At first, this may seem like a strange question.  There are days when, if asked, I definitely believe work should be stopped at 8:15…and I don’t start working until 9.  However, there is the small matter of clients and clients are important because they pay.  Paying is important because it means money…  So sadly, I have to put in a solid 8-12 hour day rather than the -45 minute day I of which dream.

Also, I find that once I am in the groove, it’s hard to stop.  There is always one more thing I can do.  Herein lies the beauty and the curse of the PAR System: I have a list.  I know what needs to be done.  So if I am done with priorities 1,2, and 3… I know priorities 4,5,6,7,etc. They’re right there in my list.

Which presents two unique challenges.  Either I am motiviated to get a lot done, but need to stop in order to Reward myself for accomplishing my goals, let my batteries recharge, and spend a little time with the family or I am completely unmotivated and need to get work done so I can afford to give myself a Reward, let my batteries recharge, and feed my family.

This is where I let the PAR System be my guide.  I have my task list and each task has a priority next to it.  My goal in an average day is to finish my top priorities (this is usually priorities 1-3)  Once I am done with that, I know I can stop.  If I need the extra time to recharge, I can kick back and relax knowing that I have done what I needed to for that day.   I also know that if I am feeling motivated, that I can stop guilt free anytime after my highest priority items are accomplished.  Then I just ride the wave of motivation I am ready to stop.

Of course, this is not an absolute answer.  But it works pretty well most days.

When do you stop?  You do stop, right?  You’re not burning yourself out, are you?

And there’s a good reason for that…I’ve been busy.  Really busy.

Now, I know that seems like an odd statement for someone writing a productivity blog.  Don’t I have the PAR System to help me manage things?  Sure.  Aren’t I trying to advocate higher levels of productivity?  Of course.

Frankly, I’ve looked at the last three months as research.

First, in the past three months, my planner was stolen so I went to using a spiral notebook, just like I advocate in my guidebook.  So now I can say I officially eat my own dog food.

Secondly, in that time, I also accomplished the following:

1. Established a vegan blog
2. Wrote a book
3. Edited another book
4. Created a large web app for a client
5. Released at least 7 episodes of my two podcasts
6. Put together the media blitz for both the game I wrote and the game I edited
7. Gained a new SEO client
8. Wrote 7 articles

So you get the picture. 

What fell by the way side are this blog, Blog Well Done, and my personal exercise regimine.  (I am not happy about that last part.)  Fortunately, family obligations were largely met.  I have a tendency to ignore the fam when I get busy.  This is not a Good Thing.

Anyway, what the past three months have proven to me is that productivity is a choice.  Over the past three months, I did what was important to me.  I did not do what was truly not important to me.  (I am still chapped that my personal health turned out to be unimportant.)

But it also showed me why prioritization is so important in the PAR System.  For most of my life, I have planned what I am going to do for the day.  I never just made lists.  I thought about the tasks on the list and figured out the order in which I was going to do them. Now I understand why.  I was doing what was important and taking note so that I would not forget what was not.

Of course, there is a lingering issue that I need to deal with personally…getting my judgement of what is important inline with what I want to be important.  That’s another post.