Present is More Powerful Than Productive

I enjoy being productive.

There’s something about the feeling of accomplishment after powering through four 50-minute pomodoros in a day. Or a morning. When that happens I feel awake and alive; focussed and accomplished.

There are a lot of productivity tips and tricks and hacks on the Internet. The books are abundant, too. From David Allen to Stephen Covey and Charles Duhigg. You can learn to get things done and be highly effective and have great habits. These are important capabilities - and astounding possibilities.

But we can miss the point.
We often do.

We live in a world that increases in complexity all the time. Complexity grows right along with our task lists, which is why we’d rather watch Netflix or scroll Instagram than be present. At the moment. Right here. Right now.

I care about you.
I care about the thing I am doing.
I will not even try to be with you and the thing I am doing at the same moment.

Because that's impossible.

Presence is more important than efficiency because presence is the path to efficiency.

Being present trumps being productive every time.