How ONE question 10xed my productivity
Entrepreneur,
What if I told you that there’s one question that allows me to:
Beat procrastination (finally)
Turn vague dreams into results
Completely eliminate complaining
Remove any roadblocks from my work
Make meetings useful (yes, it’s possible)
What is this question?
Well, it’s a simple one.
The question is the following:
“What’s the next action?”
I know, this may sound too good to be true…
But, based on my experience working directly with dozens of entrepreneurs with whom I implemented this question…
It is one of, if not the, most effective tools for increasing productivity.
Why?
Because it turns idleness into action, confusion into clarity, and vagueness into accountability—all of which results in greater output.
And that’s not only my opinion.
Here are the words of David Allen, the person who populated the “next action” question.
I have had several sophisticated senior executives tell me that installing the ‘What’s the next action?’ as an operational standard in their organization was transformative in terms of measurable performance output. It changed their culture permanently and significantly for the better.
Why? Because the question forces clarity, accountability, productivity, and empowerment.
In today’s essay, I’ll show you exactly how I use the “next action” question in my daily work to 10x productivity.
Ready?
Let’s jump in!
Defining “next action”
Before we get into the use cases, let’s define the “next action” question.
The “next action” is the next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality of this thing toward completion. — David Allen
Some examples of next actions might be:
Call Fred re: name and number of the repair shop he mentioned.
Write a draft for the article about Chat GPT in sales
Jot down thoughts for the budget-meeting agenda.
Research the benchmarks for our upcoming ad campaign
Having that out of the way, let me now show you how I use the “next action” question to skyrocket my (and my clients’) productivity.
Using “next action”
Below are the five most popular use cases for the “next action” question.
Turning daily inputs into results
Making progress on goals and projects
Improving meetings
Beating procrastination
Eliminating complaining
Daily inputs
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re already capturing your thoughts in some kind of inbox—whether Notion, Apple Notes, Evernote, physical notebook, pen & paper, etc.
If you don’t (god forbid), grab my top Notion template for free and start capturing your inputs (tasks, resources, meetings, ideas, etc.).
You’ll feel less overwhelmed, more focused, more creative, and never forget the things you have to do. (Here’s more on that)
But capturing is just the first step.
Capturing inputs is useless if you don’t take action action.
It’s like buying ingredients for making a pizza and then not making it.
Weird, right?
The “next action” question is a perfect way to turn all of these precious inputs into potential results.
So, go through each item and ask yourself, “What’s the next action?”
(Remember: it should be a specific physical activity to move the item toward completion and contain a deadline for when it should be completed.)
(Bonus tip: If the next action takes less than 2 minutes, do it NOW.)
Examples:
Input: “Tell Mark about the new client”
Next action: “Send an email to Mark and tell him about the new client eod Today”Input: “Notes from team meeting”
Next action: “Define tasks based on the team meeting notes and assign them to relevant people eod Tomorrow”Input: “Article idea: GPT in sales”
Next action: “Create a draft for the article ‘GPT in sales’ eod Sunday”
This subtle change makes a huge difference because it turns a passive item into an active task, allowing you to make actual progress in your work and life.
Goals and projects
“Launch Facebook ad campaign”, “Conduct market research about the new product line”, “Increase online sales by 20% in Q4 2023”, etc.
Most goals and projects seem so big and complex that you might feel overwhelmed even by just thinking about them.
More often than not, this overwhelm can paralyze and prevent you from taking action.
Because “Where do I start?”
The “next action” question is a great way to break down complex initiatives into manageable pieces, in turn making it easier to make progress.
It also works when you get stuck during project delivery.
So, take a project or goal and ask yourself, “What’s the next action?”
Keep asking until you arrive at a specific physical action that allows you to make progress toward your target outcome.
Example:
“Increase the online sales by 20% in Q4 2023” → What’s the next action?
“Launch a Facebook ad campaign for Mother’s Day” → What’s the next action?
“Schedule a campaign kickoff meeting today” ← This is your true “next action”
Now you have a clear “next action” that enables you to take action NOW and make real progress.
After you complete this action, ask “What’s the next action?” again and slowly but surely make progress on your goals and projects.
Comment: Sometimes there is more than one “next action” for a project (especially if it’s a complex one). This is when you should divide the projects into separate components and define a “next action” for each that can be moved forward without having to move some other component first. But that’s a topic for another article. Write to me directly if you want to learn more about this.
Meetings
Ah, those lovely meetings…
We love them, don’t we?
We can scroll through social media while pretending to listen.
We can daydream.
Sometimes, we can even take a nap.
Okay, jokes aside…
Meetings can be useful.
But only if they lead to a change in behavior—i.e., taking action based on the contents of the discussion.
That’s why, around 15 minutes before a meeting ends, no matter where we are in the conversation, I always force the question: “So what’s the next action here?”
This ensures that the meeting leads to a change of behavior (and eventually progress), instead of being just an expensive get-together.
To ensure this always happens, add to all of your meeting agendas “Define action points”
Btw., here’s my previous article about how I make my meetings effective.
Procrastination
Procrastination is usually not the result of a lack of motivation but a lack of clarity.
You’re probably procrastinating because you don’t know where to start—not necessarily because you don’t have the motivation to do it.
To stop procrastinating you have to decrease the activation energy required to start working on a given task.
You do it by (you guessed it) asking yourself, “What’s the next action?”
You can use a modified version of this question to further increase the odds of acting: “What’s the smallest next action to move this forward?”
Once the first domino falls (i.e., you complete this small task), you’ll have generated the momentum that will likely compel you to keep working until the task is completed.
And if you do get stuck, simply ask again, “What’s the smallest next action to move this forward?” Act until the entire task is completed.
Example:
“I don’t feel like writing this article”
“What’s the smallest next action to make progress on this?”
“Just create a new note”
“What’s the smallest next action to make progress on this?”
“Create a loose outline of the article using bullet points”
“What’s the smallest next action to make progress on this?”
Etc.
Thanks to the “next action” question, you’ve not only beaten procrastination but made significant progress on the task (maybe even finished it.)
Complaining
Is there too much complaining in your team?
The next time someone moans about something, ask “So what’s the next action?”
First of all, this will shock them (They’ll think “How dare you to interrupt my pleasant act of complaining?”
Second of all, this will force the person to figure out a solution instead of churning out words that don’t make any difference and only spread negativity.
It will remove the bullshit and likely generate a solution for what triggered the complaining in the first place.
In other words, it’ll create progress.
Conclusion
I’ve shown you 5 use cases for how you can use the “next action” question to significantly increase your productivity.
Now you know how powerful it can be.
It’s in your hands whether you’re going to benefit from it.
So start now!
Ask yourself, “What’s the next action after reading this article?”
Psst, the answer is: Implement the “next action” question in your life.
Make it a habit.
And remember, whenever you’re stuck, ask yourself, “What’s the next action?”
Best,
Simon
P.S. Here are 2 ways I can help
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