Productivity Designed for Your Personality

Can we be more productive at work in less time?

Increasingly, our time feels more under pressure. Deadlines seem to come faster, more work gets added to our task lists, and shifting demands from work and home can leave us feeling strapped for time.

We all have 24 hours in a day and very few of us want to spend all of them working. We do, however, want to make those work hours efficient, enjoyable, and PRODUCTIVE.

We want to make the most of our work time, have it be productive and not just busy, and move the needle forward in meaningful ways without feeling stressed, drained, overworked, and tired.

Often our time gets taken up by others’ agendas and priorities, so we feel busy, but not productive. We can end the day feeling like we “did a lot” but not have anything to show for it. This leaves us feeling frustrated and confused.

So how do we find the ways to make our days more productive (not just busy), honor our time, and not feel like we have to be working 24/7 in order to get anything meaningful accomplished?

First, you need to know that productivity is different for each of us.

What’s a great productivity tool for one might be a disaster for another.

A tip or trick that works for you might not work at all - or be a big time-waster - for someone else.

Some might need more flexibility while others might need more structure.

So, how do you find the best ways to be more productive that truly work for you?

It starts with knowing your Enneagram type.

The Enneagram is a personality map uniquely designed to help you understand how you see the world.

Each of us falls into one of the nine Enneagram types. Our type helps us understand the motivations behind all of our actions, reactions, thoughts, and habits.

Your Enneagram type can illuminate:

• your strengths, challenges, & motivations,
• how you communicate,
• what causes you conflict,
• how you relate to others,
• and so much more - including what can improve your productivity.

When we know and understand our Enneagram type, we know and understand ourselves exponentially better and can become more self-aware, more proactive in our personal growth, and able to make meaningful decisions and changes that can transform our lives.

And the more we know and understand ourselves, we can be more productive, efficient, and able to balance our time in healthy ways.

Our Enneagram-based coaching provides the unique opportunity to learn your type and how it affects all aspects of your life, including your productivity.

Why Knowing Your Enneagram Type Matters

Each of us sees the world in different ways. This is the basis of our Enneagram type. And what we do, and how we work, are directly impacted by our type.

Our strengths and challenges impact our productivity, so knowing your unique strengths and challenges can make a huge difference between ease and frustration, productivity and busywork, and time balance and time-wasting.

For example, Enneagram Type Ones are conscientious, hard-working, and detail-oriented. Ones tend to focus on processes and routines, and doing things the very best they can, or even, as perfectly as possible.

Type Ones are great at seeing details, breaking things down into manageable tasks, mapping out timelines, and putting out high-quality work.

We coach our Type One clients to understand that the strengths of their type are great, but they also come with some challenges.

When Ones rely too heavily on their strengths, like focusing on details, perfecting their work, getting things “right”, they can unknowingly cause delays, frustration, stress, and resentment.

For example, being contentious and wanting to create high-quality, or perfect, work are great until…

• it means not setting limits to your work,
• working beyond your hours,
• potentially missing deadlines, and
• being critical of yourself or your work if it’s not perfect.

Being focused on processes, tasks, and routines is great until…

• it becomes a lack of creativity,
• being inflexible, and
• missing out on opportunities or ideas that come spontaneously.

When a Type One is self-aware of both their strengths and challenges and when to leverage them appropriately, they can establish productivity methods that work best for them.

We coach our Type One clients to be more productive (and happier) by:

1. Set hard deadlines to avoid the ‘it’s not perfect yet’ cycle.
2. Find 3 or 4 great things about their work when they are finished and avoid tallying up the flaws.
3. Set time limits so they don’t overwork or work beyond their working hours.
4. Sort the tasks that need to be perfect vs. the ones that can be good enough and be ok when they are good enough.
5. Use their task- and detail-orientation to map out timelines for tasks, but check that they are reasonable, give them time off, and take into account that done is better than perfect.

What works for One, doesn’t always work for another.

On the flip side of Type One is the Type Seven.

Type Sevens are adventurous, fun and fun-loving, positive, creative, and spontaneous. Sevens are flexible and love having options, which they can envision easily.

Sevens excel at keeping positive energy up, synthesizing information quickly, connecting the dots fast, being flexible and going with the flow, and seeing the big picture.

Just like the Ones, Sevens have strengths and challenges.

All Enneagram types have strengths and challenges unique to each type. Our Enneagram-based coaching helps you know and leverage those strengths while being aware of (and managing) your challenges.

So for Sevens, seeing the big picture, creative thinking, and wanting options are great until…

• it means missing the details,
• not wanting to do the tasks, or
• avoiding sticking with one idea long enough to see it through.

Being flexible, spontaneous, and going with the flow is great until…

• it becomes flitting from one thing to the next too quickly,
• losing track of time and focus, or
• feeling stifled by a schedule or routine and avoiding them.

Because their strengths, challenges, and motivations are so different, what works for the Type One in being more productive, won’t work for the Type Seven.

Searching for fun and seeing the big picture means that Sevens don’t like being bogged down with tasks, especially mundane or repetitive ones. Ones, however, love the structure that routines and tasks completion provide.

Mapping out timelines, especially down to the hour or minute, feels confining and stifling for the creative and spontaneous Seven, while Ones feel secure in knowing what’s happening and when.

We coach our Type Sevens clients to be more productive (and focused) by:

1. Use a time block journal to organize their days, giving them a focus without limiting their options.
2. Assign repetitive tasks to a VA, assistant, or team member, if possible.
3. Introduce variation into their workday - work from different locations, stand up instead of sitting, use a co-working space vs. working from home, or just reorganize their workspace to make it feel different.
4. Commit to working on one task at a time and include an accountability partner to keep them on track.
5. Ground themselves with a few deep breaths and a very short (3 to 5 min) mindfulness meditation to calm their mind and stay on target.

We Design Productivity That Works for Your Personality

When you know and understand your Enneagram type, like the examples of types One and Seven, you can leverage your unique strengths to be more effective, productive, and balance your time. And you’ll save time by not sabotaging yourself with challenges you aren’t aware of.

Our Enneagram-based coaching is designed to work specifically with your needs, strengths, and challenges when it comes to your work and productivity.

If you are ready to discover how to make your work more efficient, enjoyable, and productive, check out our website and book a call with us to see if our Enneagram-based coaching is right for you and your team.