“The quotes are simple. The execution is hard.” - Gary Vaynerchuk

My mum who is 80 years old, didn’t have a computer until she was 70. She does amazingly well finding information on the web, keeping up with the latest of what family and friends are posting on Facebook, streaming my sons games basketball games from the USA and so much more. She even just started using Instagram. Yet something far simpler has bamboozled her….

Mum recently upgraded her NBN package. A tablet came bundled as part of the new deal. The tablet is configured and works like a charm, except there’s a problem – Mum is struggling with the touch screen!!!

When she touches an icon for an application to open, she either presses too hard, too long or swipes as she touches the icon. She even does all 3 at the same time!!! The result is the application won’t open.

Despite doing so well for her age on the computer, the simpler approach with the tablet just doesn’t feel simple to her - it’s way harder!!! I’m confident she’ll work it out but she’s pretty frustrated at the moment after the initial 2 weeks….

I see a correlation with Mum’s story with the tablet to how people work. What someone might find easy, a colleague’s experience can be quite different.

This is particularly true when it comes to each person’s personal productivity system – workflow, procrastination, interruptions, planning, prioritisation, execution etc. Whether you’ve nailed these or not is why certain workers are more effective than others.

If you’re productive, it doesn’t mean everyone else is. Don’t fall for the trap of making this assumption.

It’s difficult to have clarity when work feels hard. Consider those colleagues who need help to make their personal productivity system simple and effective.