7 Ways I’ve Increased My Productivity By 50% In 2 Months.

Pearl Topaz
7 min readApr 5, 2022

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Do More Image — Increase productivity
Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash

To increase productivity, you have to find the right balance between your work and personal life. If you let your phone or other distractions take over, it will be a lot harder for you to actually accomplish any of your goals. When I get stuck in a rut with my writing, it takes me about 10–15 minutes to refocus on what I was working on. It’s not easy because sometimes all I want to do is check Whatsapp or Instagram, but if I give into that temptation, I’m going to be up for another hour and a half and my productivity and all I had to do suffers the consequence. So I try to stay away from my phone as much as possible.

1. These are the first things I do in the morning!

My first morning routine includes meditation, a quick prayer, and reading my favorite book — the Bible.

I do this because I love the feeling of starting my day off with a clear mind and open heart. I’m more focused, more productive, and happier when I start my day this way.

2. What is my work routine?

When I wake up, the first thing I do is to check my email. I scan through the emails to see if there are any urgent issues that need my attention, and decide whether or not it’s a priority. If it’s not, I will mark the email for follow up later.

After that, I go over all of my tasks for the day and prioritise them in my head.

I used to use a bullet journal to organise myself but after trying various methods of organising my own life, I have found that simple pen and paper works best for me. So I thought I would share my system with you all.

First of all, let me explain why I decided to ditch the bullet journal. For me, it was too complicated and time consuming. I found myself spending hours on end just trying to figure out how to make it work for me. I was also using a Leuchtturm1917 which is a beautiful notebook but just too big and bulky for my taste.

I also decided to ditch the Leuchtturm because I was sick of the paper color. I wanted something a little more exciting.

3. My favorite productivity tools: Email, Evernote and Asana.

I am a huge fan of productivity tools. I use them every day, and I constantly find new services to try out.

Everyone has their own favorite tools, but most people don’t know what other tools are out there. It’s as if they live on an island with one tool in their hand that they use every single day.

The truth is that there are dozens of great tools out there to help you be more productive. And if you aren’t using any of them, you could be missing out on a better way to do things.

In this section, I’ll share three of my favorite productivity tools with you. All of them have made my life better, and I know they will be useful to you as well. There are some popular ones that you may have heard of, but I’ll also share some of the lesser-known ones that have really helped me.

The most valuable productivity tool I’ve found is a simple one: Email.

It allows me to communicate with others, archive and search the past, and it brings me emails that I don’t want to throw away. For important ones I want to easily access in the near future, I star them.

I love my inbox. It’s where I sort out some things in my life both work related and personal. It keeps my tasks out there but lets me know what has been done, what needs attention, and how much of it I can handle.

Another of my favorite productivity tool is Evernote.

It’s a great way to collect, organize and share notes across all my devices. After I write down my ideas and all on paper, Evernote collects and saves it. I also really like their new premium feature called Work Chat. It’s essentially Slack for your whole company, and I love it.

You can use Work Chat to collaborate with team members on projects, share documents and get work done faster. All of this while keeping everything in one place, rather than bouncing between emails, chats and social media to stay on top of things.

Last but not least is Asana.

Asana is a great tool for managing your tasks and projects. It’s a little different from other task management tools in that it’s designed to be used as a team. You can create projects and assign tasks to your team members, then keep track of the progress.

It’s free for teams up to 15 people, and has a number of premium features for larger teams.

Some other productivity tools I use include:

#1 Google Calendar

This is another great tool for organizing your time. Google Calendar allows you to see all your activities for the day in one place, and add events from other sources (apps, websites, etc.).

#2 Google Drive

This is a great tool for storing and sharing files. You can store your files in the cloud, and access them from any computer.You can also share files with other people.

4. Productivity tip #1: Be consistent!

Productivity is an art, and you need to learn how to make it a habit. This is the first step to becoming more productive. Your brain needs to know what to expect when it gets into “work mode” so that it can focus on creating value.

The best way to do this is to make sure that your work schedule is consistent. Do the same things at the same time each day in order to establish a routine or schedule. This will make your brain more efficient at focusing on the task at hand because it won’t have to spend as much energy processing when you should be working.

Consistency is the key to productivity. The more you practice something, the better you get at it. The key is to establish a routine and develop systems so that your daily tasks are easy to follow.

Here are some tips to help you create a consistent schedule:

  • Wake up at the same time each day. This will allow your brain to know when it should be alert and ready to work. You can even use an alarm clock to make sure you wake up at the same time each day.
  • Pick a time of day that works for you. The most important thing is to pick a time that fits your schedule and stick with it.

5. Productivity tip #2: Eliminate distractions!

Productivity is all about paying attention to the right things. We live in an age of distractions. In the presence of the Internet, smartphones and email, it’s easy to get distracted. If you don’t take action, you’ll find yourself wasting hours upon hours each day on things that don’t matter.

But in a world of endless distractions, how do you focus on what matters while tuning out the rest?

A few productivity tips can help you regain control of your day and focus on what really matters.

Here are some strategies:

  • The first step in mastering your productivity is to know exactly what it is you’re trying to do. In order to be productive, you need to have a clear idea of what your goals are.
  • Turn off notifications from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This will help you focus on the task at hand and not get distracted by the latest update from your friends.
  • Turn off your cell phone. This will help you avoid distractions from incoming calls and texts. If you need to be available in case of an emergency, set your phone to vibrate or silent mode.
  • Avoid working in a noisy environment. If you have to work in a noisy environment, use earplugs or headphones to block out the noise.
  • Don’t work for more than an hour without taking a break. This will help you to stay focused and not get burnt out.

6. Productivity tip #3: Work smarter, not harder!

It’s simple. Instead of working harder, work smarter. This will help you prevent burn out.

What does working smarter mean?

Working smart can be defined as a formula for success where each task is done in the most efficient way possible. It means doing things that have a high return on investment (ROI).

Working smart also involves setting goals and defining processes in order to reach those goals. Working smart is all about efficiency and being productive without getting overwhelmed by the amount of tasks at hand.

One of the best ways to work smart and get more done faster is to reduce business overhead (i.e., time-wasting tasks). The key is to identify and eliminate process bottlenecks, so that you can focus on the important stuff.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American employee spends 4.7 hours per workday on non-work activities. That’s nearly 30% of the workday!

7. Productivity tip #4: Learn from your mistakes

The most successful people don’t win because they are right all the time. They win because they recognize their mistakes, and adapt.

You’re going to make mistakes. Everyone does. The important thing is to learn from them and keep moving forward.

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, there are many ways to increase productivity throughout the day. You can try these 7 tips to see if they’ll help you increase your productivity. These are some of my favorite ways to stay productive in a day, but there are many more that I haven’t tried yet!

While some of these methods may not be right for your business, it’s important to try a few different approaches and find what works best for you. Experimenting with new techniques and strategies is a great way to boost productivity!

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Pearl Topaz

Content Creator, Learner, and Self Improvement enthusiast!