When you ask people about productivity, they typically talk about tools: to-do lists, notepads, PDA’s. Although these are useful for enhancing productivity, they’re only secondary to a fundamental requirement: a balanced life built on a sturdy foundation.
According to The Productivity Handbook by Donald E. Wetmore, the foundation of our lives consists of seven areas: health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional, and spiritual. I personally include another area, fun, which I think is very important.
The eight fundamental areas of life
- Health. You have to take time for health and fitness today, or you will have to take time for sickness tomorrow. Wetmore puts it nicely: If time management means anything, it means making choices every day that add a few extra years to your life, giving you more time to manage.
- Family. It’s important to foster communication, and to make sure you don’t lose sight of your loved ones in the humdrum of daily life.
- Financial. Most financially successful people take time away from their expense column and allocate it to their investment column, thus earning more per working hour. Instead of watching TV, they spend their time pursuing further education, sharpening their skills, and doing other activities that afford them more rewards during their lifetime.
- Intellectual. You may be productive now, but you need to invest time in your education to be productive in the long term. Your success five years from now depends on what you’re doing today to improve and polish your skills and talents.
- Social. Having friends has great emotional benefits. Also, the help of other people can save you time—getting you answers, making introductions, or giving advice.
- Professional. Job satisfaction and career ambition are very important in life. Independent of the financial compensation, we all need to feel like our work has made a difference or at least an improvement. There’s no point in being productive in a career you don’t find fulfilling.
- Spiritual. Productivity doesn’t require you to rid your life of problems, but only to handle your problems better. Faith, religion, or simply a positive outlook in life helps you cope with and transcend everyday problems, empowering you to achieve balance and do things better.
- Fun. Sometimes you just need to enjoy life. Hobbies, pastimes, vacations, and other small rewards are there to make you happy, and even if they don’t grow into the long term, the short-term satisfaction provides a bit of balance.
You may not spend the same amount of time every day in each area, but if you do so over the long run, then your foundation will be sound. On the other hand, if these areas are not in balance, no productivity tools or techniques will be effective over the long term.
Causes and effects
Wetmore emphasizes the importance of balance by illustrating what can happen if it’s not present. For example, if you’re not getting enough sleep (health), you have no energy, thus leading you to have trouble thinking (intellectual) and working (professional). You tend to be more impatient with acquaintances (social) and relatives (family). In other words, a deficit in one area can affect every aspect of your life.
But let’s not focus on the negative. The lack in one area can contribute to the lack in others, sure—but don’t forget that success in one area can enhance success in others. For example, if you’ve chosen a job that motivates, energizes, and inspires you, you find that you seem to have more time and energy for exercise, family bonding, and social events. In general, good things lead to more good things.
Two related subjects I’d like to talk about are productivity at work and work-life balance.
On work and productivity
Lots of people immediately associate productivity with work, the word productive with employees, and productivity tools with the workplace. I think we need to broaden our perspectives a little. We’re not robots. We’re human beings, and we choose to be productive as human beings. We don’t just produce work. We produce ourselves, every single day.
On work-life balance
I’ve always been slightly uncomfortable with the term work-life balance. I do appreciate the idea, but the term itself makes it sound like work and life are at odds with each other. They shouldn’t be. Work is important—not apart from life, but as a part of life… and only one of several. I don’t know how many people consider work as half of their priorities and everything else in life (health, family, fun, etc.) as the other half. Not many, I hope. 
