Organization, productivity, and planning: understand the difference

You're always in search of an ideal plan, but you can't stop to think about the smallest details and end up consuming a flood of content without really understanding the meaning of all the terms used in the business world. Thinking about this, in this post, I'll explain the difference between organization, productivity, and planning. Let's go?

Organization

In a straightforward way, organization is when you structure, order, and arrange something. It means 'putting in order what already exists', that is, when you take your ideas or something and find a better way to organize it.

A classic example is organizing a physical space. Think about it, if you're going to tidy up your wardrobe, it's because your clothes are disorganized, right? The act of taking those clothes and putting them in their proper places is what we call "organizing." Of course, this includes other things besides physical environments, such as organizing your week, your month, your notes, or even your ideas.

Productivity

As for productivity, it is linked to the quality of what you produce, the result, or the means of what is productive. It's your "how": how to manage your ideas, your home, your month, your life, and so on. The days you wake up inspired you tidy up the house, listen to music, work a little, study, and do everything you wanted to produce in the day and at the end of it, you finish relieved with the thought of "Phew! That was a very productive day!".

It is about doing what has to be done and this way it means that you are producing and not just procrastinating. This is productivity.

Planning

Now, suppose that all this routine - tidying up the house, working, studying - you followed according to that little list you made the day before. This is what we call planning. In other words, when we establish priorities, define what we will do throughout the day, and our commitments. Planning is when you organize your entire day to have better task management.

Planning goes far beyond a list to organize your day. After all, you can make long-term (10 years or more), medium-term (2 to 5 years), and short-term (up to 1 year) plans. It is a fact that there is a lot involved before reaching your daily planning, many objectives to be considered, and priorities to be established. You just need to set aside some time during your week to establish some things and have a conversation with yourself.

In short, 

• organization is when we put our things in order
• productivity is the process behind your production
• planning is when you prepare and establish some methods to be productive.

Finally, to learn more about organization, planning, and how to optimize your time, I recommend this video. It's not that difficult, right? I hope it has cleared up your doubts about this once and for all!