Productivity is closely related to efficiency and effectiveness. Many conceptions of applied intelligence draw on this cluster of attributes – e.g.

“An intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” H. Gardner

“A global concept that involves an individual’s ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment.” D. Wechsler

“Intelligence is the ability to use limited resources – including time – to achieve goals.” R. Kurzweil

It is also related to the psychological concept of ‘flow’ – a state of intrinsic motivation, where there is a challenge-skill balance and in which the person feels  cognitively efficient, motivated, and happy’ (ref).

 

Productivity: Definition & Examples

Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task – the efficiency of converting inputs into useful outputs.More technically productivity can be defined by dividing output (e.g. completing a project, learning a skill) by the total costs incurred or resources consumed (time, money, effort, psychological stress, etc).

Note that productivity isn’t the same as just working hard – it is a measure of efficiency. Being more productive therefore benefits from how smart you are with the work you do: it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. And productivity isn’t just about work  – it figures in any activities involving learning, creativity or skill.

Being productive is at the very heart of the popular 80:20 Pareto Principle:

 

“20% of your actions or inputs, products or services…will create 80% of what you want”

Tim Ferriss

 

Tim Ferriss claims that he is “always looking for little inputs and tweaks that have disproportionately big outputs”. For example, he makes extensive use of productivity apps to help him stick to his plans and achieve his goals.

 

Scientific Basis

Research shows the following relating to productivity and efficiency:

• Productivity and efficiency is integral to many scientific definitions of intelligence (ref).
• More intelligent people have more efficiency in brain function for is true for practiced skills or tasks (ref).
• There is a link between job satisfaction, flow and job performance – a measure of productivity & efficiency (ref, ref) and we are more productive at work when we are happier (ref).
• Gated dual n-back training can help improve brain network efficiency in brain regions underlying flexible goal-pursuit and problem solving – which can improve cognitive productivity (ref).

 

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IQ Mindware Productivity Exercises

(These exercises can help guide your applied intelligence wheel rating.)

 

1. Mindfulness / Meta-Awareness

You are encouraged to reflect on whether you are being productive or not in specific tasks that are important to you, and to self-experiment to improve your efficiency and productivity in them.  One exercise you can try is to become more aware of your ‘Future Self’ as a guide to your decisions and actions.  We often view our future selves as we’d view strangers, which is why we smoke, fail to save, and continue to eat cheap, convenient food rather than investing in a healthier diet and so on.

 

 

When you set goals for yourself like completing a 20 Session brain training program, or losing 10 kg of weight or increasing income by $1000— you are envisioning what you want your Future Self to have accomplished. Taking the time to vividly imagine the experience of your future self can help here.

 

2. Mindware Strategies

“No matter how good a plan is, or how sincere our intentions, humans are horrible at self-discipline. No one is immune. The smartest, richest, and most dedicated people abandon commitments with disgusting regularity.” (Tim Ferriss).  What can help with this?  One technique we can use  is a commitment device to make your Present Self as travels through time more consistent with your desired Future Self – more time consistent. Examples:

• Establish your priorities. Making a list of your top five values (career growth, personal freedom, family, etc.) and compare it with a list of this week’s activities/events you’ve committed to. If a commitment doesn’t match with any of your top values, ask yourself: Is this something that is moving me closer to my goals? If not, consider canceling it.
• Learning to say ‘no’. Don’t say ‘Yes’ to everyone to please people. Am I truly obligated or am I creating a story about the obligation? Pause and reflect before committing and learn how to say ‘no’ (politely). 
• Share your commitments.  Communicate your goals with the people in your circle who matter. Use the principle of ‘social accountability’ to motivate you to achieve something.  The cost of skipping the task becomes more compelling. You could try using an app such as Coach.me.
• Scheduling. Use a calendar to schedule what you prioritize to do at specific times and places, or use habit trackers (such as Productive) to motivate regularity with accountability.
• Banishing distractions. Going somewhere without internet access to get work done or using a purposefully handicapped computer. Or use software that stops you from visiting time-wasting sites like Facebook. E.g. LeechBlock or SelfControl for Macs.

 

3. Cognitive Capacity (Gated DNB) Training

HighIQPro’s gated dual n-back training improves attention control and inhibition of distractors, as well as reducing emotional reactivity (ref, ref) This improves long-term goal focus, and reduces the impact of the Present Self’s impulsivity / self-gratification on productivity.