Productivity is about what you accomplish and not how much you produce; a nine-to-five workday makes as much sense as diligently tracking your time out on the farm. ~Chris Bailey

When I read the second half of that sentence, “a nine-to-five workday makes as much sense as diligently tracking your time out on the farm,” light bulbs must have been glowing over my head. I grew up on a farm, so I could totally relate to that analogy. No, farmers don’t track their time because the focus is on what you need to accomplish. You don’t stop halfway through feeding the cattle because time is up.

Chris Bailey provides what I think is a fascinating account of the history of “time” and work. For those who may not find it as interesting as I do, I’ll only provide a very short summary.

We’ve only been working by the clock for 175 years. For example, in 1918 (only 99 years ago!) the United States went from using hundreds of time zones to using just four, and time zones were codified into federal law. Within just a few decades, we went from selling goods we produced ourselves (think: farmers) to helping create mass-produced goods (think: manufacturing), which meant we were trading our time for a paycheck. Back then, there was a direct connection between how many minutes and hours we worked and how much we produced. Think of this as the time economy.

We’ve transitioned again, from working in factories to working in offices. We are now in the knowledge economy. We now trade a combination of our time, attention, energy, skills, knowledge, social intelligence, network, and ultimately our productivity for a paycheck.

As Chris Bailey says, “We [especially leaders] have to step out of the time economy and into the knowledge economy to become more productive.” We’ve been in the knowledge economy for years (late 1900s to early 2000s) yet many of us still function as if we’re in the time economy. And no, it’s not just the Baby Boomers who are stuck in the time economy. Chris Bailey, who I’m quoting today, was born in 1989, a Millennial!

The difference: instead of thinking about how much time you’ve spent working, begin to think about the energy and attention you’ve invested in your work. Energy and attention have a greater impact on your productivity than does time. In fact, research shows that after 35 or 40 hours your productivity begins to plummet. That’s because we’ve not taken the time to replenish our energy and attention.

Here’s just one reason why I think this is so important. I see leaders who want to give pay increases to people they see burning the midnight oil. The people still in the office at 8pm are those who deserve raises, right? Giving those folks raises could be rewarding them (and enabling them) to be less productive than what they could be. Instead, if they were rewarded with raises because they demonstrate a keen ability to manage their attention and energy, over spending more time, that could be a better means to encourage accomplishment which translates into productivity.

The real crux of all this for leaders is that defining expectations around what needs to be accomplished may not be as straightforward as what needs to be produced. It’s a major shift from asking what do I need to “do” this week, to what do I need to “accomplish” this week. And, how will I best manage my attention and energy to get that accomplished.