Productivity for Your Enneagram Type
Increasingly, our time feels under pressure. Deadlines come faster, more work gets added to our to-do lists, and dual demands from work and home leave us feeling strapped for time.
We all have 24 hours in a day, and very few of us want to spend all of them working. However, we want to make those work hours efficient, enjoyable, and PRODUCTIVE.
We want to be productive and not just busy while meaningfully moving the needle forward without feeling stressed, drained, overworked, and tired.
How do we find ways to make our days more productive (not just busy), honor our time, and not feel like we have to work 24/7 to accomplish anything meaningful?
First, you need to know that productivity is different for everyone.
Productivity means different things to different people. One person may feel most productive with a long to-do list and enjoy completing each task. Another may need strict routines and structures to feel productive. And another may want uninterrupted alone time to be their most productive self.
Because productivity can look different for each of us, the tools, tips, and strategies we use to be our most productive should also be unique to each of us.
What’s a great productivity tool for one might be a disaster for another.
A tip or trick that works for you might not work at all - or be a big time-waster - for someone else.
Some people need more options and flexibility, while others need more routine and structure.
Some work best in a group or busy environment, while others need quiet solitude.
So, how do you find the best ways to be more productive that genuinely work for you?
It starts with knowing your Enneagram type.
The Enneagram is a personality typing system uniquely designed to help you understand yourself.
Each of us falls into one of the nine Enneagram types. Our type helps us understand the motivations behind our actions, reactions, thoughts, feelings, and habits.
Your Enneagram type illuminates:
your strengths, challenges, & motivations,
how you communicate,
what causes you conflict,
how you relate to others,
and so much more - including what can improve your productivity.
When we know and understand our Enneagram type, we know and understand ourselves exponentially better. We become more self-aware, are proactive in our personal and professional growth, and make meaningful decisions and changes that transform our lives.
And, the more we know and understand ourselves, the more productive, efficient, and balanced we become.
Our Enneagram-based coaching provides the unique opportunity to learn your type and how it affects all aspects of your life, including your productivity.
Why Knowing Your Enneagram Type Matters
Each of us sees the world differently, and what we see, how we see it, and how we’ve developed our personalities in response create our personalities and our Enneagram types.
What motivates our productivity differs significantly, so knowing what works for you makes a massive difference between ease vs. frustration, productivity vs. busy work, and time balance vs. time-wasting.
For example, Enneagram Type Ones are conscientious, hard-working, and detail-oriented. Ones focus on processes and routines, doing things as best they can, or even as perfectly as possible.
Type Ones are great at seeing details, breaking things down into manageable tasks, mapping out timelines, and creating high-quality work.
We coach our Type One clients to understand what works for them and what can be challenging, turning our natural strengths and talents into our Achilles heels.
Ones are most productive when they
have a process or plan for what to do,
have clear timelines and deadlines,
know what to expect from others and when,
have had time to ask the questions they need answered, and
envision the ‘right’ way to handle the task or project.
When Ones are self-aware of their productivity needs, they feel more confident, self-assured, relaxed, and accomplished.
However…
We aren’t always aware of what works best for us or what we need. Typically, our strengths (in productivity or elsewhere) are so natural and innate that we don’t realize their positive impact on us and our work.
On the flip side, we are also not always aware when we overuse those same strengths and turn them into our challenges or Achilles’ heels.
When Ones hyperfocus on the details, strive to perfect their work, and stress over getting things “right,” they can unknowingly create delays, frustration, and resentment for themselves and others.
For example:
A) Having a process or plan for what to do or having clear timelines and deadlines is great until
you become rigid in your expectations,
can’t adjust or go with the flow when changes occur, and
miss out on opportunities or ideas that come spontaneously.
B) Knowing what to expect from others and when and having the time to ask the questions is great until
the flow of work and ideas can’t get started,
resentment and frustration arise when others don’t match your expectations, and/or
asking too many questions frustrates others and impedes the project.
C) Envisioning the ‘right’ way to handle the project or the process of the work is great until
it means not setting limits to your work,
trying to perfect your work or expect perfection from others,
potentially missing deadlines, and/or
being critical of yourself or your work if it’s not ‘right.’
When Ones are self-aware of both their strengths and their challenges and when to leverage them appropriately, they can establish productivity methods that work best for them.
We coach our Type One clients to be more productive (and less stressed, more relaxed, and happier) by doing the following.
Set hard deadlines to avoid the ‘it’s not quite right yet’ cycle.
Ask a few key questions to get the project rolling, and then ask more questions if needed later.
Be clear with others on what you need and when. It’s also helpful to briefly explain why that matters to the project or you.
Pause and ask yourself if there are other ways or options for doing what you do. Listen for colleague’s input and be open to their way of doing things.
Sort the tasks that need to be perfect or ‘right’ vs. the ones that can be good enough and be ok when they are good enough.
Use your skill of mapping out timelines and creating processes, but check that they are reasonable, give you options, and be flexible if there are changes.
What works for one doesn’t always work for another.
Take Type Seven, for example.
Type Sevens are adventurous, fun and fun-loving, positive, creative, and spontaneous. Sevens are flexible and love having options, which they can envision easily.
Sevens excel at keeping positive energy up, synthesizing information quickly, connecting the dots fast, being flexible, going with the flow, and seeing the big picture.
Just like the Ones, Sevens have strengths and challenges.
All Enneagram types have strengths and challenges unique to their type. Our Enneagram-based coaching helps you know and leverage those strengths while being aware of (and managing) your challenges.
A) Seeing the big picture, creative thinking, and wanting options are great until it means
missing the details or processes,
not wanting to do the tasks because you feel trapped, and
avoiding sticking with one idea long enough to see it through.
B) Being flexible, spontaneous, and going with the flow is great until it becomes
flitting from one thing to the next too quickly,
losing track of time and focus, and
feeling stifled by a schedule or routine and thus avoiding them.
Because their strengths, challenges, and motivations are so different, what works for the Type One’s productivity won’t work for the Type Seven.
Searching for fun and seeing the big picture means that Sevens don’t like being bogged down with processes, routines, and tasks, especially mundane or repetitive ones. Ones, however, love the structure that routines, processes, and task completion provide.
Mapping out timelines, especially in detail, feels confining and stifling for the option-seeking and spontaneous Seven, while Ones feel secure in knowing what’s happening and when.
We coach our Type Seven clients to be more productive (and focused) by doing the following.
Use larger time blocks to organize their days, giving them a focus without limiting their options.
Assign repetitive tasks to a VA, assistant, or team member.
Introduce variation into their workday - work from different locations, stand up instead of sitting, use a co-working space vs. working from home, or just reorganize their workspace to make it feel different.
Know the timeline and process for the task, commit to working on one task at a time (even if in brief intervals), and include an accountability partner to keep them on track.
Ground themselves with a few deep breaths and a very short (3 to 5 min.) mindfulness meditation to calm their mind and stay on track.
We Design Productivity That Works for Your Personality
When you know and understand your Enneagram type, like the examples of types One and Seven, you can leverage your unique strengths to be your most productive.
You’ll be aware of what already works for you, how to leverage those innate strengths appropriately and be able to recognize when you are overusing them to your detriment.
You’ll save time, stress, frustration, and resentment by reducing your challenges, leaving you feeling confident and self-assured as you employ your strengths.
Our Enneagram-based coaching is designed to work specifically with your Enneagram Type. We help you know and understand your type, create the self-awareness you need, and realize the strengths and challenges of your type.
Knowing your type means knowing YOU, and you’ll be able to utilize your new awareness, skills, and tools in every aspect of your life, not just your productivity.
If you are ready to discover how to make your work more efficient, enjoyable, and productive, check out our website and book a call with us to see if our Enneagram-based coaching is right for you!
