If you’re tired of feeling stuck in the same spot in life, then you know something has to change. We know we’re overwhelmed with what needs to get done, yet we can’t seem to stop procrastinating. Being productive doesn’t have to be complicated though.
Maybe you’re looking to start a new business, or maybe you’re just wanting more free time in your days. In either case, we need to learn how to be more efficient with our time. Learning how to accomplish more, but in less time, is such a necessary life skill. So if you’re looking to be a productivity machine, then here’s my top 7 tips for being more productive:
1. Make a To-Do List
A huge key to success is just identifying what you need to get done. How can you expect to be productive if you don’t even know what you’re supposed to be working on? A to-do list tells you exactly what you need to do for the day, so nothing is left to guesswork.
Prioritizing your tasks is an absolute necessity too. You’ll want to know which tasks are the most important, so you know which ones to pour your effort into; look for the tasks that are crucial and will produce the most results.
I use the “Reminders” app on my iPhone, which helps keep track of everything I need to do; you can even add tasks you’ll need to do in the future, so when these days come, you never forget.
To plan each day out, I used to use a pencil and sticky note, but now I use a whiteboard to write out all my tasks and add any extra details as they arise. You can use whatever works best for you though.
As the day goes on, you’ll be able to see how much you’ve done. If you’re a visual or kinesthetic person, it’s very satisfying to cross items off your list and see how much you’ve been able to accomplish that day.
2. Start with Easy/Quick Tasks First
Building that initial momentum of productivity is always the hardest part. To decrease friction getting started, I start with the easy tasks, so I can accomplish them quickly, and have the satisfaction of making progress.
You can also start with the tasks you actually enjoy, which makes getting started a lot easier too.
Once you’ve got that moment started, and feel like you’re in the groove of things, then you’re much more likely to want to keep going. When you’re in the zone, it’s easy to ride that wave. It’s at this point that you can transition into the more important work that’s a little more mentally demanding.
Personally, I find I’m much more likely to stop early if I jump straight into the most difficult tasks. By starting with the easy/quick items, it serves as a warmup and a smooth transition into the harder work.
3. Reduce Distractions
To get rid of 90% of distractions: put your phone on Do Not Disturb. Our phone tends to be the main source of our distraction, so try to keep it out of the room, or out of sight.
If you struggle with spending too much time on your phone, here’s 5 simple phone tricks to save you hours of your day.
You want your environment to be as conducive to undistracted work as possible. This means nothing to take your attention away, because it can be very hard to get focused again.
It’s the small things that count. If you’re going to be listening to music while working, select a playlist beforehand. Even something like changing music can disrupt the constant flow of work.
A major part of productivity comes down to being methodical and minimizing wasted effort. You can get a lot more done in an hour of complete focus than you could from multiple hours of constantly distracted work.
You can pair minimal distractions with the Pomodoro Technique (Tip #4) if you want to be extra productive.
4. Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is simple, but really effective. It’s about breaking work into small periods of hyper-focus, followed by a short break to reset. The idea is 25 minutes of work, followed by a 5 minute break. The 5 minute breaks are there to help mentally decompress for a bit before getting back into it.
This technique helps force you into deep work because of the intense focus you have for those 25 minutes. You don’t pull your attention anywhere else until you hear that timer go off. Personally, I find it a lot easier to work when my mind knows how long it’ll be putting in the effort for.
You simply pick the task you need to work on, remove all distractions, set a 25 minute timer, and start working. After 4 Pomodoro cycles, you would take a 15-30 minute break, instead of the usual 5.
Trust me, you’ll free up a lot more time in your day when you learn to work more efficiently.
5. Make Time Killers Harder
In short, identify your biggest time wasters, and then find a way to make it harder to start those things. For example, you can have TV’s, PC’s, and game consoles unplugged after each use. This adds a little bit of friction to starting these things up. Bonus if you decide to disconnect the extra cables, and even put everything in other drawers/rooms.
Hopefully, you’ll be less likely to want to start these things up when there’s extra inconvenient steps now. Inconvenient is the key word; try to make bad habits more inconvenient to start.
We often jump into these habits because we’re bored and want easy stimulation. It doesn’t become so easy when you have to put in the extra effort to just turn it on.
Social media is a really big time waster for many of us. If you need some convincing on why you should delete it altogether, here’s 5 huge benefits I experienced from deleting social media.
It doesn’t have to be applied to just electronics though. The basic principle is just trying to add friction to the habits you’re trying to limit. The more friction against bad habits, the better. When you eliminate the time wasters, you essentially free up more time for productivity.
6. Move Quickly
Don’t think, just start. You don’t want to give yourself the opportunity to talk yourself out, make excuses, or postpone.
For example, if it’s working out you’re going for, then you need to be actively changing your clothes and putting on your shoes before you overthink whether you feel like doing it. Instead of the excuses, your focus is on what you’re currently doing, so it’s easier to start making little bits of progress.
You just have to cross that threshold, where it now becomes inconvenient to stop what you’ve already started. Using working out as an example again, once you’re dressed and already driving to the gym, it doesn’t make any sense to turn back around to head home.
Showing up is arguably half the battle, and this is when your mind will try to talk you out of things. If you can essentially just mindlessly show up, then afterwards you can turn your brain back on to engage with the main task you had in mind in the first place.
If you want to be productive, you have to stop overthinking. Action is what gets things done.
7. Have a Reward at the End
Don’t forget to celebrate your successes too. Sometimes a little reward is all you need to encourage yourself to keep going and to want to keep doing it the next time too. Consistency goes a long way, so you have to do whatever it takes to keep showing up every day.
The reward gives a sense of accomplishment for doing what needed to get done that day. I think integrating rewards can be a great way to start instilling positive habits. Once the association is made between feeling good and finishing your work for the day, then it’s much easier to continue that habit long term.
Conclusion
Remember, productivity doesn’t have to be this incredibly difficult thing. To start, make a to-do list, cut out distractions, set a timer for focused work, and knock out the easy tasks first. Once you’ve got that momentum going, you won’t want to stop.
Don’t forget to give yourself some breaks every once in a while, and then you get to look forward to the reward you set up at the end.
Common sense goes a long way with productivity. If you know you waste a lot of time in your day, find ways to make those time wasters harder to carry through. We always want the path of least resistance, so build in some resistance to your bad habits.
By getting more structured with your work, you’ll eventually find that you actually have MORE time in your day. Short bursts of concentrated attention goes a lot further than long durations of distracted attempts at work.
If the 7 tips seem like a lot at first, then work on just implementing them one at a time. Start with making a daily to-do list, and then you can implement the Pomodoro Technique at a later date. Any and all progress is what we’re after here.
If you’re looking for more on productivity, here’s another post dedicated to turning daily commute time into something productive.