Productive : something we all strive to be , yet often get caught up in the trivial day to day stuff that leads to unfinished work.
As someone who values productivity and optimizing my time, I've come to discover some best practices that help in getting things done more effectively!
1. Make your To-Do list more visible
We all get caught up in buying the latest and most greatest agendas to write our daily to dos in..only to have them stacked under a pile of papers 😂
Next thing you know, you wind up forgetting what you had to do.
Solution?
Writing your to-do list on a a brightly coloured pad. Not only will your eyes be drawn to it, but it'll stand out among the sea of paper/stationary around you.
If you've got ample space, another suggestion is having a dry/erase whiteboard. Having your tasks up front and center will help you stay focus and on track for what needs to be done.
2. Use a screen saver that reminds you of your important goals of the day
My personal favourite is Momentum.
You can download this aesthetically pleasing dashboard as a chrome extension. Not only do you a pretty visual and quote every time you open up a new tab, but you have a nice to-do list you can check off.
Every time you open a new window on your browser, it'll serve as a secondary reminder what needs to get done. Best part? It's FREE.
3. Set end times for your activity not just start times.
Whether it be waking us up in the morning or reminding us to begin a task, we get caught up on setting alerts to "start" something.
Yet how about ending something? By setting end timers, it prevent us from passively working on something longer than we should.
4. Figure out your chronotype
We all have times in the day when we feel more energized. For some it can be first thing in the morning, for others it can later on after an energizing lunch or supper.
It all comes down to be being aware on your chronotype : early bird or night owl.
By scheduling around your energy level, you can do the right work at the optimal times and as a result, become more productive
You can focus on getting the heavy laden work during your optimal peak times, while leaving the more insight driven work like researching during lower levels of energy.
The important step is being aware of your body's energy and how it wanes throughout the day