3 Weeks to a More Productive Life
We all want to be productive, but sadly, most of us aren’t.
The fact is that in today’s non-stop 24/7 world, there are just so many distractions that prevent us from progressing in our lives. You know what I mean: checking social media, catching up with the news, and bingeing on Netflix!
If this sounds like you — then I have some good news. If you read and follow the advice in this article, I guarantee that within just 3 weeks, your productivity levels will be at least 100% higher than they are right now.
Interested? Then let me show you how you can achieve this…
Power up your productivity
I’ve been fascinated by personal productivity for a long time. However, when I first started at Red Hat as a Software Engineer I didn’t realize the importance of productivity. It was only when I was promoted to become a manager that I discovered how vital it really is.
In my new managerial role, I quickly spotted the inefficiencies that some of my team had when it came to completing essential tasks and projects. They seemed to have a knack of turning simple jobs into complicated ones.
But to be honest, I wasn’t immune to this either. And with the extra responsibilities of being a manager, I found myself falling behind with my day-to-day duties.
This led me to research the whole topic of productivity over the next few months. During this time, I tried and tested dozens of productivity techniques. Some worked, and some didn’t. Eventually, however, I was able to pull together a group of techniques that boosted not just my own productivity — but also that of my team members.
Fortunately, thanks to my efforts, you won’t need to spend months learning how to be productive. In fact, I’ll teach you some of these productivity techniques right now. And as stated in my intro, put these into action for 3 weeks, and watch how much more you’re able to achieve than you did before (with no extra effort!).
Using the example of one of the team members I manage (who I’ll call John), let me introduce you to some techniques that can genuinely change your life.
1. Take time to plan
John was one of our product managers at Lifehack (the company that I’m CEO of), and I remember him coming to me for help with his career a few years back. I asked him how he thought he was doing at work. He told me that he was always struggling; he missed deadlines; he messed up presentations; and he was often moody towards his colleagues.
When I asked him if he was practicing any time management methods — he looked at me blankly.
I explained that if he could manage his time better, he would be able to meet his deadlines, spend more time getting his presentations right, and would improve his moods!
The first productivity technique is to take time to plan your day. This is as simple as spending 5 to 10 minutes at the start of the day to determine what you need to work on.
The secret here is to put high-priority tasks at the top of your to-do list, and low-priority items at the bottom. This guarantees that you’ll achieve the important stuff. So instead of trying to reply to all your emails that day, you might choose to push this task off until you’ve completed your must-do tasks such as writing a project document or sorting out your team’s annual budget.
2. Write down your goals
I discovered that John was also unaware of the important technique of writing down big goals.
This technique is often overlooked, but it really does work. And it’s super-easy too.
Let’s say that you want to purchase a new laptop. Instead of just hoping that you’ll have the money to buy something decent — write down on a card exactly the product you want, how much it costs, and when you want to get it. Be as specific as you can.
Then take the card and place it either in your purse or wallet or stick it somewhere in your home that you can easily (and regularly) see it.
Writing it down in this way will focus your mind on what you want — and what you need to do to get it. And being able to see your goal on a card every day will also help you to stay motivated and on track.
3. Manage your time
As I mentioned in technique #1, John was missing the essential element of time management from his day-to-day work.
I’ve explained how planning your day will make all the difference to what you achieve, but I also want you to think about how you approach each of your tasks or projects.
In John’s case, he dived into his tasks and tried to keep going until he finished them. However, I explained to him that this was a tiring and inefficient way of working. It’s much better to start a task or project by tackling the small actions first. This will then give you the momentum to tackle the bigger and more complex actions.
I’d also recommend that you take regular breaks from your work. Despite what you might think, research has clearly shown that people who take breaks from their work are more productive than those who don’t.
What type of breaks are best?
Well, I recommend getting away from your screen to have a short walk outside. This will rest your eyes and fingers and give your body a chance to have some fresh air, sunlight and exercise. A definite tonic for your mind, body and emotions.
4. Enlist the help of others
Now, by John coming to see me for help with his career, he actually put technique #4 into action.
If you try to do everything yourself, you’ll either fail at somethings, burn yourself out — or both!
The trick is to know your strengths and limitations.
For example, if you’re great at presenting but not so good at writing, then try to enlist the help of colleagues. Many people don’t like public speaking. But often they are the exact same people who are good at writing. Match them with you, and you’ll have a winning combination.
The other thing to consider is that working in a team can be much more fun and fulfilling than going it alone.
5. Turn off distractions
Having focus and being productive is impossible to achieve if you’re constantly distracted. In John’s case, he was regularly interrupted by colleagues who wanted to chat to him about projects they were working on.
Of course, we shouldn’t be so focused on work that we don’t have time for our colleagues. But the key is to prevent yourself from being interrupted when you’re in full flow. If you don’t, you’ll find that completing important tasks is much harder and takes much longer than if you can focus 100% on them.
In this case, I advised John to ask colleagues to schedule meetings with him, rather than just rocking up to his desk.
Talking of distractions, I couldn’t complete this section without mentioning social media. If — like many people — you’re addicted to checking your social media accounts every hour or so, then please try to break free from this detrimental habit. One way to do this is to simply switch off your cellphone when you’re working on an important task or project.
6. Reward yourself
“What do you do to reward yourself when you reach your goals?” I asked John. He said he normally didn’t stop to think about this, as he was too busy already starting on his next goal.
I explained to him that rewarding himself for completing his goals would build his self-confidence, increase his motivation — and make reaching his goals something to really look forward to.
After John adopted this suggestion, he told me that it had made a real difference to his life.
And it can do the same for you.
Here’s how it works:
- Set your goal
- Plan how you’re going to achieve it
- Start taking action
- Reward yourself when you cross the finishing line!
This technique works for big and small goals, although I recommend matching the size of the reward to the size of the goal. For instance, if you achieve a small goal, you might want to treat yourself to a tasty lunch at a restaurant. If you achieve a big goal, you might want to take your partner and yourself for a nice weekend getaway.
21 days to your new super-productive self
When you take hold of your productivity, you’ll leave behind your old, inefficient self. You’ll also welcome a new super-productive you!
By adopting the 6 techniques above — and putting them into daily action over the next 21 days — you’ll see some amazing results in your life.
Why 21 days? Well this is usually the minimum time it takes to build new habits. When you do something everyday for three weeks, you’ll retrain your subconscious mind and make the new actions natural and automatic for you.
Whereas before you struggled to complete tasks, now you’ll do so easily. And whereas before you fell behind on project deadlines, now you’ll reach them ahead of time.
Taking control of your time and life in this manner will transform not just your career — but it will also boost your physical and mental health. This is because you’ll be less stressed, you’ll be taking more breaks from your screen, and you’ll naturally feel happier and more fulfilled once you’re on top of your goals.
So let me leave you with a challenge…
Take a note of your current productivity levels. Then adopt my 21-day productivity boosting strategy. And then measure your output.
I guarantee that you’ll have seen your productivity skyrocket!
Of course, changing your life in this way will require some effort on your part. But the time you invest now in streamlining your work and life, will pay major dividends going forward. You just need to take that first step!
If you need further help in making plans and achieving your goals, then please check out Lifehack’s The Foolproof Guide to Reaching Your Goal This Year. This free workbook will help you learn from your past failures and guide you to form a plan that will work this time.
