Productivity and Workflow Hack

From the desk of SET’s CEO Urvi

Our world is filled with productivity enhancing hacks, tools, and systems. Our desire to constantly improve productivity and workflow demonstrates that current culture is 1) looking to make more time and 2) we are excepted to (by others or ourselves) produce more at a higher rate while maintain quality.

This week’s SET newsletter is unusual; we are not focusing on edtech in the K-12 arena but instead writing about how everyone (young and old) can use a combo of digital and traditional tools to maximize productivity without getting burned out.

The following 4 steps (also demonstrated in the video above) were developed by SET’s CEO Urvi; this system allows her to maximize productivity during the workweek.

Urvi has been experimenting with organizational and productivity paradigms and strategies since she was in high school and has seen many different iterations. Her current system uses a combination of digital and traditional tools including google calendars, bullet journals, and the BestSELF journals.

If you happen to try out this system, let us know how it worked for you! Email us at contactus@strategicedtech.com or tweet at us @strategicedtech

Step 1: Map Out Your Goals

Using the BestSELF journal, map out 4–7 goals that you would like to accomplish in 1 month. The BestSELF goal mapping system provides a roadmap for breaking down large and seemingly unattainable goals. Allocate at least an hour for this process on the last day of the month to prepare for the following month.

Step 2: Assign Estimated Hours Per Goal/Task

Now that the month’s goals have been outlined and broken into manageable chunks, asign estimated hours to each goal. Allocate 30 minutes to this process.

Step 3: Populate Your Calendar

Using the hours from step 2, divide them by the number of days in the month. Put these hours into your calendar. We recommend a digital calendar for this system so that it can be accessed on any device. You can add these work times as recurring work periods or place them at the best time of day to get this work done. For example, if you are hoping to make sales calls, plan to put that in your calendar during business operational hours. Make sure to check that you have included the correct number of calendar events to match the number of hours you need to complete your goal. Allocate at least an hour to complete this process.

Pro tips:

• include recurring time slots (e.g. meals, working out, breaks etc.)
• include two 30 minute time slots for miscellaneous items from your to do list
• include time to check/clear your inboxes

Step 4: Set Up Your Bullet Journal

Create your bullet journal template in a blank notebook. There are hundreds of different templates, and the original bullet journal method has proven to be very useful; however, we recommend a slightly modified system.

Our template recommendation is to divide one day’s spread into 3 sections:

1. Soft page (goal and targets)
2. To do list
3. Recurring mini tasks (small recurring tasks)

The soft page section includes:

1. Your 1 major goal for the day (we recommend something related to mindset, attitude, or personal growth)
2. Your 3 major targets (typically related to your calendar work times and to do list)
3. The last part of this section can include accomplishments from the day before or a short list of things you are grateful for going into your day.

The to-do list section includes:

1. The work listed in your calendar from step 3
2. Other items that might come up during the day

The recurring mini-tasks section includes:

1. Daily habits (e.g. exercise)
2. Small items (e.g. push out a company tweet)

Pro tips:

• Color code all tasks by the goal under which they fall (color code personal items as well)
• Draw check boxes next to all items in the to-do list and recurring mini-tasks section

Although this system sounds complex, it will become natural after just a few weeks of implementation. This system has proven to be both flexible and capable of molding to any work style or job. We all want to become more productive and gain time in the process; to achieve this, we must plan at both a macro and micro level. Try out this system and let us know how it works for you!

Originally published at www.strategicedtech.com.