June 20th is World Productivity Day. To some, productivity means accomplishing as much as you can as efficiently as possible in terms of time, money, resources, or people. To those leading a team, productivity means enabling everyone to drive toward a common goal. And to a lazy few, productivity is a mythical concept that should be avoided at all costs.
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. — Paul Meyer
Staying productive can be a serious challenge, especially when you’re in charge of overseeing the efficiency of an entire company. Staying productive requires you to focus on keeping things efficient, on stripping out waste, and finding ways to streamline processes. It’s difficult to do this without the aid of products and services that help to keep you on track and moving smoothly, World Productivity Day encourages you to remember those who make it possible.
One of the less well-known celebratory days, World Productivity Day does not have a central focus for celebration. It’s instead an occasion for suppliers of productivity tools, training, and advances to celebrate their contributions and give something back to their users. For example, some consultancy firms use the event to provide free online sessions to prospective clients to demonstrate what a difference focus on productivity can make.
Other, less obviously relevant, businesses also use World Productivity Day to draw attention to their products and services in the context of getting the most out of work. Coffee and other caffeinated beverage manufacturers use the day as a chance to promote the putative benefits of using their products to stay alert and productive at work. Companies that sell products such as chocolate that can be used to reward productivity may also choose to use the occasion as a chance to promote this.
It’s a great opportunity to see how your business can shine, and what steps you can take to really drive productivity in the coming year. Be sure to thank those companies that most aid your productivity, and recognize those employees who make all the difference when things come down to a crunch.
Interesting fact, productive people take more vacations. Approximately 48% of the most productive people surveyed use all of their vacation time compared with 37% of coasters. No matter your industry or work ethic, it’s impossible to sustain intense work with mental clarity and good judgment over the long term without stopping for a break. It’s time to book that vacation.
