How to Increase Your Productivity

Working hard or hardly working?

Every minute is pure gold, so let’s start treating it that way.

Thanks to COVID-19, most of us find ourselves in some sort of ‘lockdown’.

Whilst the first few days are all fine and dandy, that initial spurt of motivation to get things done starts to simmer out by the end of the first week… Boy, did I hit that slump hard. This is coming to you live, from the procrastination queen.

This post therefore holds me accountable in ushering in a new wave of personal growth and self-improvement.

There are a tonne of ways you can help boost your level of productivity. But which ones actually work?

Hack your thinking with these tips.

Keep track of how much time you spend on each task.

Estimate the time it will take you to tackle various tasks. Then, regulate a time slot for each.

Listen to music that boosts productivity.

Background music has been proven to help you to focus. Opt for something upbeat and instrumental. The point is to keep you calm, not pump you up. At all costs, avoid whipping out a drum solo at your desk. I know, it’s easier said than done…

Take regular breaks.

Having a scheduled ‘distraction time’ can actually help increase your level of concentration.

If you’re pushing through a task without any breaks, your overall focus and performance is prone to steadily decline.

Set self-imposed deadlines.

Don’t go to too hard-core with this one.

Stress is typically perceived as a bad thing, however, a manageable level of healthy self-imposed stress is effective in terms of concentration and efficiency.

Once you start to see all the completed tasks pile up, you feel more accomplished, and thus more motivated to keep pumping it out.

Take exercise breaks to sweat it out.

Work it out! Not only is exercise effective in clearing your mind, it also gets your focus back on track.

With the relentless incidents and events of the modern-day world, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of distractions and find yourself a ‘valid’ excuse not to exercise. There’s not enough time, not enough energy, and not enough money for a gym membership. The justifications go on and on. If you don’t have time to hit the gym, take a short walk, or do some simple stretches.

Here are some of my Best Fitness Hacks to help you incorporate exercise, in some shape or form, into your daily routine.

Set some god damn exciting goals.

You know, those goals that make your palms sweaty?!

Without worthy goals, you’ll never be motivated to get things done. Set yourself some challenging goals that are possible to accomplish.

It’s also a great idea to share your ambitions with family and friends. By talking about your goals, you are holding yourself responsible.

Why should you set goals?

Well, it gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. So with an idea in mind, you have a starting point and a destination to work towards.

Don’t put your dream aside of becoming the world’s best psytrance DJ, a bungee jump instructor, or even a professional dog food taster; whatever it is, now’s the time to deactivate auto-pilot mode, set some goals, and turn your vision into a reality.

Practice mindfulness and meditation.

Mindfulness and meditation trains your mind to identify thought patterns that surface throughout your day.

This can make a world of a difference when it comes to understanding and noticing distractions or negative thoughts.

It can also aid you in dealing with them more promptly, thereby increasing your attention span.

Much of our time is spent chasing the things we don’t have, but practising meditation reverses our priorities and helps us appreciate what we have. Gratitude meditation can be practised in many different settings while performing your daily tasks, like brushing your teeth or washing the dishes.

It’s a simple way to meditate because you only need to focus on the experiences, people and things you are grateful for.

Turn off those tempting notifications.

Eliminate all distractions. Instagram, Facebook, and those dog memes can wait. Turn your phone into silent mode.

Set up an aesthetically pleasing workspace.

Jazz it up with some plants, scented candles, pictures, or whatever tickles ya fancy. You want to be inspired by the place where you do your work, so pimp it out! Spend at least two to three times a year enhancing and revamping your creative space.

The goal is to create an environment to jolt you out of your complacency, opening you to vocalise creative, wacky ideas.

Personally, I prefer to make my ‘creative workspace’ as eccentric as possible. Mine is decked out with a world map, a plethora of verdant pot plants, lots of abstract artwork, photos from previous trips, and a funky-ass disco ball. Other ideas to spice up your space include magazine pages, pictures, colour combinations, etc. Try to experiment with colours, textures, decor, etc.

Creativity can help kick us out of a rigid daily routine by expanding our perceptions, encouraging problem-solving, calming our nervous system and strengthening relationships. Not only does it motivate us to be more mindfully in tune with ourselves, but also with the life that we are living.

Like any other skill, creativity is to be learned, practised, and developed, and the more you incorporate it into your daily life, the more it will flourish. Check out my post here to find ways to bring more creativity to your daily life.

Prioritise your most important tasks ahead of time.

By listing your tasks in order of priority, you can make sure that you finish all your important tasks first.

Your daily to-do list should be composed of small tasks that can be completed in no more than a couple of hours.

Don’t make it a dumping ground of everything that you have to do!

Usually, it helps to complete the task you dread the most first. I generally try to mix up my tasks by alternating the ‘boring’ with the ‘interesting’ ones.

For optimum productivity, don’t multitask! Just pour your focus into one thing at a time.

Reward yourself for finishing a big task.

Rewards should be now and then, not every single time you complete something. When I was in the gruelling first stages of launching my website, every time I met a task, I would reward myself with a tub of chocolate ice cream... It wasn’t long before I realised this reward-based method was dangerous for a chocolate addict like myself. Some better ideas include a hot bath, an extra break, a movie, etc.

Take advantage of your most productive hours.

Everyone has a particular period of the day in which they are more productive than others. Find your prime time and optimise your schedule in correspondence to these hours. Do you always feel drowsy late afternoon? Does the hunger set in around noon? Taking note of these patterns is a great way to combat them!

Get plenty of sleep and try to get up early.

It’s important that you get a sufficient amount of sleep so that working hours can be as productive as possible.

Adults need an average of 7 to 9 hours of sleep to function at their best.

Here are 5 Time Management Apps & Tools:

Take advantage of some of the hundreds of apps that are out there. I swear by these!

1.     Done: A Simple Habit Tracker

2.     Microsoft To Do: Your daily personalised planner

3.     Rescue Time: How to use your time wisely

4.     Focus Booster: Boosts your motivation to complete tasks

5.     Toggl: Keeps track of your time spent on projects & tasks

6.     MindNote: Focus on tasks at hand with mind mapping

7. Monday.com: Plan and organise your tasks with ease. Also suitable for teams.