Top performers

don’t just work harder—they

work smarter.By

Getting Things Done®

Career: Independent Insurance Agent

Family: Married. 3 children ages 7, 9, and 12

Concerns: • Delivering impeccable customer service

while running a small business• Catching up on college education funds• Paying off mortgage and car loans while

saving for retirement• Cleaning out the garage• Scheduling and paying for the next family

vacation• Coaching son’s soccer team

Symptoms:• Can’t concentrate• Checked out at home• Unable to recall important commitments• Dropping the ball with clients (and family)• Anxiety, stress, mental and physical

exhaustion

Diagnosis: There’s just not enough time in the day. Is sleep really necessary?

Meet Richard

Career: Just started her first job out of college as a Digital Marketing Specialist

Family: Single, hoping to date

Concerns: • Volunteering for unfamiliar and more

advanced projects in order to qualify for an upcoming promotion

• Run a 10K• Find a serious relationship• Looming student loans• Making rent• Covering repairs on the same car she’s

driven since high school while saving up a down payment for a more reliable vehicle

Symptoms:• Lays awake at night worried she hasn’t

done enough to reach her goals• Second-guessing her actions• Endlessly making to do lists • Anxiety, stress, insomnia, and little energy

left for a social life

Diagnosis: Always busy but rarely productive.

Meet Lindsey

THE PRODUCTIVITY PLAGUERichard and Lindsey are at very different stages of life with very different demands and concerns, and yet, their problem is the same. Both are victims of their failing productivity systems.

If they could master a better productivity system would their lives change? Would their stress decrease? Would they be happier? Would they be more successful?

We wanted to find out.

“The most telling symptoms of the need for a better personal productivity system are not age, organizational status, or income. The most salient sign your system is not serving you is the quality of your life. If stress and distraction are frequent companions, the problem is that your productivity habits have not kept pace with your life’s complexity.” DAVID MAXFIELD

The Value of Top PerformersWe asked 1,594 managers and peers about employees they rate as “tens on a ten-point performance scale.”

We assumed employees rated a ten would be more valuable than average performers but we wanted to measure just how much more valuable they are and what they do that makes them so valuable.

What we discovered is that top performers aren’t just a little bit more valuable. Both managers and peers say that tens are two to three times more valuable than an average employee.

• Leaders estimated that top performers do 61% of total work done in their departments.

• Peers estimated that top performers do 57% of total work.

VALU

E

AVERAGE EMPLOYEE

TOP PERMORMERS

But how do they get it done and at what cost?

So what’s the secret to high productivity

and low stress?

Do tens work harder or smarter than their low-performing peers? About half of managers and peers said they do both.

Tens work harder and smarter.

Do top performers’ work habits add to their stress, or reduce it? 83% of leaders and 77% of peers say that a ten’s work

habits reduce his/her stress.

2. PRODUCTIVITY PRACTICES

1.

COMMUNICATION PRACTICES

EXPERIMENT #1We analyzed 1,300+ comments from managers and peers that described the positive work habits demonstrated by a ten. We analyzed and categorized word phrases and found that work habits fall into two categories:

Top Performers

Ask for help

Not afraid to ask questions

Know who to go to

Know when to ask

Average Performers

Not enough timeLack of attention

No follow through

Lack of focusToo busy

Not organized

They are late

Don’t meet deadlines

Top Performers

Are organized

Good time managementAttention to detailTo do lists

Keep track ofThey block off time on their calendar

Stay focused on

Know how to prioritize

Average Performers

Lack of communication

Slow to respond

I don’t hear

They don’t listen

They complain about

EXPERIMENT #2To learn more about the productivity practices demonstrated by top performers, we tested the methodology from the book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. We created scales to measure the five personal productivity practices outlined in the GTD® system to give an overall GTD score. Practices:

Capture—Collect everything that owns a piece of you.

Clarify—Decide what your stuff means to you.

Organize—Park your stuff to make doing easier.

Reflect & Engage—Pause to reflect before you engage.

Renew through Review—Review weekly to get perspective.

EXPERIMENT #2 CONTINUEDMore than 2,000 people took the GTD® Assessment.

437 people had high GTD scores (scores in the top quartile).

471 had low GTD scores (scores in the bottom quartile).

We found:

• Performance Level: Those with high GTD scores had performance levels 68% higher than those with low GTD scores. (p <.001).

• Stress Level: Those with high GTD scores had stress levels 213% lower than those with low GTD scores. (p <.001).

RESULTS: A very small number of personal productivity practices literally change a person’s life.

(Keep reading for even more proof)

GTD® Stress and Productivity Indicators People with HIGH GTD scores are:“I live in a mess—cluttered office, buried desk, disorganized home.” 10 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I chronically reschedule appointments—from work meetings to doctors’ visits.” 10 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I miss deadlines, assignments, taxes, phone bills, etc.” Those with High GTD scores never agree to this

“I have an inbox with too many unread emails.” 17 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I start projects that never get finished, even when others are relying on me.” 55 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I underestimate my current workload, leading me to agree to do more than I can handle.”

8 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I experience things falling through the cracks and I blame my memory.” 21 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I’m not truly present at home, because I think about work and wonder if there are other things I should be worrying about.”

13 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I’m a habitual multi-tasker, constantly hopping from task to task, without reaching closure.”

14 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I often feel anxious. I’m never sure that I haven’t forgotten something.” 21 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I often feel overwhelmed. I start to think of tasks looming over me and that are about to crash.”

18 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

“I often feel inadequate. I disappoint myself and others because I lose track of important commitments.”

88 times less likely to agree than those with low GTD scores

Can we all be tens?Those who identify with Richard and Lindsey can change their life and reduce their stress by improving their communication and practicing a few simple productivity skills:

Capture—Collect everything that owns a piece of you using just a few, easy-to-use capture tools.

Clarify—Decide what your stuff means to you. Clarify the very next action to take, who should take it, and when it needs to be done.

Organize—Only use calendars for time-specific and day-specific actions and information; group tasks by context; and keep an active list of project outcomes and associated actions.

Reflect & Engage—Pause to reflect before you engage. Check your calendar first then next actions lists and then choose your next action based on your context (location and resources), time available, energy available, and priority.

Renew through Review—Review weekly and get perspective. Keep a sacred, non-negotiable meeting with yourself every week to catch up, get current, and align with your priorities.

SUMMARY

Top performers are more valuable than we generally realize. Their managers and peers rate them at two to three times more valuable than average employees and say they account for well over half the work done by their teams. These top performers share two sets of best practices: Communication and Task Behaviors. The five task behaviors that make the most impact include Capturing, Clarifying, Organizing, Reflecting & Engaging, and Renewing through Review.

“If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it

will take more of your attention than it deserves.”

About Getting Things Done® Training. VitalSmarts’ Getting Things Done® Training is evolved from the original work of David Allen. Combining decades of David’s research with VitalSmarts’ powerful and proven instructional design, Getting Things Done® Training brings practical productivity skills to life for the modern learner—yielding improved individual effectiveness, project efficiency, meaningful productivity, team innovation, and relationships.

To learn more about bringing GTD® to your organization visit vitalsmarts.com/gtdtraining or call us at 1-800-449-5989. 

David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity