One of the greatest challenges to improving your own productivity is determining which expert to follow. Should you get up at four a.m. every day? Invest in hand-written journals, phone apps or other tools to boost your output?
Take care to respect your own capacities before you go to work to increase your own productivity. Some tools may work right away and others may need some getting used to. Don’t expect radical improvements from each new set of guidelines, but do plan for slow, steady change.
Be A Turtle, Not A Hare
Managing your time is like managing your budget. You may ultimately see big results, but each of the changes you’re going to make will be incremental. It can be frustrating to put your focus and resources on programs that only free up 5 to 10 minutes a day. However, what you learn when testing one productivity tool may help you a lot on your next project, job search or promotion attempt.
Below are some simple tools you can put to use to free up time and focus in your personal and professional life.
Be Kind To Your Brain
Many productivity experts recommend getting up earlier to get more done, and for many people, this can be a great first step. However, it’s critically important that you put all that fresh brain energy to work in the right way.
If you’re working to get up earlier, be sure to prepare for this sacrifice by setting up your morning. Do not force the early morning brain to make decisions as soon as you get out of bed. For those trying to build the early workout habit, have all your gear prepped and ready to go, including a water bottle.
Avoiding decisions early in the day can greatly increase your productivity throughout the day. Prepare outfits on the weekend so that as soon as you’re ready to dress, there’s a hanger with a full set of clothes waiting. Consider pre-packaging snacks and meal items so you can put together a lunch kit in seconds rather than having to figure out what you want.
Pay Attention To Your Body Clock
If you try the early wake-up programs and absolutely hate them, stop! Life is too short to dread the dawn. For night-owls, one of the chief struggles is that some activities are too loud (such as an on-line class or seminar) or too dangerous (such as a run at 2 in the morning.)
Getting up early doesn’t guarantee your productivity, and staying up late doesn’t mean that you’re lazy or unfocused. Plan your working hours and capitalize on getting as much done as possible while your brain is fresh.
Get Moving Whenever Possible
No matter the schedule you keep, be sure to move whenever possible to keep your spirits up and your energy focused. In addition, walking is a habit and doesn’t require a great deal of thought.
When you’re really struggling with a problem or challenging situation, it can be hard to back away. However, if you load your brain with a creative challenge, you may help yourself out by moving away from the problem and engaging in rote behavior. You may find that a short walk or even a shower will free up your mind as you engage in habitual behavior, allowing a creative solution to bubble to the top.
Brainsplash
When gathering ideas for a project (from your own mind or with the help of others) engage in a brainsplash. When brainsplashing, everyone is allowed to talk and no idea is worth any less than any other. Just toss ideas up there. Some may stick, some will fall, and some will spark a better idea in their neighbor.
Storms ebb and flow. Some storms can be dangerous. A brainsplash has no build-up, no danger, and no restrictions. A good brainsplash session will include a fair bit of joking, but most importantly this procedure gets everyone, from the CFO to the newest intern, talking.
Celebrate Little Wins
As noted above, there aren’t many productivity improvement plans that are going ot make a huge difference from day to day. These changes build up over time.
However, if you get to the end of the month and have journaled every day or exercised three times a week, celebrate! You may have your eyes firmly focused on your goal, but you deserve the chance to celebrate the small, successful changes you’re making over time.
Know When To Knock Off
If you’re falling behind, it can be tempting to work harder and try to go farther every evening. Your risk for error will grow exponentially as you push yourself past the ability to work consistently.
Pulling an all-nighter in college was dumb. Pulling a very-late or almost-all-nighter at work is dangerous to your health and a bad decision for anyone needing to produce good product without a lot of edits. Stop working, wind down, get some rest and put a fresh brain on it.
Final Thoughts
Productivity is a long, linear process. There are very few opportunities to radically boost your productivity. More accurately, there are many ways to build up your speed in small, incremental ways. Make sure to celebrate your new habits!
