22 actionable productivity tips to help you kickstart your 2022

Art by Grace Ling

We’re at the mid-way point of our first month of 2022. 80% of people abandon their New Years’ resolutions by February (Forbes).

Here are some actionable productivity tips and resources to help you accomplish your goals!

1. Plan your day. Block out time for tasks on your calendar and have a to-do list ordered by priority the day before. Under-schedule and overestimate. Make time for unforeseen issues to minimize stress.
2. Manage your energy. Make time for deep work during the times of the day when you are most productive. Also, be aware of what tasks increase or decrease your energy to help you plan your day.
3. Set meeting objectives. For each meeting, be intentional — have clear goals, discussion points, and decisions to be made. Also, ask yourself, “could have this meeting be an email?” before deciding to schedule it.
4. Keep messages brief. Get to the point quickly. Oftentimes, long emails won’t even get read.
5. If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now. An example of this is putting away your mug. This will help you prevent another round of context switching later on.
6. Get early feedback. This will help you catch potential errors early on and save you time overall.
7. Make time for personal growth. You could read books, attend events, or watch videos on topics that help your personal development. If you view these things as something to only be done when you have the “time for it,” chances are that you’ll never get it done. Instead, you could make it a habit!
8. Try the Pomorodo method. Focus for 25 mins, rest for 5 mins, and repeat. Here’s a timer you can try. Sometimes we use this method during Fluffle Focus hours on Discord. You’re more than welcome to run your own Pomodoro sprints too!
9. Build habits. Habits compound and help with self-improvement. Focus on what you wish to become and how you will get there. The 4 laws of behavior change are a set of rules to help you build better habits (from the book Atomic Habits): 1) Make it obvious. 2) Make it attractive. 3) Make it easy. 4) Make it satisfying.
10. Start small. Starting is usually the hardest part of a large task.
11. Don’t multitask. Multitasking makes you less productive because your brain is always context-switching to catch up. You could even turn off your notifications to avoid distraction.
12. Automate. Are you constantly repeating an action such as sending a calendar invite? You could use tools like Calendly (free) to have people schedule from that. It helps you save time going back and forth, too.
13. Create templates. If you find yourself sending similar messages or designing similar banners, you could create message templates of social media banner design templates to help you speed up your workflow.
14. Name your files and layers. Make it a habit. You’ll be saving yourself a lot of time in the long run.
15. Write your ideas down. Did you suddenly come up with a new design solution to a problem while doing laundry? You could write it down right away in your notebook or a notes app so you don’t forget.
16. Have accountability buddies. When you tell someone you’re planning to do something, you’re more likely to do it. It’s also fun to work with buddies at a coffee shop. We’ve brought these experiences online in our Discord community, where we have a “Cafe (work/study)” voice chat and a role (@ Work/study VC) you can ping to be productive with other buddies!
17. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Usually, people are happy to help and it shows them that you’re interested.
18. Reward yourself. This gives you something to look forward to after being productive. Rewards could be making a nice cup of coffee, hanging out with a friend, or anything that makes you feel happy.
19. Listen to music. Music can help you get into a flow state, or be a distraction. It depends on you.
20. Switch things up. Are you having a creative block? You can also find inspiration outside of the internet. You could also try working in different places — your room, kitchen, living room, or local cafe.
21. Procrastinate productively. When you feel tired, you can also switch tasks (eg. go from designing to cleaning your room), watch some informative documentaries, check out the latest products on Product Hunt for inspiration, or listen to a podcast while going on a walk outside.
22. Take breaks. Breaks help you recharge so you can be productive again. You could go for a walk, watch a funny video, or whatever helps you feel recharged.

Resources

Atomic Habits (book)

Lifehacker — a collection of how to’s and tips (website)

List of productivity resources (article)

Everyone’s way of working is different. It’s a process of trial and error to find which productivity strategies work best for you!

I hope you accomplish all of your goals this year!

I’m Grace, a designer, founder, community builder, artist, runner, and content creator. You’re welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Here’s my portfolio as well for more.

Design Buddies is an inclusive community where all designers belong. You can check out our website and hop into our Discord community!