I’ve been avoiding writing about this productivity tool
Productivity tool #3 - P.A.C.T
I’ve been avoiding writing about this productivity tool because I’m fairly new to it. I guess that speaks volumes about how I operate. I tend to write about things I know, which can make me feel incredibly vulnerable at times. However, diving into something I don’t know enough, makes me feel a bit… exposed.
As I pep-talked myself into writing this short essay, I remembered two things: (1) the positive feedback from you, dearest Substack readers. (Thank you for your engaging emails! Keep writing, please! If I haven’t replied yet, do not fear, I will.); and (2) Gillian Anderson as Scully, in one of the recent revival episodes on anti-vaxxers and pandemic, saying: “We’re all going to be exposed”. The mind works in mysterious ways…
I reminded myself that I enjoy learning. I also enjoy going down rabbit holes to retrieve information and make it digestible for others. So, here I am, writing to you about something very new to me, feeling exposed and naked - even though I’m fully clothed as I type this, I promise! Melbourne winter is dire. Don’t take my word for it, listen to comedian Jenny Tian:
So, back to business…
Earlier this year, I came across technique called P.A.C.T which is attributed to Anne-Laure Le Cunff, author of the book “Tiny Experiments” and Ness Labs. I haven’t yet read the book, but I’m happy to add it to my Productivity reading list (which I’m hoping to share here on Substack before this year ends). Ness Labs’ website welcomes readers with this statement:
Welcome to Ness Labs, the learning community for ambitious knowledge workers. Ness Labs is all about empowering knowledge workers to do their best work while keeping their sanity. We provide you and your teams with the thinking tools to make the most of your mind.
I love the term knowledge workers1! It was first introduced to me by author Cal Newport and re-introduced by Ness Labs. Writing this essay, I took a little detour to find more about it. Here’s what I found. IBM talks about them in a corporate context: “Knowledge workers take existing information and use it to create new information. Information workers, on the other hand, apply information to perform a task”.
Wikipedia states:
Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include ICT professionals, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, mathematicians, scientists, designers, public accountants, lawyers, librarians, archivists, editors, and academics, whose job is to "think for a living”.
What a privilege to think for a living!
THE P.A.C.T.
P.A.C.T is an acronym used as a mnemonic technique or memory trick2. It stands for: Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous, and Trackable.
HOW IT WORKS:
This goal-setting technique that focuses on output instead of outcome (like S.M.A.R.T technique - more on this difference in a minute!). It follows this criteria:
Purposeful: the goal is (1) meaningful to your long-term purpose in life (assuming you got one hehe), not just relevant to you right now; and (2) aligns with your passions.
Actionable: the goal is based on (1) outputs you can control, and the (2) actions you need to take in order to achieve it. Simply put: the goal is actionable and controllable.
Continuous: the actions towards your goal are simple and repeatable. Le Cunff says: “ The good thing about continuous goals is their flexibility. What you need to do is get started, and as you learn more, you can adapt your approach. It’s about continuous improvement rather than reaching a supposed end goal”.
Trackable: Le Cunff recommends the “yes” or “no” approach to goal tracking: “Have you done the thing or not? Have you coded today? Have you called three potential customers? Have you published your weekly blog post? Yes or no? This makes your progress very easy to track”.
WHAT WORKS FOR ME:
The first thing I notice is that P.A.C.T focuses on two things that are familiar:
GOALS (that are purposeful and actionable).
ACTIONS (that are simple, repeatable and trackable)
The second thing I notice is its simplicity and flexibility. I do not operate well under very rigid structures. Sometimes the S.M.A.R.T method can feel restrictive and instead of helping me getting things done, it adds to my anxiety and paralyzes me.
Le Cunff says: “PACT won’t work for goals such as washing the dishes, but it will work for long-term, ambitious goal”. She illustrates the difference between methods with this example:
Let’s say your goal is to grow your newsletter. Here are two versions of the same goal:
SMART version of a goal: “Get 5,000 subscribers in 25 weeks.”
PACT version of a goal: “Publish 25 newsletters over the next 25 weeks.”
Notice how one can assume that the plan is to write one newsletter per week… But it actually says “over the next 25 weeks”. The beauty of this version is flexibility. What if the writer is unwell, extremely busy, or life has other plans at the moment? What if nothing gets published for two weeks?
With flexible goal-setting, the writer can still be on track to reach the goal of 25 newsletters in 25 weeks. They can decide to write one newsletter weekly or 10 in one day. P.A.C.T allows flexibility.
On that note: it’s been busy, busy over here with Melbourne Fringe prep + life (you may have seen some of the new Greeking Out promos on Instagram!). This past fortnight, I had no time to write on HallucinatoryClarity. However, I got a bit more time to write this week! I’m excited to share with you some thoughts about a play I saw last week. So stay tuned this week if you’d like to know about it!
I would love to know if you’ve used this tool before and if it’s worked for you! If you didn’t know about it, would you give it a go? Let me know! A gentle reminder: “P.A.C.T” is only one dish in the productivity buffet. And like any recipe, follow the instructions but make it your own.
Definition by Cambridge dictionary: “Knowledge Worker: an employee whose job involves developing and using knowledge rather than producing goods or services.”
According to The Corporate Finance Institute , the term was coined by Peter Drucker in his book, The Landmarks of Tomorrow (1959) , where he defined knowledge workers as “high-level workers who apply theoretical and analytical knowledge, acquired through formal training, to develop products and services”.
For more info on what do knowledge workers do and what skills they have, read this helpful article by the job finding platform Indeed.
Mnemonic is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “assisting or intended to assist memory”. Acronyms, short poems or phrases are some strategies used to improve memorization. More details and examples here.