To improve your productivity you need to either increase your efficiency your effectiveness or increase both at the same time. To do that, you need to know the difference between the two, because it's pretty easy to get them mixed up.
Efficiency represents the time and effort involved in doing something based on the approach you decide to use. Increasing efficiency means finding a faster easier or less wasteful way of getting the same result.
Effectiveness is very different. It's about whether the actions you're taking actually produce the results you want.
Productivity is a result of both efficiency and effectiveness. You need both to be very productive. If you're effective but not efficient you'll get the results you want, but you'll waste a lot of time, effort and energy in the process.
If you're efficient but not effective, you'll get a lot of "stuff" done, but it may not
produce the results you ultimately want. Efficiency is about doing things the right way and effectiveness is about doing the right things
One of the best ways to increase your efficiency is to undertake short term prioritization and long term planning. As long as you have a plan you have an idea of how you're going to get to where you want to be
Planning ahead makes achieving things so much easier, clearer, prevents panic, loss of focus and lets you enjoy the ride.
