to keep up
• Reflection time is a waste of time
• Hustling and grinding is the only way to succeed

And as common as these beliefs are, you may not consciously realize you have these beliefs. You might have picked them up from your own professional or personal experiences, or perhaps living, working, or interacting with others.

But here’s the good news. You don’t have to let unhelpful beliefs dictate how and when you work. You can take steps to change your productivity philosophy and workflow for the better.

How do you change your productivity philosophy?

You can change your productivity philosophy by identifying unhelpful beliefs and replacing them with more helpful ones.

It’s a simple, repeatable three-step process that looks like this:

• Identify hidden productivity beliefs
• Replace unhelpful productivity beliefs
• Practice cultivating helpful productivity beliefs

You can use this process on any unhelpful or unsupportive productivity belief. For instance, let’s say you currently believe the following, “Setting boundaries is a sign of weakness.”

You can replace that belief with a belief that’s the exact opposite. So, the new belief would become: “Setting boundaries helps me to clearly identify my professional and personal priorities.”

And once you’ve created a more helpful belief, you must practice it on a regular basis. It does take time and energy to reframe your beliefs. But if you want to be more productive, the results are certainly worth it.

This process is easier to apply when you pause and reflect first. My Productivity Mindset Planner™ is designed as a daily check-in to help you shift out of overwhelm and into intentional action.

Click the button below to download the Productivity Mindset Planner™:

How can you improve your productivity for the long term?

If you want to improve your productivity for the long term, then you’ll want to practice supportive and sustainable habits.

These habits typically aren’t things we tend to think about when it comes to the world of productivity. But taking a step back and thinking about your work in this way can be very helpful.

You can improve your productivity by honing such habits as:

• Clarity. Having clarity about your workload and personal responsibilities allows you to make time and space for what matters.
• Focus. Being able to focus on your work allows you to successfully complete tasks within an allotted duration of time.
• Energy management. Effectively managing your mental and physical energy allows you to optimize your workload and daily calendar.
• Emotional awareness. Understanding your emotions and thoughts and how they influence your work can help you better navigate daily routines and challenging situations.
• Prioritization. Learning how to efficiently prioritize urgent and important tasks is a key component of managing your overall workflow, including delegating tasks and working with others.

Helpful real-world reminders about productivity philosophy

If you want to improve your productivity philosophy, then it helps to have some real-world reminders in your back pocket!

As a productivity coach, I encourage you to refer to these reminders anytime you find yourself slipping back into old habits.

These are three of my favorite mindset shifts that help reinforce the idea that productivity need not be grand, exciting, or loud or in order to make an impact.

The productivity mindset shifts are:

• Starting a goal can be subtle
• Creating a comfortable routine matters
• Working faster isn’t always better

Starting a goal can be subtle

Beginning a new project or taking first steps towards a goal can be subtle, quiet, and impactful. There’s no need to make a lot of noise or add hype to your actions. That’s right, you don’t need a productivity parade to kick off your goal.

We tend to view productivity as a big time event. But that’s just showmanship, not substance. There’s no need for blaring brassy horns, confetti raining from the sky, or announcing your intention to work on that marketing project with a bullhorn while standing on the corner.

All you need to do is to make a plan. And simply begin. In my experience, people tend to trip themselves up because they mistakenly believe their plan has to be perfect before they begin. It doesn’t. It just needs to be practical and structurally sound.

Your plan isn’t necessarily set in stone. You can always refine and tailor your plan as you receive new information, learn new skills, and make progress towards your goals.

Besides, having a perfect plan on paper won’t get you very far if you don’t start working on it. So, put aside that loud and flashy start you’ve been envisioning. Truly, the most important thing is that you start working towards your goal.

What you can do today: Take one small or quiet step forward towards one of your goals. You can make a phone call, hold a 15-minute brainstorm session, read a book chapter, chat with a mentor, clean off your desk, buy exercise clothes, or make a healthy food shopping list.

Creating a comfortable routine matters

You should always seek to create comfortable work routines, environments, and conditions for yourself. They’ll help support you in your quest to get things done during the day. Don’t quite believe me? Let’s take a look at a few hypothetical scenarios…

Imagine listening to the sound of fingernails dragging across a chalkboard. Wearing a heavy wool coat on a humid summer day. Sitting in a stiff chair with a broken spindle poking you in the back.

Now, reading these sentences alone probably made you feel slightly uncomfortable. And that’s exactly the point I’m trying to make here. These situations all have to do with discomfort. And it’s downright difficult to produce quality work in such an uncomfortable situation or environment.

Remember, you will naturally produce your best work when you are in a state of relative comfort. That’s why it makes sense to carve out a work routine that keeps you both happy and comfortable.

If you dislike checking email once a day, schedule a few brief check-ins throughout the day. If you detest working on important and urgent tasks towards the end of the day, move them to the start of your day. And if you’re using a productivity app you absolutely despise, stop using it, and search for a better tool or solution.

What you can do today: Identify at least one uncomfortable aspect of your daily work routine and make it more comfortable or bearable for yourself. For example, if you’re always booked solid with meetings before 11 AM, create a new work flow for yourself. Block off time in your schedule for yourself so you can plan, think, and delegate tasks before accepting or attending meetings.

Working faster isn’t always better

Working faster doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll finish sooner, produce quality work, or reduce waste. At a bare minimum, it just means you’ll work faster. At the maximum, you could end up losing much more.

Do you remember the old fable about the tortoise and the hare? The animals agree to hold a race to determine who is the fastest runner. The cocky hare decides he is too fast for the tortoise. He opts to nap under the tree to pass the time. The hare accidentally oversleeps and ends up losing the race.

Just like in the story, working faster does not necessarily mean you will be more productive. In fact, a slapdash work approach may cause you to make significant mistakes and errors that waste your time, energy, and money.

And those mistakes and errors can cause you to fall behind schedule, burn through your budget, work late hours, damage your reputation, and ultimately feel miserable throughout the process.

Instead, opt to work with intention by keeping the big picture in mind. Look for ways you can laterally streamline your work. For instance, could you divide a large assignment amongst other people in your office? Can you develop a time-saving system or checklist for repeatable tasks? How about giving up social media scrolling during the day and focusing solely on your work?

What you can do today: Think of an aspect of your work where you’re tempted to work with speed instead of care. What small steps could you take to spread out the workload? How about asking for help, giving yourself more time, delegating work, using a tool or app, or using a time-saving service?

Practical questions to help you rethink how you approach work

Asking yourself practical questions can help you rethink how you approach work on a regular basis.

Here are a few questions that can aid you in working smarter, and not harder.

What would productivity look like if it supported me?

What would your productivity levels look like if they supported you in working both comfortably and sustainably? What would that look like? How would you feel? When would you work? Where would you work? Who would you work with? How would you work?

What are my top three priorities and why?

What are your top three priorities for today and why do they matter to you? Are they part of a bigger project or assignment? A task you’ve been procrastinating on for the past week? Perhaps it’s a meeting you need to schedule?

What’s one task I can remove from my to-do list this week?

What’s one task you can remove from your to-do list for this week? Think of a task that has outgrown its usefulness, freshness, or can be handled by someone else. Maybe you can delegate a research assignment to your assistant, cancel an unnecessary meeting, or let go of a book you’re really not interested in.

Where am I confusing urgency with importance?

Where are you unintentionally confusing urgency with importance? Do you feel pressure to produce work, just because? Are you working under a specific deadline? Or is this being externally directed by an unsolicited request or ask? Which of your tasks are most important and which are simply urgent?

What would “enough” look like today?

What does completing “enough” work look like for today? There’s no need to complete all your tasks today. You’ll be back at it tomorrow and the day after that. What’s the sweet spot of just “enough” so you can rest and return refreshed tomorrow and for days to come?

FAQ: Productivity philosophy

Conclusion

Changing your productivity philosophy can help you work more efficiently and effectively because you’re creating a supportive and growth-oriented mindset for yourself.

When you stop passing judgments on yourself about how you’re working and showing up to your work, you can then turn your focus to making smarter decisions and working with ease and flow.

Ready to rethink how you approach work and build systems that actually support you? Start your journey to be more productive by scheduling a one-on-one productivity strategy session to create a personalized, sustainable way of working.

Rashelle Isip Productivity Coach and Founder of The Order Expert®

Rashelle Isip is a New York City-based productivity coach, consultant, and founder of The Order Expert®. With over 16 years of experience, she helps entrepreneurs and executives replace the "hustle and grind" mindset with one of "ease and flow." Rashelle is a former contributing columnist for Inc.com and Lifehack.org, and has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, NBC News, The Washington Post, and NPR. She is the author of four books, including The Order Expert’s Guide to Time Management. When not helping clients master their schedules, she enjoys scouting for practical, well-designed office supplies. Learn more at TheOrderExpert.com.

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