Boosting your productivity with a busy schedule
You have work, school, family, relationships, and a social life. Juggling all of these items while maintaining a sense of concentration can seem overbearing, but with these easy to use techniques you can tackle the most daunting of tasks head on.
Step 1: Recognizing your flaws
One of the biggest things that you can do immediately that will help to turn things around is identifying your problem areas. Do you have a tendency to wait to the last minute before tackling tasks (because of course, you work better under pressure)? Or do you spend too much time or attention towards one area of your life over others? A healthy balance is key in a happier lifestyle, and planning ahead of time so that your not under the gun with only hours before a presentation will help tremendously in the long run.
Nothing is more rewarding then having something ‘come up’ that could potentially derail an assignment, knowing that you planned ahead to have some buffer time available.
Step 2: Upgrade your workflow
Yes, it is time to upgrade from that endless iNote or planner that you have and diversify. Of course adopting a bunch of applications that will sit on your phone unused can be just as bad, but adding a few apps that fit well into your workflow can be a big win as you adjust into a busier schedule. Here’s a look at our apps of choice and a few others that will definitely help you hit the ground running.
Calendars
- Cal (What we use)
- Google Calendar
- iCal
Online Storage
- Dropbox (What we use)
- Google Drive
- Box
- Amazon Cloud Drive
- Cloudmagic Email (What We Use)
- Gmail
- AirMail
Time Tracking:
- Billings Pro (What We Use)
- Toggl
- Timely
- Hours
Communication
Note taking
Step 3: Mobile task handling
With busy schedules comes less time to sit in front of your computer, so adding a method not only to keep track of those todos but also a better way of completing them is equally important. We use Gone, the task management tool for iPhone, to not only collaborate with others but to check off tasks and todos no matter where we are. There’s also others like Trello, Any.do, and some of the above mentioned apps include similar functionality that may be proven to be beneficial as well. In any case, being able to assign or manage what you have on your plate throughout the day is a positive in producing better results.
Step 4: Set time away for yourself
Last but certainly not least, rewarding yourself with time away from both work is as important as getting work done. We have all been there before…taking a ‘vacation’ with laptop stowed, sneaking to look at emails at the dinner table, it happens.
From telecommuting to programs that make work easier, technology has helped our lives in many ways. But it has also created expectations of constant accessibility. The work day never seems to end.
— 6 Tips for a Better Work-Life Balance by Deborah Jian Lee (Forbes)
When is the last time you have completely removed the notion of work during a time when you told yourself that you were taking time away? If your answer flirts with “I don’t know” or a few weeks ago, you may want to take some me time again to do something that you love. Take a few hours to do that thing that you always wanted to do. You will feel refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to tackle the next work week.
