Definition
The dictionary definition of productivity is the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input. Essentially this means how effective you are when you are actually doing work. Does this definition sufficiently answer the question, what is productivity? I would argue it does not. First of all, the definition seems geared towards manufacturing and technology. It uses managerial talk of output vs input and it just does not seem an accessible characterisation.
What is Productivity to us?
We believe productivity is the ability to concentrate on a specific task. This definition is much simpler and more relatable to most people. There appears to be 3 main components to productivity. There is the total time you concentrated on a specific task. In addition, there is the total amount of work you have done on a task. Finally, there is the quality of the finished task. Efficiency is a concept that underpins all of these factors
Total time– As the name suggests this is how long you have spent on a task. At a very basic form the more hours you do the more productive you have been (more on this on the efficiency section).
Total Work– How much of the task have you completed? There is not much benefit in putting 100 hours work for 10% compared to 50 hours work for 100%.
Quality- How well has the task been completed? There is no use finishing a task really quickly if it is terrible, productivity is about creating quality outcomes.
Efficiency– We do not define this as a category but a concept that underpins everything. Productivity can be seen very similarly to efficiency. Making sure the best quality outcome, is produced in the quickest time, with the least effort.
What is Productivity to you?
When most people talk about productivity it refers to the total time and total work sections. Either you are not able to work for large periods of time or you simply cannot concentrate when you are ‘doing work’. This can be caused by a variety of reasons
- Short attention span
- Mental health
- Physical Health
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of purpose
- Not valuing the task as important
- Many other reasons
At Thriive, we have created an app that can help improve productivity by helping you with some of the areas above. Our daily personalised mobility and breathing exercises look to improve you mental and physical health, while teaching you how to better concentrate. If you would like to be notified when we release click here.
