Recently, I’ve gotten a few people asking how I’m so productive and where I get the time for it. The truth is the majority of the things I do, I enjoy doing it! I enjoy creating content for my blog, posting on Instagram, gardening, dancing, working out, traveling, reading, learning and even working! The problem comes when I have to do something that I don’t enjoy (keep reading to see what they are!). Before I give you my thoughts on productivity, I want you to know a little bit of background about a book.
How productive you are with work and other aspects of your life depends on what kind of tendency you have. After reading The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, I realized that everyone can’t do something just because they want to do it. Basically, the book talks about four different types of people. Some people are able to decide on a task or habit and complete them without any other external cues. They have the internal motivation that drives them to complete the task regardless of what others are saying or doing. Others are able to complete tasks and form habits when an external cue is provided. For example clocking into work at 6 AM in the morning or submitting work to a boss by 5 PM each day.
Once you have figured out your tendency and accept it, it’s easier to plan your work and cues around the tendency than to try to change the tendency. For example, if you are someone who needs the external cues, you are better of setting those cues than to try to change tendency.
The following isn’t merely a list of things you can do to boost your productivity, but a different way to look at the idea of increasing your productivity!
1 First and foremost, you want to establish a reason WHY you want to boost your productivity and in what aspects of your life. It doesn’t do any good to run off and try to do everything. Author and a productivity consultant, David Allen, said “you can do anything, but not everything”. What really matters to you and why do you want to do it? For everything you do, there is a trade off on something you won’t do. Establish your reasons.
2 Once you have established the “why”, you need to turn your goal into a plan. Many people try to keep a to-do-list and try to check off everything on the list. Although this is a great idea, it must be done very specifically. The more specific you are about the list, the easier the task becomes. For example, if I wrote down “work on blog”, by the time I gather my thoughts and figure out what to work on, I’ll be tired and ready to quit. Instead, if I wrote down “complete productivity post by tonight” OR “work on editing pictures for 30 minutes”, then I am more likely to get straight to work and complete it.
3 Give yourself a deadline, whether you need that external cue or not. I believe that things take as much time as you give them. If I give myself an hour to clean the living room, it will take me an hour. If I give myself 20 minutes, it will take me 20 minutes. The same goes with bigger things, like prepping for and scheduling a test or shopping for groceries!
4 Set repeating tasks on auto mode. There are things in life that you need to do over and over, all throughout your life. For example, paying bills, mowing the lawn, getting your oil changed and remembering family events and birthdays are a few examples of these repeating tasks. Payments can be made automatic online if you set up an account (which only takes a few minutes). Besides having to keep track of how much the bill is, you don’t have to worry about calling or going somewhere to pay the bill.
5 Yes, I know what you are thinking. “But we can’t automate every repeating task!” You’re right! However, you can make these repeating tasks easier and not have to think about it from the very beginning. I used to try to remember everything, up to the date I gave my dog his medication. But now, I use a yearly planner for EVERYTHING that goes on in the house and with my family. I write down information for all payments, all medication due dates, events planned and anything you can think of.
Writing down all these mundane tasks and making some of them automatic frees up not only my time, but also my mind! Do I really need to remember the date my dog needs his medication or can I write it down in my planner and forget about it? (I think so!)
6 Now that you have uncluttered your mind, give your attention to what needs it most. This is how you get the right things done and boost your productivity. Do the things that matter to you first. Work on that side hustle or start up that hobby you have been putting off. Do the things that you need for your family and yourself. Imagine if you did a whole bunch of things that were of no importance to you or your family or your future. Did you really boost your productivity or did you waste your time?
7 Use your time wisely and do one thing every day that will help you get towards to your end goal. Even baby steps are good, as long they are in the right direction. Let’s use my blog as an example. I can’t work on every aspect of the blog every day or all day long. It’s just not possible. But I can work on small steps that contribute towards the big picture! For example, each day, I pick between traveling, doing a photo shoot, editing pictures, brainstorming ideas, making rough drafts and so on! Using small portions of your free time throughout the day add up to a good amount of time otherwise wasted.
Along with getting things done, in order to be productive, it’s also important to avoid certain things. If you think about it, everyone has 24 hours in a day. If you choose to spend majority of that time scrolling through Instagram, watching silly Youtube videos, minding other people’s business and aimlessly watching tv shows, you probably won’t get much done in a day. By tweaking your habits, you will notice that your tendencies improve. For example, place your cellphone in another room so that you will have to physically go get it to scroll through your phone. You can also remove notifications from all the social media apps or set everything to mute. Small changes like this will help change your habits.
For the next portion, I guess I’ll have to tell you what it is that I dislike doing and HOW I get through them. I dislike mundane jobs around the house, like cleaning, cooking and laundry. The only time I enjoy cooking is when I am cooking for guests, unlike my husband, who loves to cook any time! Keep reading to see how I work around that and stay productive!
8 Multi-task when you can. I try to multi-task all the time and this works for me. Whenever I do chores at home such as washing dishes, laundry or cleaning, I listen to a podcast, audio book or a TED talk. Because chores like these don’t take any mental thinking, I can get my chores done AND gain some insight through these books and people I listen to. While something is on the stove, I quickly tidy up the kitchen. While I walk around the house, I put things back where they belong. I always watch television when I eat and only then. These are just a few examples which work for me!
9 Accept assistance. As someone who is so particular in how things are done, this used to be my biggest challenge. I HAD to do everything my way for my satisfaction. I realized this was doing me no good and just draining my energy. So now, if hubby offers to help me with something or get something done, then great! To be more productive, you need to outsource some of the work so that you are not overwhelmed with so much to do!
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0 Last but not least, do the things you enjoy and enjoy the things you do! When you love doing something, you are much more likely to do it again! If you love your job, it won’t feel like work and it won’t drain all your energy. If you are passionate about that side hustle you are working on, you will find the time to work on it, even after an busy day.
After a long tiring day, I have second thoughts about working out. I immediately turn on my work out music and there is nothing stopping me anymore. Learn to associate the things you love (like music & dancing) to the things you need encouragement for (like working out). This will change your mood from HAVING to do something to WANTING to do something. When you do that, that in itself will BOOST your productivity!
The bottom line is that productivity isn’t just about doing a bunch of things with little to no results or with negative results. It is about how efficient you are when you put in effort and compare it to the outcome. Increasing your productivity does not mean overworking yourself and putting your physical and mental health on the back burner. It means doing the things you love and learning to work through the things you don’t, efficiently and in a timely manner!
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