#10: Top Ways that I Stay Productive
#10: Top Ways that I Stay Productive
My best tried-and-true productivity tips!!
When I was a teenager, I used to look up YouTube videos on how to be productive while studying.
Place a skittle at the end of each paragraph of your textbook, they said.
Chew a specific flavor of gum while you study and use the same flavor when you take the test, said another.
Needless to say, I never tried either of those. 😂
But I did experiment with other methods over the years, and I also found some tricks on my own.
Whether you’re a 9-5 corporate hustler or a budding entrepreneur, productivity is important, so we can spend more time doing the things that matter to us.
I truly do believe in working smarter, not harder…
But the irony sometimes is that working smarter can be pretty hard.
It’s much easier to find ourselves being distracted by TikTok, Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, text messages…
And then realize that hours have gone by without getting any actual work done.
Let’s change that, shall we?
Here are the top hacks that have transformed my productivity:
1. Know Parkinson’s Law ⏳
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
Whether you give yourself 1 day or 1 week to complete something, you’re probably still going to complete it at the last minute. But whether it’s the last minute of a day or the last minute of a week is up to the deadline that you set for yourself.
2. Block out your calendar and get in the flow 🗓
Nothing is worse than having a calendar full of meetings where you can’t get any work done. Block out certain hours (preferably at the same time every day) to do work so your coworkers can’t book on top of them.
3. Prioritize!!! 🔢
This is the best way to beat fake productivity. Don’t just write to-do lists - order your to-do’s by importance and urgency, and complete them in that order.
4. Uninstall that app 📱
My phone probably thinks I’m crazy. But every week, I delete Instagram on weekdays and re-download it on weekends. I challenge you to delete whatever app it is that consumes the most of your time. Don’t worry - it will still be there, waiting in the App Store for you.
5. Use music to your advantage 🎸
I was talking to a friend about this the other day and we had the same approach. When we feel distracted, we’ll use music to motivate ourselves to work. But once we’re in the zone, we’ll turn off the music so we can fully concentrate. The key is to use music that won’t distract you - that is, music that you won’t get distracted by singing along to. I like to opt for instrumental, acoustic, classical, lofi, or jazz music. If I’m feeling something more exciting, I’ll opt for music with lyrics that I don’t understand…like KPOP, Afrobeats, or Latin music!
6. Turn on Do Not Disturb mode 🤫
I’m not brave enough to shut down my phone during work, but what I am willing to do is turn on Do Not Disturb, so I don’t get distracted every single time I see my phone light up.
7. Use timers ⏲
I think this works to the competitive side of me. When I really need to throw my phone away and get work done, I’ll set a timer for 30 or 45 minutes and challenge myself to get as much work done until I hear the alarm go off. Then I can take a lil break. This really helps get me back in the zone, and sometimes I’ll be so locked into the zone that I’ll continue working past my alarm. I’m literally using this technique right now.
8. Make to-do lists…the day before ✅
This one is one of my favorites. I am a religious user of Microsoft OneNote (if you don’t use OneNote at work for your meeting notes and to-do’s, what are you doing?) and store all my daily and weekly to-do’s on it. At the end of the day, I’ll write down what I need to get accomplished for the next day (same thing for the week). That way, the next morning when I show up to work, the hard part is done and my brain power can go straight to checking things off my list, instead of creating the list. It’s basically the corporate equivalent to laying out your gym outfit the night before.
Health & Wealth 🧠
What’s my favorite productivity app? Google Keep!
I’ve put many of my friends on this app and I literally cannot live without it now. Not only is it super functional, but it fits my aesthetic.
It’s wayyy better than Apple notes in my opinion - it can organize way more notes at once, and there are so many great, convenient features:
Changing the color of your notes
Dragging your notes to different spots
Pinning certain notes
Categorizing/labelling notes
Career Inbox 📩
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Thanks for reading! 😊
Hope you enjoyed this article of 9 to Thrive!
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Until next time, stay healthy, wealthy, and wise!
Sincerely,
Sarena