Today I was reading something written by David Allen, one of my favorite productivity gurus and he used the phrase "Maximally Productive".  I started to gasp for breath, thinking I was getting comments from an appraisal continuing education forum that I wasn't even aware I was supposed to be a part of.  Once my brain engaged with what I was "reading", I realized that David was using a term that, while it has been imprinted in my brain from years of appraisal theory, had nothing to do with real estate principals.  He was talking about humans being maximally productive, not land or buildings.  So I kept reading.

What David was talking about is that just as the final test of highest and best use in real estate is Maximally Productive, (the 4 applied "tests" in order of application are Legally Permissible (good thing to have), Physically Possible (seems like a no brainer doesn't it?), Feasible (always helpful), and then Maximally Productive (refers to profitability), maximally productive is a strong, albeit not final, test for us to apply to ourselves too.

Being productive means you have to produce something, so  obviously being maximally productive means producing to the highest level.  Now of course just like every piece of real estate isn't always put to its highest and best use, neither are we, but it's a good thing to strive for once you know what you want to achieve.  Ah, there's the rub!  Here's what I know and what Allen describes and does really well at helping people with...being more productive isn't simply about getting more organized, or setting priorities or goals, or working harder, it's doing those things that you pick with some level of determination and clarity because they have value to you.  And of course, they are ever changing.  Well, at least we hope they are.

Don't we all know people who are very neat, organized and have a nice life but have a sense of "there's got to be more."  These folks generally don't share their feelings of wanting to do more, but inside it's there.  Or how about those folks who are woefully disorganized and while they get some great things done, could use a dose of "focus?"  Clearly every one of us has parts of those characteristics in our personalities, so being maximally productive is probably as difficult to achieve for us as it is for most real estate properties.  But that isn't to say it shouldn't be designed into the project or person.  Of course it should.  If not, there's another term from real estate analysis that we might experience...becoming Functionally Obsolete.  Ouch!

Click here to join our blog discussion or simply shoot me an email when you get a chance.