Stephen Covey Quote on Productivity and How Momentum Can Help You Get More Done

“If you want to get something done, give it to someone busy.”

Stephen Covey

Beyond the Quote (248/365)

But, why wouldn’t you give it to someone who isn’t busy? Because the Laws of Physics as they apply to motion, apply to people-in-motion, too. It’s easier to keep a body in motion than it is to get a body into motion that is at rest. The same is true for us. People who are in motion not only get more done, but they have an easier time getting more done than some might have in trying to do less. Why? Because a body at rest has a harder time getting started.

This, to me, is one of the most pivotal moments in the completion of any task—starting. If you were told you had to do 50 push-ups at some point throughout the day, which rep would be the hardest? You might think rep 50 because your muscles would probably be the most fatigued. But, I’m willing to argue that rep number 1 would be the hardest. Why? Because motivating yourself to drop down to the floor and do 50 freaking push-ups is a huge mental obstacle to overcome. Especially if you’re not in the habit of doing a task like that in the first place.

Now, apply what Covey was talking about in the above quote to the same situation. Who might 50 push-ups be easier for? The person who has been busy working out or the person who is actively resting? In my estimation, the person who has been busy working out would have a much easier time doing the push-ups than somebody who isn’t. When you can successfully carry your motion from one task to the next, what you’re essentially utilizing is the power of momentum.

Momentum is an incredibly powerful personal development concept that can be thought about in a few different ways. The momentum that you’re carrying in real time from task-to-task and the momentum that you’re carrying from past strides from day-to-day. Think about how absurd this idea would be: rather than doing your full workout in one seamless 60 minute session, you broke your workout up into 10 minute chunks to be done randomly throughout your day. And you started and stopped, started and stopped, and started and stopped again. Sounds awful, right?

The same is true for most any series of tasks we need to complete. If we can carry the momentum of our life force from one task to the next, we become productivity machines. The energy required to start the tasks is minimal and we hit the ground running with carried over motion from previous tasks. If you’ve ever had a none-stop day then I’m sure you can relate. You try and get everything done back-to-back-to-back because you know as soon as you sit down to relax, nothing else is going to get done. I know that’s how I am.

I try and compartmentalize all of my tasks into windows that utilize a similar type of momentum. Every morning, before I workout I get my body into motion by taking a hot shower first, then I foam roll, then I stretch, and THEN I workout. From there, I carry that momentum into breakfast and prep a healthy shake. I then carry that momentum to writing and get as much done as I can before work. And so it goes. From one task to the next at work, from taking care of my chores and responsibilities to taking care of myself, etc. It’s one seamless flow of motion from the start of the day to the end. And as soon as I decide that I’m out of juice, I rest, and ain’t nothing getting done after that.

So, pay attention to how you’re carrying your momentum and think about how you might line up your tasks to better handle the motion of your life. You’d be surprised at how much more you might be able to get done with just as much or even less effort—it’s a damn miracle that you should absolutely be utilizing day-to-day. And don’t misunderstand me and think that you shouldn’t take any breaks throughout your day. Breaks are good for recharging when utilized properly—just don’t take too many of them. Too many and you’ll do more momentum killing than anything else. Good luck and happy moving.

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