My Top Two, Super Easy Productivity Hacks
Ready for my top two, never fail, super easy productivity hacks to get your working mojo back? Yes? OK, let’s begin!
Firstly how are you right now? How are your productivity levels?
If you’re the same as anyone I have spoken to recently you are likely up and down weekly, daily, even hourly!
‘Be more productive’, ‘get more done’, ‘do more in less time’. These are all phrases you see everywhere and no doubt then sit and drown in despair at your desk. Annoyed that you are spending another day sat at your desk, drowning in emails and to do lists, yet somehow you aren’t getting anything done!
Despite being somewhat of a productivity geek, there are always going to be days when I am just not on top of my game. When this is the way I choose to do one of these two easy productivity hacks, depending which seems to make most sense.
Each of my top two super easy productivity hacks work best for different scenarios and generally I feel they cover most bases. There are of course lots of other productivity tips, including various different forms of planning and managing your work load. To do list anyone?? But when you need an instant boost, these two work for me time and time again.
My Super Easy Productivity Hacks
My Super Easy Productivity Hack for when you’re feeling frazzled
How many times do you have your to do list ready, you’re sat at your desk with a fresh cup of tea, but somehow your brain is just flitting off in every direction. Thinking about anything and everything, but the thing you should be working on right now?
There are just ‘so many things’ that need to be done. There’s the blog post to write, the client invoices to send, the workshop to prepare, the shopping to do, that big long list of articles to read, a strategy to write. Don’t even get me started on managing my social media. The list goes on!
Because we have so much to do, we just sit at our desk… the studious workers we are, just waiting for the inspiration to come.
Waiting for our fingers to start typing, our eyes to start reading and our brains to start processing the new information needed to get the job done.
Then somehow 2 hours as passed and we’ve just written half an email and spent 45 minutes staring out the window thinking about how stressed we are.
Been there? I certainly have! Do you know what you need?
To take a break!
That’s it, that’s my productivity hack, to take a break! To rest. Take time out. Do nothing. Chill!
Could you find an easier productivity hack? I promise you it will work! Take time out and you are going to come back refreshed and ready to go. The job will get done, it just might need to wait an hour, a day or a weekend.
You will know how long you need to take off. For me it ranges from just taking the evening off and getting an early night. To taking a whole week off from work, social media, emails and everything. Often I find just one afternoon can make all the difference. So now, when I know I am just not going to ‘get the thing done’ today. I stop, give myself a good talking to, and decide to take the afternoon off.
This is a lesson my boyfriend has to keep reteaching me. I will be messaging him moaning that I am ‘just not productive today’, I can’t seem to focus and he will tell me to just take the rest of the day off.
Honestly it works! Every. Single. Time.
I come back to my desk the next day refreshed, full of ideas and motivation, and raring to get going again.
So next time you are all in a pickle, feeling frazzled and just don’t know where to start. TAKE A BREAK!
Go for a walk, get outside in nature, read a book, bake some muffins, meet a friend, just get away from your desk and doing anything but work. Even better if you can ignore emails and social media for at least a few hours.
My Super Easy Productivity Hack for when you’re procrastinating
‘Let me just read this article’,
‘ooo another email’,
‘what’s happening on Instagram right now?’
All sound familiar?
I think most people would agree they have days when they are the King or Queen of procrastination. We have ALL been there. Maybe you are procrastinating right now by reading this article?
Of all the articles to procrastinate with this is going to make it stop! This tip is for when you just keep putting off that thing you need to do and do all the other things first. Maybe it is finally sorting your expenses, or working on that one client that is just boring you to tears.
If there is one productivity hack I use over and over again it’s this…
The Pomodoro Method
You may have heard of this before. If you follow me I go on about it quite a lot. It is my fail safe method for when I really need to just get something done. In fact I am using it right now to get this article written.
It’s honestly amazing how much you can get done in a short space of time when you are fully focused on that one thing!
The Pomodoro method is 25 minutes of super focused work on one thing, followed by a 5 minute break and repeat.
It works for two reasons, firstly 25 minutes isn’t too long that you get bored or lose focus, but is long enough to get stuck into something. And a regular 5 minute break is just enough time for a loo break, or to make a cup of tea, or to spend 5 minutes scrolling Instagram and getting your phone fix.
I use this method over and over again and it ALWAYS works. The trick is to not use it every day, as too much of anything isn’t a good thing. Instead I use it when either I have spent my morning procrastinating and just need to get on with it! Or I am doing something I don’t particularly enjoy doing, but just need to get done.
The 5 minute breaks are regular little treats I look forward to. Currently I spend most of my break time snuggling our new puppy Cookie. What more motivation do you need?
There are apps you can download to your phone or you can just use a stop clock to time your 25 minutes. Sometimes you can be so in the zone you continue through your break, but generally I find it’s better to take the break as it’s more sustainable longer term.
So there you have it. The top two super easy productivity hacks around. You don’t need any fancy new pens and post-its or to spend hours planning (that might be a blog for another day!).
You just need your very capable, productive wonderful self and these two simple tricks.
Have you used these hacks before? Let me know how you get on and if they help you.
Other posts you might like:
- Benefits of Agile working in the age of Coronavirus
- My slower daily routine during lockdown I want to keep
- How to create a home workspace in a tiny home
