3 Simple Tips to Increase Productivity

If you’re anything like me, you probably feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the day. I wake up to my brain spinning a million miles an hour of tasks I need to accomplish and things I need to do. And as soon as I get started for the day, this list continues to rapidly grow until I put my head on my pillow at night.

While I can’t take all of those things off your plate, I’d like to give you 3 simple productivity tips that have really helped me in my practice and can hopefully save significant time in your own.

1. Have specific times a day to check your email

In the book 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss, where he touches on ways to increase your productivity and work more efficiently. One tip he gives is to have specified times a day to check your email.

We all know what it’s like when you’re fully- focused, working on something and an email pops up on your screen. You immediately stop what you’re doing to check out this email and see what it’s about. Often times, you take “a couple” mins to reply to the email or quickly do whatever they have asked of you, only to find that it’s an hour later and you’ve completely lost track of the task you were initially working on.

We think we’re saving ourselves time by replying to that email QUICKLY as soon as it pops into our mailbox. One less thing we have to do later, right? However, Ferriss disagrees and states that you will save countless hours of time but allocating set periods to check and respond to those emails. I tend to agree.

We suggest closing your email app & turning off desktop notifications throughout the day and finding times that work best for you to check emails, reply, and add the tasks that follow to your to-do list. While Ferriss recommends only checking your email around noon and 3pm, we realize that this may not be practical for every one. Remember that it’s not all or nothing! Maybe you allocate a bit of time every two hours or every four hours.

Think about your day and figure out whatever works best for you!

2. Set a time where you can check social media and set a timer for yourself

Have you ever been right in the middle of something only to hear your cell phone ping and you stop to check it? Before you know it, 30 mins has gone by and your watching Instagram stories of people you don’t even know! Social media can quickly turn into a rabbit hole wasting countless hours a day.

After your focus has been derailed, it takes time to regain your frame of mind and get back into the task you were working on. We recommend creating set times in your day where you intentionally decide to check your social media accounts. Maybe around lunch time when you’re taking a break anyway? Or at 3pm when you’ve hit a wall and a distraction of some kind would be nice? Whatever works for you.

How about going the extra mile and setting a timer for yourself for how long you’re allowed to be on your accounts for too! But be realistic. Maybe you only need 10 minutes to check everything but maybe you’d actually like 30 minutes. Set a timer for yourself on your phone that goes off after that allocated time. When your time is over, get off your phone and continue with your task list.

If this is a major struggle of yours, here are a few tools we recommend to help enforce your goals:

• Anti-Social and SelfControl are two apps used on your desktop to block any sites that often derail you from your tasks, e.g. Facebook or Twitter.
• StayFocusd and Freedom go one step further and blocks the entire internet out for a specified period of time, except for allocated times of the days set available for you.
• Focus Lock helps keep you off your phone by blocking notifications for 25 minutes from whichever apps most distract you, followed by a five-minute unlocked window for you to check those notifications.

3. Do something for yourself first thing in the morning and last thing in the day

You have no idea how much your own health affects productivity. Structure your day in a way that allows time for you to do something small for yourself in the morning and last thing at the end of your day. Maybe it’s going for a run, stretching or yoga, praying or meditation, turning off your phone after a certain time of day, or reading a book to your kids. Whatever energizes you, make time to add something small into each and every day.

“Don’t work harder, work smarter.” Implement these 3 tips into your daily life to instantly increase productivity. I’ve added them to my daily practice and it has helped me stay focused, work faster, and save time. #ipracticebetter

Practice Better is the complete client management platform for nutritionists, dietitians and wellness professionals. Sign up for free today.