Six Secrets of Highly Productive People

From the Marshall Memo #447

In this Chronicle of Higher Education article, Katherine Mangan reports on some recent thinking on how some people get things done despite distractions and self-doubt:

• Passion and resilience – “If you don’t believe in yourself, it’s easy to think you’re a loser and stop trying,” says Oklahoma State University professor Robert Sternberg.

• Self-regulation – This means focusing on key goals and having the discipline to avoid temptations. “What happens to a lot of people is that they get totally caught up in trivia, and later they complain they were asked to do too much of this or that,” says Sternberg. “You have to decide what your priorities are and say, ‘I’m going to make it happen’ – and then just make it happen.” Defining specific tasks is much more helpful than setting general goals, he contends – for example, you want to get home to your children but you tell yourself you won’t leave the office until you’ve finished a particular piece of work. 

• Focus – “We know from all kinds of psychological research that multi-tasking doesn’t work for anyone,” says Gregory Feist of San Jose State University. The most successful people take care of little things on their desks quickly and efficiently, he’s found. “But they also block out hours of time to write without e-mailing or tweeting or Facebooking.” University of Pennsylvania professor Angela Duckworth agrees: “It’s hard to have a sustained, meditative reflection on anything when you can always change the channel or click on another link or download another app.” There are several apps to help people focus by temporarily blocking online distractions, including SelfControl, Cold Turkey, Concentrate, and Anti-Social. 

• Grit – Duckworth defines this as dogged determination and focus. “The gritty person approaches achievement as a marathon,” she says. “The gritty person sticks with it, whereas others might be distracted by boredom, failure, adversity, or plateaus.” 

• Conscientiousness – This means being organized and responsible, willing to follow rules and fulfill obligations. But being too conscientious can undermine another important trait… 

• Creativity – “Whether you’re an engineer or an artist or an English professor, your job is to create new knowledge,” says Brent Rogers of the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign. “If you look at the profile of someone who’s realized creative success, they can’t be conventional.” Gregory Feist agrees: “If you’re really cutting-edge, you’re going to be bucking the system, and people are going to fight you.” 

“Traits of the ‘Get It Done’ Personality: Laser Focus, Resilience, and True Grit” by Katherine Mangan in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 10, 2012 (Vol. LVIII, #43, p. A35-37),

http://chronicle.com/article/Traits-of-the-Get-it-Done/133291/