12 TIPS FOR INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

Increasing Your Productivity

Here are 12 tips for increasing your productivity . For many, this requires some discipline and planning in order to stay focused and on track.

I’ll admit that focus and productivity can be a huge struggle for me. I’ve got that ‘Shiny Object Syndrome” thing going on. To make matters worse, I do most of my research online and that really has way of taking me off course. 

We have to choose to take the necessary steps to achieve the level of productivity required to run a successful blog/business 

So, to help all of us who find focus and productivity a challenge, I’m sharing a list of tips that I find helpful in keeping me focused on my goals and my raises my level of productivity. 

This does take practice to develop the habit, but over time I’m sure it will just become second nature.

1. Plan Your week on Sunday. 

• Set aside 1-2 hours.
• Use a time blocking schedule to organize your week.

2. Do a Brain Dump

This will clear your mind. Write down all the ideas that come to you.

Just write, don’t question anything. 

3. Write a To Do List.

• Break down it into days in then into segments.
• Prioritize the items on your List.
• Limit it to 2-3 projects at a time.
• Add more as you complete those, otherwise you’ll be overwhelmed and get NOTHING accomplished.

4. Plan your day the night before.

You’ll know exactly what you’re going to do the following day and get right to work. 

5. Be well rested.

When you’re tired, it’s difficult to focus and productivity drops. 

6. Do the most important tasks first in the morning.

After you complete those, move to the smaller tasks. It’s that rocks, stone, gravel in a jar example. Big rocks go in first, stones go in second and gravel goes in last. They all fit in the jar that way, but if you do it in reverse, only the gravel and a few of the stones will fit. The bigger things are left out. You don’t want to have to carry those important tasks into the next day. 

7. Batch Similar tasks.

This is not only for time management but it’s easier to stay focused. As a blogger, for instance, take a couple of your posts and chose all of your images, design all of your pins, schedule social media for all the posts at the same time. You’ll accomplish more this way.

 8. Set a deadline to complete your project. 

This will keep you on task knowing that you have to have it completed by a certain time. Otherwise, you might start procrastinating and that just prolongs the project. 

9. Use the Pomodoro Technique. 

This a time management method that uses a timer to break your work down into intervals. Set a timer for approximately 25 minutes. Work for that time, take a short break and repeat until the project is complete. Keep a pen and paper next to you to write down any idea that pop into your head while working. Deal with those things after you’ve finished the project you’re working on.

 10. Keep your workspace organized.

A cluttered workspace creates distractions, reducing your focus and slowing your productivity. Take a little time to clean your office up at the end of each day. 

11. Remove distractions from your work area. 

Put your phone on mute, or better yet, put it in another room to eliminate the temptation to check emails, social media, stats, etc.

12. Delegate.

Whenever possible, let other people do the smaller tasks so you can focus all your attention on the tasks that only you can do.

Helpful Tools to Help You Design Your Schedule

Daily Planner Book 

I prefer a daily planner book. One that has time slot and 2 columns for making my to do lists and keeping notes. There are so many styles to choose from and everyone has their preferences so I’m leaving that up to you.

Online Apps 

There are also a number of apps to help you organize your time and increase your productivity. A few of these are:

• Trello

  -Offers boards, lists and cards to enable you to organize     and prioritize.

• Todoist

  -Time management tool that helps you keep track of it all. It integrates your personal and business lists

• Productive

  -A habit tracker that shows how you spend your time-both productively and where you’re wasting it.

• Forest

  -Users can set the timer (great for Pomodoro Technique) for 25 minutes and it includes a short break. Tracks your work.

• Cold Turkey

  -Allows you to temporarily block digital distractions that slow down your productivity. You can block specific sites, apps that don’t contribute to helping us reach our goals.

• Asana

  – Great for helping groups synchronize all work tasks, meetings, deadlines, etc.

I hope these tips inspire you to take control of your time so you can become more productive. 

Remember…IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL.