Chapter 2 – Evaluate: Determine Your Course
You can evaluate tasks, activities, and opportunities based on two key criteria:
- Passion: work you love and energizes you
- Proficiency: how well you actually do something that generates results that other people can measure and reward
To determine where you are right now use a tool called the Freedom Compass.
The 5 Zones of Productivity:
- Desire Zone. Where your passion and proficiency intersect. Where you are able to unleash your unique abilities to make your most significant contributions.
- Distraction Zone. Things you are passionate about but have little proficiency for, thus preventing you from making a significant contribution.
- Disinterest Zone. Things that you’re proficient at but you aren’t that passionate about. These tasks drain your energy.
- Drudgery Zone. Tasks for which you have no passion and no proficiency. This is the worst kind of work for you to do.
- Development Zone. How to gauge work outside your Desire Zone but potentially moving toward it. If we have a hunch we could develop passion and proficiency with a task, we should stay open-minded about it.
True productivity is about doing more of what is in your Desire Zone and less of everything else.