S5E105: Productivity, Prioritisation & Focus with Nigel Creaser

<p> <!-- wp:paragraph {"dropCap":true} --> <p class="has-drop-cap">In this week’s pod, we welcomed Nigel Creaser to discuss Productivity, Prioritisation, and Focus.&nbsp;<br>Nigel is a Project Manager from Shropshire in the UK. He has over 25 years in the industry, delivering multi-million-pound projects across a myriad of sectors. &nbsp;<br>He is also the host of the Sunday Lunch Project Manager Podcast and author of several books in the Project Management profession, with a couple of them poking fun at the profession.&nbsp;<br>The main topics we discussed on the podcast were as follows:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li>Productivity is effectively making time to allow you to do the things you want to do rather than have to do&nbsp;</li><li>Time management skills are often perceived as a soft skill therefore it doesn’t get the same level of attention as more technical tasks&nbsp;</li><li>It’s assumed you’ll find a way to do it rather than a subject that is taught at school&nbsp;</li><li>The difference between productivity and efficiency is down to effectiveness. Businesses can be very efficient at producing poor quality outputs&nbsp;</li><li>If you don’t manage yourself it is easy to get diverted to something more exciting&nbsp;</li><li>All meetings need to have a clear agenda and attendee list&nbsp;</li><li>If you choose not to decide, you have still made a choice&nbsp;</li><li>Calendar management is ultimately your responsibility. There may be consequences to certain decisions but you should own this as it is your time&nbsp;</li><li>Try to avoid context switching which leads to distractions. Plan time to do the more mundane tasks and do them effectively&nbsp;</li><li>There is an art to knowing what is important. Be prepared to offer feedback and training when you see other people who are struggling to prioritise&nbsp;</li><li>Be conscious that other people will prioritise for you if you do not take charge of your prioritise. This&nbsp;may&nbsp;not be the right thing for you &nbsp