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Why Working Harder is not the solution for enhanced productivity

I just came across this truly fantastic post on productivity. The cited article, talks from a startup owner's point of view, and his advice can be summarised as:

"“Working harder” is a poor strategy which your competitors can trivially replicate. Instead, spend some time measuring what tasks add value to your business and at what imputed wages. Outsource those tasks which are below your desired imputed wage, automate any task where appropriate, and simply don’t do things which don’t add value."

We often yearn for more productivity and the answer usually is "work harder". But working harder is not the answer! Working harder implies that you spend more time on doing what you already do on a frequent basis. We all work on several things at once, and not all activities add real value. For instance if I analyse my day, I do in a sense try to "work hard", that is work at least 8-9 hours but I don't get much done in that time frame because all the various activities I do blur my real targets.

Faced with this predicament its always a good idea to sit back and analyse your day to day activities. You need to judge which truly add value to pursuits you deem valuable rather than waste your time under the illusion of getting work done. These are two ideas that have truly made me more productive and one idea that can:

1. Cluster related tasks

I go to the Gym regularly, but often if I have some groceries to purchase I purchase them while going to or form the gym. Similarly, if I go to the University I try to accomplish most of the tasks which I cannot do at home. On the contrary, if I did not cluster tasks doing some task again in the future might cost me more time than doing it along with some related task.

This idea works in unison with "contextual todos". When you define a todo item, define the context in which it can be carried out. Some tasks may be carried out at home, some while at the computer etc..

2. Automate trivial tasks

I try to automate as much as possible. Checking mails repeatedly when new ones arrive costs a lot of time in terms of lost focus and diverted attention. I've written an AppleScript that notifies me if a new mail has come that specifically mentions me in the TO or CC fields. If I don't get this notification I just don't check my mail.

3. Outsource as much as possible

I'm not in the position of outsourcing some of my tasks, but this can potentially be very useful for someone. Often while doing some task, I say to myself someone could be doing this and I could be working on something a lot more valuable. Indeed the author of the cited article outsourced numerous tasks that did not require his involvement.