Hack Your Productivity In 2018 With These Tools

I am on a constant pursuit for better organization and discipline improvement, both professionally and in my personal life. This past year, I’ve put in a substantial effort to improve the two.

I plan to kill it in 2018!

Our schedules often become overwhelming, especially at the beginning of the week, and I typically get flustered when I need to focus on a certain task but I can’t because of conflicting priorities. To battle this frustration, I usually arrive at work earlier to avoid people’s early-morning questions.That hour or two of alone time is the most productive part of my day. But afterwards, the day becomes more hectic… Slack notifications start pouring in, emails too, I need to track my email campaigns , hold client update meetings, etc…. the day flies by and I haven’t gotten many tasks off my plate.

These simple productivity hacks are going to help you battle “multi-tasking” and prepare for it in a better way. I personally hate multi-tasking, and I think it’s infecting our productivity in quite a bad way.

Sleep like a baby

One of the most important things that impacts your daily productivity is sleep. I know it’s not a huge, world-changing revelation for you, but stay with me here for a few tips that will make this article worthwhile.

Try using the Sleep Cycle app. I have a lot of difficulty waking up early and this app helped me tackle that. Don’t misunderstand me; it’s not going to make you into a machine that wakes up every morning at 5 AM, but used in combination with some other techniques, you can definitely become one! I recommend avoiding anything with a screen at least 30 minutes before going to bed and having consistent “lights-out” and wake-up time.

Simple Checklists

A checklist is straightforward and quick. For these reasons, it’s much easier to stick to it and turn checklists into a daily habit. Everyday, I write down three–five of my most important tasks that I plan to accomplish for that day in a notebook. Remember, it’s important to write it on a piece of paper; this way you make some strange connection with your brain and you become more likely to accomplish them.

Google Calendar

I still struggle to find a better tool to record my daily events. The calendar notifications are crucial in reminding me of upcoming meetings.

LastPass

This is an excellent solution for remembering your passwords! It’s free and does not limit you in anyway. The only thing you have to remember is one master password.

Tracking time

Finding an easy-to-use, free time tracker is not that simple, believe me. This app is pretty intuitive and ensures I’m allocating my time properly! And like I said, it’s free!

Yesware

That feeling you get when you send a sales lead email and you know he/she has opened it is priceless.. With Yesware, you can track those opens, link clicks, create templates to help with bulk email campaigns, schedule follow-up emails, and create reminders. It’s not free (for a limited functionality, free option, try Mailtrack), but for $12 a month, I think it’s worth the small investment. Yesware offers a free trial version to test it out for yourself.

Explore ProductHunt

The last resource I want to mention is more of an ultimate product curation tool. Every two-three days, I go to ProductHunt and do a check-up on what’s new and potentially useful for me, I encourage you to do the same, since the best, new products tend to be featured on ProductHunt.

Before you go…

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