Question: “Sir, how can I improve my productivity and get more things done daily?”
Ndubuisi: Simply, improve your PROCESS, and make sure you’re not just doing more things but doing them at high quality. And the simplest way is to have a text file in your laptop/phone or a diary on your desk. Daily (early in the morning or late in the evening), write down what you want to get done. As the day goes, and tasks are done, cross or delete them.
If you put 5 minutes before bed or early in the morning to think over what you want to accomplish in a day, you will improve time-productivity by at least 2 hours. Productivity does not mean working all the time; it means working in the right direction.
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 17 (June 9 – Sept 6, 2025) today for early bird discounts. Do annual for access to Blucera.com.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register to become a better CEO or Director with Tekedia CEO & Director Program.
As I have written, Effort is a scalar quantity (only magnitude with no direction) while Productivity is a vector quantity (has both magnitude and direction). Any person can put an effort but when you put effort on the right things (yes, the right direction), great things happen because the world is built by people with directions. Yes, the world is built on vectors! (hope you did not miss your Integrated Science in junior secondary).
Think of the WAEC exam (high school final exam in West Africa): if you put 5 minutes to plan your answers, giving strategic spaces on your answer sheets before jumping into writing and answering, the outcome will improve. Some students will just begin with no planning only to finish 45 minutes before time with spaces locked that nothing more could be added.
While a student with a process has mentally planned, making space in ways that he/she could return to deepen the answers. Simply, do you have time to even think over the task before you jump in? That thinking is where efficiency comes.
Efficiency is a big cousin of Productivity because it is by the thinking and planning that we improve things. A text file or notepad is a powerful tool if you have the 5-minute discipline! Have a great week ahead.
—
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (June 9 – Sept 6, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.
