The methods multiplied. Tuesday remained undefeated.
Scientists have been studying productivity for years.
The results became increasingly productive.
The participants did not.
One research team collected fifteen famous time-management methods.
Pomodoro.
Kanban.
Eat the Frog.
Time Blocking.
The 80/20 Rule.
Several participants became emotional.
One young researcher insisted she would master all fifteen.
This was considered ambitious.
Monday morning began with optimism.
She spent forty-three minutes deciding which productivity system should organize her productivity systems.
By lunch she had color-coded the decision.
No actual work had occurred.
The researchers wrote this down.
She then adopted a second strategy.
This one required finding the perfect notebook first.
Three years later…
the notebook remained theoretical.
Eventually the researchers introduced one final participant.
She ignored almost everything they had taught.
No courses.
No elaborate planning.
No productivity shrine.
Every morning she quietly sat down…
…and started working.
The researchers were deeply disappointed.
There were almost no charts.
No revolutionary framework.
No exciting acronym.
Her data was terribly boring.
It also produced the highest results.
The final report surprised everyone.
Knowing fifteen methods made people excellent at explaining productivity.
Understanding one made people excellent at discussing productivity.
Actually using one…
well…
that turned out to be an entirely different research project.
Livora Gracely 
Leave a comment