Four Must Ask Productivity Words

Any given day we could move from moment to moment and be completely unaware of any adjustments we could change to make the day more productive.

We just keep plowing forward and then wonder why we weren’t more productive (if we even dare to ask ourselves that question?)

Why though?

Because it’s just SO easy to just Do Life. Every minute, hour, day, week, and month just blend into each other. And we find ourselves asking “Where did the time go?”

This is avoidable. And even correctable. But it doesn’t happen by chance.

There are four words I continually ask myself for nutrition: Make the Healthiest Choice. And they have made a HUGE difference on every meal and snack that I eat now.

But there are also four words I ask myself for productivity. When these four words are asked, I have the opportunity to make instant changes on the direction of my productivity.

Who knew just four words could make such a difference.

Here are the four words:

Return on this Moment

These four words have the power to stop your day in an instant from going down an unproductive path. 

What “Return on this Moment” means is asking is this moment the best use of my time right now.

Here’s a Pre-requisite: AWARENESS!

So many times a change could be made but lacks one major detail: we’re simply not aware in the moment.

In order for these four words to be truly effective, we must learn to be aware. For me, I had these words on a post it note until they’ve become second nature to me.

These four words mean nothing unless I can bring them to mind.

Here are Three Ways to Implement “Return On This Moment”

1. ASK THE QUESTION

Throughout your day you need to train yourself to simply ask the question: What is the Return on This Moment?

This is not natural. Remember, we typically just plow through our day.

To stop and ask this question will be out of habit so you need to put it front and center.

I suggest putting it on your desk in a visible place. Mine is on the left corner of my computer so I’m forced to see if often and train myself to ask the Return On This Moment question.

Asking “is this the best use of my time right now?” has been huge for me.

2. EVALUATE YOUR ANSWER

Only you know the answer so be honest.

Many times my answer is: “what are you doing right now? Or “how did you lose THIS much time on something that should’ve been done awhile ago?”

The goal of the question is to stop you in your tracks and force you to be accountable for your time.

Once you’ve asked the question, you have the opportunity to look at what you’re currently doing and and evaluate if this is the best use of your time right now.

What needs to change to get a return on this moment?

But I must honestly evaluate the answer of what I’m actually doing right now.

3. ADJUST YOUR ACTIONS

You could ask yourself the question.

You could even evaluate your answer.

But unless you adjust your actions immediately, the question will be of absolutely no value to you.

Let me give you an example.

You’re at your desk working on a project. You remember you needed to return an email so you do.

Then you see a certain tempting web browser open and you look for “just a minute”.

The next thing you know, you see the new Post It Note you had written that simply has the four words “Return On This Moment…”

You ask the question of “what am I doing right now? Is this productive?”

Then if you were to answer honestly, “nowhere close. In fact, I’m so far away from what I was doing, I don’t even remember what I was doing in the first place!”

So, you realize you were working on your project and you refocus and get back to what really needs to get done and get at it.

This is adjusting your actions.

Closing Challenge…

Changing our behavior at any given moment sounds so simplistic. And it truly is simple. But actually doing it is not at all and must become a habit.

In order to be productive at the highest level, you must constantly ask, evaluate, and adjust your actions to be the best Return On This Moment.

Lastly, sometimes you have may a few free moments and asking ROTM should come to mind. How could you use this gift of this time to be productive.

It’s learning to capture each moment with the mindset of the biggest return of your time.

A motivated, busy professional will learn to add these four words into their routine. As a result, productivity will hit a whole new level.

Closing Question…

How can you implement today asking What is the Return on This Moment? (ROTM)