3 Ways To Hack Your Productivity
A couple of days ago, I started and finished a 3000-word paper in less than half a day. Some of my friends asked me how I was able to get the work done so fast. I shrugged and said “I was just in the zone.”
In retrospect, my answer was only partially right at the time. Similar to how Klay Thompson can put up 37 points in a single quarter, I know that I’m when I’m in the zone, I feel unstoppable. But how can someone reach that nirvana?
Well, it’s not impossible. As the saying goes, you have the same number of hours in the day as Beyonce. And while I am by no means the most productive person, I’ve noticed some work habits that have succeeded for me in the past — patterns that have become almost second nature to me.
1. The Five Task Checklist
I only choose five goals because 20-task lists are rarely completed and often make me feel unaccomplished at the end of the day.
When I woke up that morning, I knew exactly what I had to do. I got up at 10AM, showered, put on some clothes and went straight to the UCL library to get down to business.
The reason why? Inspired by the time-managing wizard Courtland Thomas, I’ve started implementing the Five Task Checklist.
The concept is simple: every day before bed, write down five things that you have to accomplish tomorrow. This can be anything from finishing an assingment for class, to sending an important email, to shopping for groceries. The important thing is that when you wake up the next day, you’re motivated to finish these tasks.
It’s important to stick to this regimen and fall into a routine in order to build confidence. I’ve noticed that a lot of people feel discouraged from the goals they set themselves — New Years Resolutions, for example — simply because one lazy day can negatively affect one’s mindset so much. Don’t let yourself slip up.
I believe that The Five Task Checklist will eventually transform the workplace environment. Imagine a world where you don’t have to work 9 to 5, yet still get the same amount of work done, if not more! In fact, many modern work places have begun to measure an employee’s day by amount of shit done, rather than number of hours worked. So if you can accomplish a day’s worth of work — say, in five tasks — you could find yourself leaving the office early.
2. Set Fast, Artificial Goals
Another strategy that has worked well for me is setting fast, artificial deadlines — and sticking to them. For example, when I’m working on a paper, I often tell myself, “Finish this section before in the next twenty minutes.” There’s actually a famous adage called Parkinson’s Law:
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
In essence, by tricking yourself into believing that you have less time for completing a task, you can artificially help yourself progress further in a shorter amount of time.
It can help to set mini-rewards — small rewards that won’t distract you for long, like getting up for a stretch, or eating a piece of chocolate — to help motivate yourself. But it’s essential to keep these mini-rewards short, and spread out far apart. Make sure they don’t steer you off course, so you can get right back to the task at hand.
3. Eliminate All Distractions
It’s no surprise that our lives today are dominated by lights, beeps, and incessant notifications. But the better you are at controlling yourself from reaching into your pocket and pulling out your smartphone to check who retweeted you or who liked your Instagram photo, the more work you’ll get done.
So just put it all away. It sounds simple, but it’s actually pretty difficult to completely unplug yourself when you’re surrounded by distractions. Here’s some stuff that I do:
- Turn off your Wifi.
If I need to Google something really quick, I’ll turn it on for a second — but otherwise, keep those bars empty.
2. Do Not Disturb, please.
Switch your iPhone into this mode to stop those annoying buzzes and whistles every time you get a text. Finally, some silence on your phone.
3. Use some SelfControl
It’s a free Mac productivity app that helps you avoid your most distracting websites. Stuff like Facebook, Reddit, 9gag, or Youtube. There’s a similar Chrome extension called Facebook Nanny.
4. Go to a quiet place. If you’re with working friends, work silently.
It sounds simple, but it still astounds me how many people I see trying to get work done in loud rooms, and ending up chatting to their friends.
5. Put on some Noisli, or the music that best helps you work.
Noisli is an app that lets you mix various soothing sounds — a thunderstorm, a forest, etc. — that fades into white noise as you get your work done.
Depending on what kind of work I’m doing (i.e. not reading), I’ll listen to music to give me some momentum. I’ll listen to old favorites, tunes that I can play in the back of my head, so that I boost my mood without being distracted.
And the runner up… the Pomodoro technique.
It’s a famous technique for productivity hackers, developed in the 1980s. The idea is quite a bit similar to step 2, listed above. Use a timer to divide your work into 25-minute intervals, called pomodori, which is proven to be the optimal amount of time your brain can concentrate for. After you work for 25 minutes, take a short 3–5 minute break. And after four or so pomodori, take a longer break of 15–30 minutes.
I adhere to this technique when I’m doing really boring and uninteresting work, which is actually quite rare for me — even though I dislike the work involved in say, writing a paper, in many cases I can get absorbed enough into the topic that I can work for a couple hours at a time. But I know a couple of friends who swear by this technique.
Now stop browsing Medium — go out there, and get your work done!
Have any more productivity hacks? Leave a note or send me a tweet — I’d love to know. ☺
