In a world overloaded with distractions, notifications, and endless to-do lists, productivity can feel like a constant uphill battle. The pressure to do more in less time is everywhere, yet most professionals feel like they’re barely keeping up — let alone getting ahead.
What if the real key to performance wasn’t working harder, but choosing better?
The concept of the 5 choices to extraordinary productivity is built on the idea that your results don’t come from doing everything — they come from doing the right things with clarity, energy, and purpose. These five choices aren’t hacks or shortcuts. They’re powerful mindset shifts that can help you take back control of your time, attention, and goals.
Let’s explore each one and how you can apply them to your day-to-day work — and your long-term success.
Choice 1: Act on the Important, Don’t React to the Urgent
The first of the 5 choices to extraordinary productivity is learning to separate what’s urgent from what’s truly important.
We live in reaction mode — answering messages, jumping into calls, handling “quick” tasks that interrupt our priorities. The problem? Urgency creates the illusion of importance. But when you constantly react, you rarely make progress on your real goals.
The shift begins with asking yourself daily:
What are the most important outcomes I need to drive today?
Build the habit of planning your week around what moves the needle — not just what screams the loudest. That means blocking time for deep work, turning off notifications, and learning to say “not now” to distractions that pull you away from your bigger goals.
Choice 2: Go for Extraordinary, Don’t Settle for Ordinary
Most professionals get stuck in a pattern of busyness — not because they’re not capable of more, but because they’ve accepted “good enough” as the standard.
This second choice challenges you to aim higher. Not by adding pressure, but by adding purpose.
Ask yourself:
- What would extraordinary look like in this project?
- How can I bring excellence — not perfection — to my next task?
- What’s one way I can exceed expectations, even slightly?
You don’t need to transform everything at once. But when you shift from “what’s required” to “what’s possible,” your standards rise — and so do your results.
Extraordinary productivity isn’t about output alone. It’s about intentional impact.
Choice 3: Schedule the Big Rocks, Don’t Sort Gravel
Picture your time as a jar. You have big rocks (high-impact priorities), small rocks (important but routine tasks), and gravel (emails, updates, admin work). If you start by filling the jar with gravel, there’s no room for the big rocks.
But if you place the big rocks first, everything else can fit around them.
This choice is about proactive time blocking. Identify your most valuable tasks for the week — the ones aligned with your goals — and schedule them in your calendar like unmissable appointments.
Then let the rest adjust around those.
This isn’t about rigid planning. It’s about protecting space for what truly matters, so you don’t look back at the end of the week wondering where your time went.
Choice 4: Rule Your Technology, Don’t Let It Rule You
Technology has given us tools to work faster, collaborate globally, and access infinite knowledge — but it has also become one of the biggest barriers to focused work.
The average professional checks their phone hundreds of times a day and receives dozens of notifications per hour. The result? Constant mental switching, reduced deep thinking, and a false sense of productivity.
This fourth of the 5 choices to extraordinary productivity is about taking control of your digital environment.
Start by asking:
- Which tools actually help me work better?
- Which notifications can I turn off — permanently?
- When during the day can I disconnect to focus fully?
You don’t need to reject technology — just use it intentionally. Let it support your focus, not sabotage it.
Choice 5: Fuel Your Fire, Don’t Burn Out
Productivity isn’t just about time management — it’s about energy management.
You can plan your priorities, optimize your workflow, and master your tools, but if you’re constantly exhausted, distracted, or emotionally depleted, you won’t perform at your best.
This final choice reminds us to protect and renew our energy. That means:
- Taking short breaks throughout the day
- Getting enough sleep
- Moving your body regularly
- Saying no when your plate is full
- Finding moments of meaning in your work
Extraordinary productivity requires sustainable effort, not nonstop hustle. The goal isn’t to get more done at any cost — it’s to perform well consistently, without sacrificing your well-being.
Turning the 5 Choices Into Daily Habits
Reading about the 5 choices to extraordinary productivity is one thing. Living them daily is another. Start by choosing one area where you feel most stuck — maybe you’re constantly reacting to the urgent, or maybe you need to reclaim your energy.
Then take one small action:
- Block an hour for deep work tomorrow morning
- Mute all non-essential notifications for one day
- Identify your 3 big rocks for the week
- Reflect on what “extraordinary” means in your current project
- Schedule a 15-minute break to recharge
Each time you make one of these choices, you train your brain to work differently. And over time, your habits shift — from reactive to intentional, from scattered to focused, from ordinary to extraordinary.
