Productivity Planning: Do’s & Don’ts for an Improvement Plan That Works

Hands up anyone who has broached the topic of productivity planning with their team and was met with a less-than-enthused response… You’ll typically fall into two camps in terms of productivity planning. Camp A (comprising of you) is curious and even excited by the prospect of having a solid process in place for improved planning, while Camp B (invariably everyone else) is like, “Haven’t we got enough to do already?!” and/or “Eh, are you saying I’m not productive enough?” 

Instead of preaching to them the merits of having a productivity improvement plan, it’s best to show them proven strategies to help and a list of handy do’s and don’ts to keep things on track. Hence, this article.

So, let’s get cracking.

What is productivity planning?

Plainly speaking, productivity planning is bringing structure to your day so you can get more done. To anyone currently muttering, “Can I not just write a list?” Yes, lists are great – they help you identify what needs to be achieved – but they’re only productive when you complete said list in order of urgency. Efficient productivity planning also involves:

1. Identifying and setting clear end goals
2. Managing your time in the best way for a specific goal
3. Bringing in tools to help you do that (calendars, applicable apps, tracking software)
4. Reviewing your process regularly to make it better

Most importantly, your productivity plan should be transparent and used similarly by everyone in your team. If everyone has their interpretation or variation of their own personal productivity plan, that’s a great place to start, but it can be counterproductive. 

By being transparent about your individual process, you can see if/where you might be doubling up on certain aspects and where things could be streamlined within your team.

Key components of a productivity improvement plan

Whether it's for personal use or to be introduced across an organization, a productivity plan should outline the actions that the company or an individual intends to follow in order to achieve key objectives. It should help you finish tasks in line with priorities and within budget. 

For that to work, an effective productivity strategy typically consists of the following three main components:

Operational planning

‍The daily duties you perform to keep things ticking over smoothly are known as operational tasks. Because they impact how you complete tactical and strategic objectives, operational tasks should be taken into account in every productivity plan. 

To help you define what they are, consider asking yourself questions like: 

• “What is the end goal?”
• "How will I gather the information I need?" 
• “Who are the key stakeholders?”
• "Who will need to review this project for feedback?"
  

The tools and communication channels you usually use or need to integrate will play an important role in how readily you can organize and complete your duties.

Strategic planning

Although they are perhaps the most significant, strategic factors are often trickier to understand. Why? Because they can be the least quantifiable. When it comes to productivity planning, strategic thinking will dictate which tasks to prioritize and how to complete them. Keep an eye on what’s changing inside your company and what’s going on in your industry or the economy. These shifts can affect what should take priority and how you tackle it.

Tactical planning

‍In contrast to strategic planning, which encompasses more general organizational objectives, tactical planning looks at the short-term steps required to accomplish immediate goals. Fixing a software bug, sending an email, or writing a document are examples of tactical jobs that are particularly fulfilling. Think about it; they're actionable and, therefore, give you that fuzzy feeling of achievement. Setting priorities and assigning responsibilities are obviously fundamental to any successful productivity plan.

Proven productivity strategies to consider

When you’re approaching a productivity improvement plan, it might help to have some tried and tested strategies to bring to your team – especially to show them that productivity planning isn’t just a buzzword — it’s been working for centuries.

With that in mind, here are three proven strategies that have been used repeatedly when optimizing work output. 

1. The Pareto Principle

Also referred to as 80/20 rule, the Pareto Principle asserts that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of work.

Background bit: Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist, "discovered" the Pareto principle in 1906 when he saw that 20 percent of the population controlled 80 percent of the country's land. For the fact fans out there, it was Joseph M. Juran who started calling it the Pareto principle in the 1940s. 

Over a hundred years later, the Pareto principle still holds for both personal and professional spheres. Regarding management and human resources, for example, the theory states that 80 percent of a company's revenues could be generated by the work of 20 percent of its employees.

2. Trollope’s Strategy

Working in short 15-minute stints isn’t a new creation at all. In fact, it dates aaaall the way back to the 1800s.

‍Background bit: Anthony Trollope, a noted English novelist who kicked off his career in 1847, soon realized that penning novels is often laborious and tedious, which can become a deterrent to writing over time. If you think about it, this mirrors other large tasks that require significant effort and can also lead to frustration. To negate this, Trollope started evaluating his progress over 15-minute increments rather than focusing on completing full chapters in one sitting.

3. Ivy Lee Method

How do you know what to prioritize if everything seems to be a priority? You use the six things a day Ivy Lee method.

Background bit: Back in 1918, “productivity consultant” Ivy Lee was asked to meet with executives at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. His suggestion? They prioritize just six tasks a day in order to increase efficiency. This approach soon improved their performance, with Lee’s method gaining widespread acclaim and adoption.

Just make sure that the transfer list doesn’t get longer with each passing day… Remember, only six items. And don’t be kicking the same six things down the road indefinitely.

Productivity improvement plan do’s and don’ts

Now that you’ve wowed any reluctant teammates with your knowledge surrounding the origins and staying power of productivity planning, here are some key do’s and don’ts to consider when creating your productivity plan.

Do…

• Set realistic goals. These should align with your team’s current strengths and workload. When goals are achievable, your team can stay focused on what matters most — without getting overwhelmed
• Rely on real data instead of merely on best-case scenarios. This ensures your strategy remains grounded in practicality and adaptable to unforeseen challenges. Then, repeatedly track your process (Memtime can help here) so you can review it accurately.
• Provide training and/or skill development — especially if your team is new to productivity tools or time tracking.
• Maintain a straightforward plan that’s human-oriented. This approach fosters team engagement and ensures that the plan remains achievable and motivating for everyone involved.
• Compare your expectations with reality. It’s easy to plan the perfect day — but things rarely go exactly as intended. Memtime automatically tracks your real activity based on what actually happened, not just what you meant to do. For instance, look at 12:50–13:30 in the screenshot below. That was time I planned to work on this article — but because life happens, 40 minutes of that ended up offline. It’s a great example of how plans meet reality — and how Memtime helps you spot the difference without judgment:

• Consider individual energy levels instead of just planning on implementing time blocks. This ensures that productivity strategies are aligned with natural rhythms, optimizing focus and efficiency throughout the day – whether you’re an early bird or a night owl. Don’t forget to build in your breaks. ‍
• Adapt and iterate. In other words, increasing productivity is a continuous process. Be ready to make adjustments to your plan in light of the feedback and outcomes you obtain.

As with the slew of “Do’s” there are quite a few suggestions lurking in the “Don’ts” bucket that you should be mindful of. They include:

Don’t…

• Introduce too many variables at once. For instance, if you’re providing training on a new tool to facilitate your productivity plan, let that be phase one of the process. ‍
• Rely on your recollection of certain things. Why put the added pressure of recall on yourself when Memtime can do it automatically for you?!
• This is where cultivating open communication is imperative when bringing in a productivity plan. It might get uncomfortable when addressing pain points with certain teammates; just remember – it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
• ‍Overplan or, worse, lean into the counterproductive scourge that is perfectionism. Remember the mantra: Done is better than perfect. Why? Because perfectionism kills deadlines and – over time – reputations.
• ‍Turn productivity planning into micromanagement or surveillance. That’s not cool. Or productive, for that matter. 
• ‍Resort to copying and pasting someone else’s system without adapting it for your unique needs. It might seem time efficient in the short term but it rarely pays off in the long run. ‍
• See your productivity plan as the end goal. Again, it’s an ongoing process and, if you’re doing it right, it should change and be updated regularly.
  

Wrapping up

Productivity planning is only useful if you actually do something differently – and, most importantly, track if it worked.

Consider Memtime your quiet ally throughout this entire process. For instance, when you’re initially creating your productivity plan, or honing a new one, Memtime can help you check how everything is progressing based on your actual activity as opposed to what you planned to do.

As an added bonus, it works away in the background, which means you don’t need to fiddle about with timers or, worse, resort to surveillance. By passively tracking real activity, you can compare your productivity plan with your reality – and improve from there. The same goes for your employees.

You can either zoom in for a more minute-by-minute breakdown…

Alternatively, you can zoom out for an hourly overview of your entire day.

You can download, install, and test the app free of charge for 14 days. Signing up for a Memtime account with just your name, and zero credit card deets required takes less than 10 seconds. Another option is to schedule a no-strings-attached chat with one of our team members, who will walk you through every aspect of Memtime and explain how to implement effective time tracking in your business that your team will appreciate.