My best Productivity Hack

There are two different types of productivity. You need both, but mixing them will be a disaster! Let me give you a bit of a background.

I need to write multiple posts each week for the  Casting-Campus newsletter and the Goldcasting podcast. My intention is to maintain high quality and deliver an easy-to-consume article. You do not write that in 30 minutes; it takes some time. But time is always a limiting factor. So, I was on a quest to find the best productivity strategy for me.

I started to fill in my calendar with tasks, but it always felt like a chore. It required a lot of dedication to get even started. Most of the time, I did these tasks at night when everyone in Europe was asleep. During that time, I could finish editing a whole podcast or write two or three newsletter articles.

The issue with that method is that you’re way too sleepy in the morning. It’s not ideal, but it’s already in the right direction. After a lot of research, I found the explanation for my discovery. There are two types of productivity: maker-time and manager-time.

Maker-Time

When you need to accomplish a complex task that requires extensive research, information streamlining, or podcast editing, you need uninterrupted time. You need to focus on a topic for hours and dissect it in detail. Every interruption, even a quick message, rips you out of your train of thought. Getting back into that work and reaching the same productivity takes me at least 30 minutes. So, a quick call or message leads to a 30 to 60-minute delay in the work completion.

Manager-Time

That is the second type of productivity. Manager-Time is all the meetings where you need to catch up or present the current status. The same is true for all the free consultation calls with potential new clients. My productivity is highest when I schedule as many meetings as possible. With quick bio- or coffee breaks, it is easy to jump between the topics. As the preparation has been done before in Maker-Time

As you can see, these are totally different types of productivity, and mixing them is a nightmare. In a foundry, you often see this clash in stressful situations. Here is one example: You run into quality problems, and the engineering team tries to find the issues and fix them. As it is a high priority, management needs constant status updates. For the management, it is most productive when they set up several meetings per day. However, engineers need uninterrupted time to find the issue and solve it. That’s why, very often, the more management is involved, fewer things get done, and productivity is the lowest. They approach the problem with Manager-Time and kill the productivity of the ones in Maker-Time.

To avoid that, I guard my calendar like a hawk. Monday and Tuesday are Manager-Time days. I try to schedule most of the meetings on these two days, so consultation calls are only open on these days. The rest of the week is set for Maker-Time and, of course, working sections with my clients.

It took me several years to figure this out. Feel free to copy and implement this understanding in your company. You will be amazed at how much this grows your output!

If you want to improve your foundry’s processes, the Process Optimization Workshop is perfect for you. Schedule a Free Consultation Call to learn more.