Do you have a great idea that you think is the best business idea you’ve ever had? It is surely one of the best business ideas you have ever had! But do you know what makes the difference? Whether you put it into action or not, execution is what makes the difference. This is where productivity plays an important role, and that is what I am going to tell you about today.
Of course, we want to fulfill our dreams and goals, but what happens when “we don’t have time”? How do we meet our goals when we have a home, family, and, sometimes, even a job outside the house to care for? This is when our ideas are buried in the cemetery and grow as terrible thoughts of “what would have happened if I had followed my dreams?”
Everyone wants to get more for less money or time: More products, more food, more education, bigger things, more quality, etc. We want everything cheap and fast, and this is a global trend. We are all looking to get more for our money or at least for the same price, but never for more money.
This strategy is the basis for our productivity since we almost always waste our primary asset:
Our time.
The less we do, the more we get used to it.
So that’s why I started researching and applying some productivity techniques to get more out of my time:
Yes, indeed! Before giving you the keys, I will say that it is difficult to put these strategies into practice because we are not used to them. Keep your goals in mind; you will see that it won’t be so difficult.
Table of Contents
1. Goals
What did you believe? Was telling you to “keep your goals in mind” going to leave you alone? Not that I didn’t know you!
Your goals are the most important thing for productivity. If your goals are strong enough, you will have a fire in your heart that will not let you sit and wait.
So I recommend that you write a series of answers to these questions:
- How would you like your life to be in 1 year? And in 5? And in 10?
- What do you need to do now to make this happen?
Based on these questions, you can have very clear and established goals for what you want to do and what you need to do now to achieve them.
A tool that I love is the “vision board,” on which you put images, words, or photos that make you live your dreams. May they motivate you to continue and make you feel how you would feel in the place where you have already fulfilled your dreams. In my case, my vision board only has four images, and it is the wallpaper on my cell phone.
2. Use technological tools
For productivity, there are already many apps that can help you! The ones I use the most are:
- Asana: is a tool that helps you create different projects and generate a Gantt chart (that is, a timeline for the tasks that correspond to each project). With this, you can set a time for each project and the time when you will finish it.
- Toggl: This stopwatch helps you time each of your activities. In my case, writing a post and answering emails or comments can be recurring activities.
- A Pomodoro timer: This is a strategy that we will see later, so I am not going to talk much more about this, just that it is a timer that counts in blocks of 25 minutes.
Other examples are applications that tell us what we do on our cell phones and those that help us with finances.
3. Schedule your time
Obvious! Right? Well, we don’t always consider it an important aspect of the personal productivity plan. One of the best ways to take advantage of your time is to create a calendar of important events, especially if you plan to take a trip or want to complete a project on a specific date. By scheduling everything, you will have the chance to plan ahead and not lose time.
A technological tool I love is the Google Calendar, which is updated with my cell phone and allows me to set an alarm 30 minutes before the event so I can remember it and do it without any problem. Of course, I’m also a fan of a good whiteboard where I can write down my weekly recurring tasks and special projects or tasks to focus on. So, I just sit down and know what I have to do without planning much.
Another excellent option is ” time blocking”.
It’s when, by week or day, you can block your different blocks of time to do something instead of doing it by hour and grouping similar activities.
4. Better done than perfect
It is straightforward to fall into perfectionism. “I’m not going to launch it until I have time to do it well,” “I’m not going to launch it because I’m sorry,” “I’d better do it tomorrow to dedicate the time to it,” etc.
Perfectionism is just another excuse to procrastinate, but since we believe we are doing it “with good intentions” (because wanting to do it well isn’t bad, is it?), we don’t think they are excuses.
Let me tell you, they are excuses. They are excuses because you let them stop you and they are excuses because you care what other people think.
You can continually improve your work but always lose the opportunity for people to see it or buy it.
5. Use a timer
This is one of the habits that has helped me the most to do things I don’t want to do or to avoid getting distracted. In this case, there is a very famous technique called “Pomodoro,” which consists of working in blocks of 25 minutes and resting for 5 minutes. You do this four times, and when you have already worked four blocks of 25 minutes, you can rest for 10 minutes or more.
The trick of this technique is that you respect the times, and since your time is counted, you focus on what you want to achieve in those 25 minutes.
Of course, you can change it however you want. For example, when there are activities that require a lot of concentration, you could set this timer for 1 hour or 1 hour and a half. If there are things you don’t want to do, set the timer for 15 minutes. Can you wash the dishes for 15 minutes? Fold or hang the clothes? Of course!
6. Eliminate distractions
What distractions will you tell me? The most important is the cell phone. Delete all notifications from social networks and emails that are of no use to you, and open tabs in your browser (focus only on one task).
I even go further and ask you to take care of what exactly enters your mind. Doesn’t it happen to you that you go on a social network and end up depressed and think about what you saw all day? It often happens to me with cases of injustice, cruelty, etc. They ruin my day. Why, instead of following regular news sites, don’t follow happy news sites? Why, instead of following people who post boring, silly, or confrontational content, do we follow people who post so glad and inspiring content?
Remember that you are the average of the five people around you, and the digital world also counts—and a lot!
7. Play music
I don’t recommend playing music when you concentrate, but what about when you have to sweep? Or mopping? You can’t do chores or activities that don’t require thinking without music. You can also take the opportunity to listen to podcasts that motivate you or teach you something.
8. Prioritize your tasks
I think this is the true holy grail of productivity:
You can only do some things.
You can only work and care for your children, the house, and your relationship by dropping something or, at the very least, feeling extremely frustrated some days.
For this reason, it is essential to be very clear about your goals (the first point) and what is most important to you. For what is most important, dedicate and schedule full time, but for what is not, let someone else do it, put it on autopilot, eliminate it, or reduce it.
An excellent example is the house since you value your family, relationship, and work more than your home. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they are super dirty or that they eat poorly. You can put little things into action like:
- Plan meals and shop based on them to know what you are going to eat every day and ensure you have all the necessary ingredients to avoid last-minute trips to the store.
- Hire a person to help you clean once a week. This will eliminate washing bathrooms, deep cleaning the kitchen, and sweeping and mopping. You can then dedicate yourself to maintaining the house for the rest of the week.
- If you can’t hire one person, keep a cleaning schedule and ask your family to help.
On the other hand, regarding your productivity at work, I recommend applying the Pareto principle: 80% of your income is due to 20% of your activities. If you are a Freelancer or have your own company, applying this will radically change how long you work and the money you earn. Thanks to this, I tripled my income!
9. Eat the frog first in the morning
Who doesn’t get satisfaction from finishing an essential task that they had to do but kept procrastinating?
I love crossing things off my to-do list that have been on my mind for a long time, and anyone does. One night before, prioritize and schedule the most important tasks you have to do—and do them! By doing them first, you will concentrate all your energy on them, and they will surely set the mood you will be in all day.
10. Reward yourself
Wouldn’t it motivate you a lot to finish organizing your closet if you knew you could have a massage session afterward? Or if you finish that big work project, can you go buy that bag you like so much? Rewards are definitely super strong motivators, but we have to know how to use them in a way that truly rewards us.
Also, don’t fear that “rewards are your only motivator.” They are a motivator to do it faster and prioritize it, but it does not mean that “without rewards, we will not do anything.” You are the one who decides what you have to do, so don’t stress (although don’t overdo it, haha).
11. Don’t be multitasking
This is one of the biggest productivity myths. While it is helpful to be able to turn your mind off and on depending on what you are doing, doing different tasks simultaneously is not a good idea, and several studies have already confirmed this.
The new trends in employee skills, that is, what will be most sought after, will be for employees to maintain concentration on a task for a long time.
Doing focused work guarantees you clarity, productivity, and speed.
12. Have a morning routine
Something that has helped me massively to focus on my goals, improve my motivation, and increase my productivity has been having a morning routine. Of course, my routine is very simple, but I have heard from people that it lasts 1.5 or 2 hours since it includes meditation or exercise.
In my case, it only takes me about 15 minutes, and among other things, I keep a gratitude journal and review my money and how my blog is doing. This is enough for me for the moment.
Remember that your routine can take whatever form you want. Don’t stress about including activities like meditating that may differ from your goals. And don’t worry about it being too small; you can always add more things later.
13. Have healthy habits
I recently read a phrase that changed my mind:
In a world where we don’t sleep or eat well, we don’t exercise, and we live glued to blue screens, We give priority to eating “superfoods,” cleaning our stomachs, and downloading sleeping apps.
What does this mean?
We always, ALWAYS, always value very few healthy habits like eating well, exercising, and sleeping well (especially sleeping well, which is vital! ). We can implement them, and it will bring the best “return on investment.” Since we eat and sleep anyway, why not do it right?
Implementing these habits will result in a spectacular change in quality of life and productivity. I’m so sure of this; that’s why I’m bold.
Remember that your productivity increases or decreases only depending on your habits and motivation. It is essential that you not only rely on motivation (which is ephemeral) to fulfill your dreams. You may want to lose weight, but there are days when you feel bad, you don’t want to exercise, and you crave ice cream.
Therefore, we must improve our habits to achieve our goals (although a vision board always helps). So, let’s go for our goals!
