Productivity, perfect enough and perfectionists
Productivity can be a goal. You might enjoy working well and fast, and eventually climb the ladder. But in most companies, productivity is not always considered and the number of hours you put in matters more.
For others productivity is a mean. A mean to enjoy life outside of work. Working better to work less.
Early in my “career”, I did not understand productivity well and my way to work was: quick and dirty. I got instant gratification from the work being done, and instant disappointment when my not-good-enough work was being sent back to me. My search for productivity was on the wrong path. Instead of joy and free time, I was getting anger, disappointment and more work. With patience, I learned to work smarter. I learned to double check my work, re-read the requirements, ask for mid-way reviews… I learned to joyfully improve my work to make it better. And I learned to say no when I disagreed.
Working fast while producing good work is hard. I still get frustrated when a task is not completed “right away”. I still get angry when my work is judged or criticized by perfectionists. We don’t see the world the same way. They see imperfect things where I see goals achieved, time saved and opportunities to go further elsewhere, where it matters.
For me, the point of productivity is to use the saved time for what matters: family, friends, resting, thinking.
