Personal productivity and time management are practically synonymous. Managing your time well is just one aspect of being highly productive, however. Altogether, I’ve identified seven dimensions of productivity: time, focus, organization, reliability, results, strategy, and satisfaction. Taken together, learning how you’re performing with respect to each of these seven dimensions can not only give you specific direction on what and how to improve but can also give you insight into how to balance your efforts across the board. Here’s what I mean.

Say you’re dynamite at managing your time. Your calendar is totally up-to-date, you never overlook a single deadline or appointment, you’re efficient without any wasted motion, you haven’t been late for a deadline in years. But when it comes to taking care of yourself, you’re lousy–you make promises to get fit, take a vacation, or just step away from your desk at lunch. But then the urgency hits or you simply forget. A scenario like this one would suggest that your time management and reliability are out of balance.

I often tell people I don’t believe in work-life balance. There is only life. There is only balance. To be a fully productive person, work on your balance, not just one or two aspects of your performance. When you’re balancing your performance across all seven dimensions, you’ll find yourself enjoying a sense of flow like never before. And that’s highly productive!

Want to learn more about the Seven Dimensions of Productivity? Join The Productivity Maven for the first in her new teleclass series on November 5, 2009 at 4 pm Eastern. Register to attend here. (Join the Maven on her Facebook fan page and you’ll learn how get a chance to win a sleek, new iPod Nano!)