10 Smart Productivity Hacks to Supercharge Your Life (in 2024)
and Achieve Your Goals Faster.
Productivity is being able to do things you were never able to do before. — Franz Kafka
1. Kanban Method
Kanban is a Japanese word for "visual board." It is simply a task management system used by individuals and professionals to efficiently complete their tasks.
It consists of three important columns: to-do, in-progress, and done.
Using this method, you can categorize your tasks into a particular category and then complete them accordingly.
It gives you immense clarity and invites a streamlined workflow in your life.
2. The Matrix System
It is popularly known as the "Eisenhower Matrix" system.
It is even covered by Stephen Covey in his bestseller book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".
The basic idea behind it is creating a matrix consisting of 4 quadrants: important, not important, urgent, and not urgent.
- Important and urgent: Do it now.
- Important but not urgent: Schedule it.
- Not important but urgent: Delegate it to someone.
- Not important and not urgent: Delete it.
3. “I did it" to-do list
Now this is something interesting. So pay close attention.
Generally, what we do is create to-do lists like this:
- Water plants
- Do 20 push-ups.
- Do homework
- Work on a side hustle.
But here's a slight twist.
Instead of writing the tasks that you have to complete, write tasks like this:
- I watered plants for 10 minutes today.
- I did 20 push-ups today.
- I did my homework today.
- I worked on a side hustle today for an hour.
Now cancel them one by one once you complete them.
Keeping this kind of to-do list in front of you creates a sense of urgency and motivates you to complete those tasks anyway.
Just keep in mind that you shouldn't overwhelm yourself with too many tasks; otherwise, you'll get burned out.
4. Use bedtime mode on your smartphone.
A life-saving feature for any smartphone user.
I have personally scheduled it for 12 a.m.
It gets automatically turned on once the clock hits 12 a.m.
How is it useful?
- Automatically turns on grayscale mode (this indicates that it’s time to sleep).
- Automatically turns on do-not disturb mode.
This prevents you from using your smartphones at night.
5. Building a GTD system
GTD stands for getting things done system.
It is basically a productivity system that helps you get more done in less time.
It simply works on five fundamental steps:
- Capture: Capture everything that crosses your mind.
- Clarify: Now that you have something to work with, transfer these ideas into actionable steps.
- Organize: Organize everything in one place so that you can use it whenever you want.
- Review: Keep a review day to keep yourself up-to-date.
- Engage: The final step is to act on what you’ve gathered until now.
6. The Trident Calendar System
This method is covered by Ali Abdaal (a famous YouTuber and entrepreneur) on his YouTube channel.
The basic idea behind it is to create a calendar system that consists of:
- Ideal Year: In this section, note down all 12 months on a single page and assign which tasks you're going to do throughout the year.
- Ideal week: In this section, list down the most important tasks that you’re going to do repeatedly throughout the week.
- Ideal day: Now ultra-narrow your focus and list down the 3 MITs (most-important tasks) in a day that are non-negotiable.
This gives you a bird's-eye view of the tasks that you want to perform in the present and future.
7. Measure your time.
It is said that you cannot improve in the areas that you cannot measure.
So measuring is damn important.
I have a dedicated article on this topic where I did a short experiment of "measuring my time for a week."
The results were unbelievable. Save it for later.
8. Make your bed once you wake up.
Now this is non-negotiable.
Once you make it a habit, this gives you a kickstart to start your day.
I have experienced it myself every time I rush into the daily tasks without completing the basic ones.
I feel demotivated.
This gives you the signal that these simple-looking tasks are essential.
It doesn't require even 5 minutes to complete, so do it no matter what.
9. Schedule a distraction hour.
Today, we are all surrounded by a lot of distractions.
and it is true that most of them are unavoidable.
- Scrolling reels
- Sharing snaps
- Watching YT shorts mindlessly, etc
Similarly, there are tons of distractions in life.
But the truth is, even if you try hard, you cannot completely run away from it.
So the best solution is to schedule a distraction hour in your day.
In this hour, you will do everything that is distracting, but only for a dedicated period of time.
Distraction hour doesn't let you get distracted throughout the day because your brain knows that there is a dedicated time scheduled for it.
10. Habit Stacking
The last but not the least is habit stacking.
The basic idea behind habit stacking is stacking up the list of habits on top of each other.
For example, if my habit is to drink coffee in the morning, then I will watch something inspiring or listen to an audiobook while drinking coffee.
So this is how habit stacking works.
I know it looks simple, and it is possible that you may be doing it unknowingly.
But if you don't, then do try it because it is very powerful.
Habit stacking helps you stack positive habits with your daily habits, and this creates a great package altogether.
So these are 10 smart productivity hacks that you can implement to supercharge your life.
Thank you for reading.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
P.S: If you genuinely find the story helpful, then follow me for more. Join 100+ readers to never miss an update on my upcoming stories.
