How To Become The Productivity Badass (Even If You Don’t Feel Like Doing Anything)
Start A Morning A Routine (And No, That Does Not Mean You Have To Get Up At The Crack Of Dawn — Miracle Morning People, I Salute You!)
Your morning routine should be something that you look forward to, nothing something you dread. So getting up at crazy-o’clock is not an option for me. Imagine your ideal Sunday morning.
What do you like doing? Waking up, doing a couple of stretches, putting on your fluffy dressing gown, heading to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. Then you have a shower, get dressed and watch a bit of TV or listen to good music.
So on days you have to work, you can do that too, just in a more compressed manner. And maybe in different order. So you get up, have a shower, head to the kitchen, put the kettle on, get dressed whilst the coffee is brewing and you are listening to your favourite music.
You don’t want to be rushing and stressing so make sure you are up early enough.
Make A List
Make a list of all the things you need to get done. I have a big master to do list that I create every Sunday for the upcoming week and then I keep adding things to it as they come up.
This does NOT mean that you should have a big list of things to do on any given day. This list should serve as your braindump. Get into a habit of writing down everything that comes to mind. Even if it seems silly to write it down, do it anyway. It will seriously reduce your levels of anxiety and help beat overwhelm.
At the beginning of every day, take a few things out of that list that you ABSOLUTELY must get done. Don’t be tempted to add too many things to it as you will only end up feeling overwhelmed and less.
Start with your least favourite tasks and move on to the more fun ones. Set a timer for 30–45 minutes and just do as much as you can. Don’t get distracted by your phone, emails, Facebook or dirty dishes. All that can wait. It’s not just the 37 seconds it takes to glance at that newsletter. It also means you are taken out of the workflow and it takes at least another 5 minutes to get back into it. It’s not worth it.
Which Brings Us To Our Next Tip. Clean Up Your Workspace And Work At A Desk.
In an ideal world you make sure that your workspace is tidy before you go to bed. That’s because in the morning when you wake up and see your to do list — you will likely much rather start cleaning your desk/kitchen/lounge than actually tackle that list.
We’ve all been there. So to remove that temptation, make sure it is clean and ready for you to sit down and start working (after that enjoyable morning routine!). And as tempting as it is so slouch on a sofa or work from bed (because what’s the point of #workfromanywhere if you can’t do that, right?!) — it does no good for your productivity. Sofa is for Netflix & chill. Desk is for getting shtuff (yes, SHtuff) done.
Schedule Everything.
I mean, everything. Your work, your meetings, your lunch, your breaks. Having a schedule to go by means you are more likely to stay focussed on tasks at hand but also making sure you take much needed breaks to — wait for it — be more productive.
Floating aimlessly through the day means you will still be in your dressing gown at 3pm watching Gilmore Girls and eating a ready made meal on your sofa. It may have happened to me. And it’s ok to have occasional days like this.
But 90% of the time you will want to be a productivity powerhouse. Because there is nothing better than getting things done, shutting down your laptop, spending some time with your family and friends and getting to bed before you’ve been awake for 15+ hours.
Which Nicely Brings Us To Our Last Tip. Evening Routine.
We are busy, I get it. Things don’t always go to plan. There are last minute needs, launches, forgotten tasks (which wouldn’t have happened had we written EVERYTHING down — go back to step 2!).
But for the most part, if you get your day off to a good start (morning routine), set priorities (make that list!) and follow your schedule (yup, you got it!), chances are you can turn off your laptop on time to enjoy your evening and prep yourself for another amazing day.
Cook a nice dinner, get into your pyjamas (hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows optional) and you are ready for that sofa + Netflix and chill.
How do you tackle procrastination and make sure you get things done?
Berit Bailey via Hello Virtual Assistant
