The Law Of Relaxed Productivity

Join Isaiah as he explains the law of relaxed productivity and gives the steps you should follow to implement it in your job search

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

• First, Isaiah presents the law of relaxed productivity and its two main components: efficiency and effectiveness
• Next, Isaiah gives an example that illustrates the importance of balancing efficiency and effectiveness to increase productivity
• Finally, Isaiah discusses how to combine effectiveness and efficacy to achive maximum productivity, thus getting the best of the law of relaxed productivity

From This Week’s Show… 

What Is The Law Of Relaxed Productivity

Your job search doesn’t need to be stressful. Even if you need a job yesterday, you can still get hired by executing a relaxed, yet productive job search. The key is learning the law of relaxed productivity.

The law of relaxed productivity states: The more effective your process is, the more productive you will be. The more efficient your process is, the more relaxed you will be.

The key to being productive and relaxed at the same time is to be as effective and efficient as possible at the same time. Anyone can be either effective or efficient; few can do both simultaneously.

How Abraham Lincoln Applied The Law Of Relaxed Productivity

Let’s look at an example from Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln once wrote, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”

What did he mean by this? Why was balancing the time spent sharpening and the time spent chopping important? The answer lies in balancing effectiveness with efficiency.

Let’s say swinging the ax consistently to hit the tree in the same spot over and over again was a measure of efficiency while the number of times the ax was swung before the tree finally fell was a measure of effectiveness. The more consistently the ax was swung, the more efficient the ax swinger was. The fewer times the ax was swung, the more effective the ax swinger was.

An efficient but ineffective person would sharpen the ax briefly and spend the majority of his time swinging consistently against the tree in the same spot. The amount of time he spent sharpening his ax doesn’t matter in this case because the ax swinger was going for maximum efficiency only.

An effective but inefficient person, on the other hand, would sharpen the ax for nearly the full six hours and then hack away at the tree like a mad man to chop it down in a few minutes (possibly cutting off his leg or giving himself a heart attack in the process).

Lincoln would do things differently, he would spend the first four hours sharpening his ax (to allow for effective chopping) and the last two cutting down the tree (to allow for efficient chopping). In the mind of Lincoln, both effectiveness and efficiency are necessary for peak performance.

Combining Efficacy And Effectiveness To Reach Pick Prductivity

Lincoln favors effectiveness over efficiency 2:1 when it comes to performing well.

If you follow Lincoln’s practical model of peak performance—valuing both effectiveness and efficiency but favoring the former 2:1—you will not only excel in every area of your life, you will perfectly follow the law of being relaxed and productive at the same time.

This balance between effectiveness and efficiency is at the heart of pragmatic action. A pragmatist is not an extremist. Instead, she is someone who leverages the right method in the right way and at the right time to achieve the right results in your job search.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.