Saturday Special: Carson Tate's Productivity Styles

Today's Saturday Special isn't about physical organization. Instead, it's about productivity. Why the switch? Because I read this cool article about productivity styles, which led me to this other article about productivity styles (because it had a chart, which always appeals to we I need to see it people), which led me to take the quiz. What was I supposed to be doing while I was article-hopping, you ask? Coming up with topics for my Saturday Special. So, yes, I was on-task.

There is a connection between all this productivity information and my recent Wednesday posts. For one thing, understanding more about how your personal productivity works leads to better time management (theoretically, anyway), which is, after all, the organization of your time.

But what really drew me into all of this was the concept of styles. If I believe there are organizational styles (which I obviously do), then why wouldn't I believe there are productivity styles? The psych instructor in me needs to do a bit more research, but the counselor in me just had to explore this.

www.carsontate.com

Which style am I? Well, within ten minutes of completing the quiz, I got two emails. One says I'm an arranger (like Chopin, Gandhi and Mother Teresa -- pretty impressive company) and the other says I'm a visualizer (like Picasso, Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein -- no slouches there either). Apparently, Carson Tate and I agree that it's possible to be a mix of styles.

I think my true style has elements of both. I'm definitely a visualizer, but I suspect that when it comes to the actual arranging, I sometimes drop the ball if left to my own devices. Fortunately, my desire to work in teams (who keep me honest) minimizes that risk.

Interesting stuff. I'm not sure it will be life-changing for me, but like identifying a personal or organizational style, it may free me to be myself, and worry less about whether or not my productivity looks like anyone else's.