Chris Brown asked, “How do you get more productive with your creativity or stay productive and creative?”
My immediate answer’s quite simple… Challenge your brain because the brain leaps to the adventure of unraveling puzzles and problems.
When folks mine rich resources of their brain to solve problems they’ll be more productive! How so? They use more gifts and talents at work. Why then, doesn’t that happen more?
Interestingly, one barrier is bosses or CEO’s who see themselves as boosting productivity, while in reality they stifle job satisfaction. Misplaced efforts to improve worker morale tend to lessen productivity according to research at University of Michigan. The secret is to empower peoples’ gifts and talents.
Amazingly, MITA strategies worked to increase my personal productivity in ways that changed who I am. Here’s a brief overview with links to provide deeper insights for the five MITA steps that jumpstarted my brain and led to productivity in career and more satisfaction in personal life as well…
Question… Ask questions that connect you personally to problems. That process guides your brain to solutions or new opportunities. Such questions might begin “What if I…” “How might I change…” “What would happen if I tried…” You get the picture.
Target… Make a plan that initiates solutions or strategies for the outcome you have in sight. I began to work smarter and not harder by using short term benchmarks and jotting them in my weekly calendar so I kept progressing toward the overall target.
Expect… What do you expect anyway? Your expectations must be clear and not foggy or nothing gets done. I wrote down exact descriptions for best end results. Do you seek excellence as I do?
Move… What personal resources contribute to the target you have in mind? Most people automatically dip into one or two intelligences used on the job. Some leaders compartmentalize gifts and talents used at work. For instance they use verbal and logical intelligences to tackle tasks day in and day out, so they miss seeing a project through bodily-kinesthetic or interpersonal lenses. To look at your job differently is often to draw on new talents. When you tap into new intelligences to tackle old projects, watch for rejuvenated results!
Reflect…Reflection leads to growth and change that steps you back to see what’s working and what isn’t. That leads to adjustment opportunities along the way. Without reflection, each new flight you take traverses the same path and engages the same components. Ellen Weber, who created the MITA model, claims if reflection is left out, stagnation results. How does reflection guide your productivity?
Many folks want research evidence to know that MITA strategies work. Recently, PhD University lecturers in Ireland, began using MITA strategies as they taught and assessed university students in medical settings. Research conducted in 2006 showed that professors using MITA strategies had 5% increase in student motivation and achievement. Similar results hold true in business settings.
Whether blogging, writing articles, having fun with grandchildren, or keynoting to university faculty, I discovered MITA strategies bring productivity in all facets of my life.
Ben Yoskovitz is the originator of The Ultimate Guide to Productivity – What’s your secret? He’s nearing the 100 posts that he hoped to receive and I hope mine makes the list!
As I read productivity posts on Ben’s web site, some of the interesting tips I took note of are:
Best Productivity Tip: Disable Your Inner-Critic by David Wahl
Ultimate guide to productivity: My tip by Julie Fleming-Brown
Choices Are Made Long Before You Decide – Productivity Tips by Jonathan
Ultimate Tip To Reach GTD Nirvana by Andrew Flusche
Productivity Hint? NO! by Annie Boccio
Chris Brown tagged me… I’m tagging
Here’s Ben’s guidelines to enter:
Write a post on your best productivity tips.
1. Challenge yourself by picking your single best productivity tip (although this isn’t a requirement; you can give us more if you want!)
2. Include links to other people that have written posts, or include their tips in your post with proper attribution. And be sure to tag me at Brain Based Biz.
Note: Ben’s not asking that you link to everyone in the group writing project meme; pick the ones you want to connect with. You certainly can link to everyone, but it’s not a requirement. Ben likes leaving more decision making power in your hands so this isn’t just a link grab, but you’re thinking about what your audience & community wants to read about.
A link back to Ben’s post is appreciated though, to help spread the word!
3. If you use Technorati Tags then tag your post “ultimate guide to productivity”.
4. Tag others in your post to spread the meme. Tag as many people as you like!
5. If you link back to Instigator Blog Ben’ll make sure to include at least 2 links back to you. But this isn’t a requirement, it just helps him keep track of what’s going on. And be sure to tag me at Brain Based Biz.
The question “What guides my productivity” was a fun challenge, Chris. Thanks! Now it will be interesting to see how the folks I’ve tagged add to Ben’s big pot! And, if you’d like this challenge, too, just jump in!
Posted by Robyn McMaster at http://brainbasedbiz.blogspot.com/
