We all have an unique personality. There are several different types of tests you can take to find out more about your personality. I am pretty sure you have heard of introversion and extroversion. You have probably heard of task orientated vs people orientated. There are many tests you can take to help you find out more about yourself like the MBTI, Color Code, DISC Assessment, Enneagram, etc. For over a decade I have been fascinated about the concept of personality and how learning about it can help you and those around you to work better and more productively. Productivity is an important part of everyone’s life and is the goal for everyone alike whether you are a business owner, manager, employee, a parent, and even a student. Just like we have our own personality, we have our styles on what make us the most productive. Below are just a few examples of productivity personalities.
Yak Yak Yak to the Bank. Most people look at someone who talks a lot and wants to always be interacting with other people as not productive, but that is only the case in a task orientated atmosphere. There are careers for people like this like talk show host, news reporters, speakers, hostesses, etc. These people really do get energized by interaction with others and discussion and even if people like this are not in a job that requires interaction, allowing them a few breaks just to shoot the breeze with others will boost their productivity. I am like this in the way that I get energy from interaction and that talking to people will help me energy to focus on something.
Line em up and mow em down. This is the person that just wants to get things done. People like this are like a freight train and will barrel through whatever they are doing. It is best not to disturb this person when he or she is in the zone. That is unless you don’t mind getting run over. I could be like this at times, but not always. This is the person who may have a to do list of over 100+ items, and plans on accomplishing all of those items right away. This I brings me back to a time when I did actually have about 100 items completed on a to do list in one day.
Best left alone. This is the opposite of the talker and a person that really needs to be left alone to focus. They do their best work alone and hate being interrupted. Now pretty much no one likes to be interrupted, but this productivity style hates it the most. There is plenty of work in the world that requires a deep focus so it is good to let this person do that.
Planning and analyzing but not enough doing. Some people prefer to plan rather than take action. We can make great detailed schedules but get bored trying to follow them and can get off track. Or maybe we just like that part of the process so much that that we get stuck in them. This type of person will most likely love details and will notice all kinds of things that the rest of us may overlook.
The “lazy” one. Some people do not place a high value on productivity, therefore they prioritize other aspects of life. It is important to find out why someone on your team doesn’t work as they should or carry their weight and address it. They may not always be lazy either as there may be life circumstances outside their control to cause then to be this way. Also, someone who may appear “lazy” may just be slower paced, calm, and relaxed. This is a very valuable characteristic in organizations. This is why I use the quotation marks for lazy because what I intend to do here is provide a different perspective.
As you may have concluded already, we are much more complex than what we see here in this list. We are probably all a combination of at least two and probably a little of all of them at times. Each of you should be able to identify one that fits you the most but will probably different ones at different times and for different reasons. We are all wired differently and are productive in different ways. It is definitely beneficial to understand each other and what makes us tick the most towards productivity.