Starting this off with a disclaimer, and something that I feel very strongly about – life is not all about productivity. Society tells us otherwise… it glamorizes working way too much and being (or seeming) busy. If you’re at all like me, you might beat yourself up for not accomplishing what you think you “should” have. It’s such a tough thing to balance!
Beautiful moments happen when we allow ourselves to slow down. And, to be honest, in order to truly be productive and reach our goals, we have to prioritize rest in addition to hard work. We have to give our bodies/minds/souls time to breathe and recuperate so that we have the energy to do what’s important to us.
That said, big dreams aren’t achieved without productivity of some sort. Events don’t get planned, work projects don’t get finished, money doesn’t get made. It’s an important part of life! Today I want to share three simple productivity hacks that have been game-changers for me when it comes to optimizing my time. If we’re intentional about how we work, we’ll likely have more time (and $) for things that might be more enjoyable like vacation, drinks with friends, concerts, etc.
So! Here we go – Three Life-Changing Productivity Hacks to implement now…
1. Spend 20-30 minutes roughly planning your week on Sunday evening
Although it can be natural to avoid thinking about Monday, I’ve personally found that doing so can actually cause more anxiety about the week. Forget the “Sunday Scaries” and spend some time facing your calendar head on. Get whatever is looming over your head written down on paper as a task for the week. Acknowledging these things can help ease that anxious feeling and mentally prepare us to tackle them. Sounds wacky, but believe me! Personally I try to do my week planning after dinner and then I finish my Sunday relaxing with a show or a book. If this isn’t doable for you, I’d recommend shooting for first thing Monday morning at the latest. Don’t jump into your work week without even knowing the gist of what it will look like!
2. Focus on a “top three” each day
I used to be someone who would make a to-do list every morning with a zillion things on it. Doing this totally set me up to fail because I would set unrealistic expectations for myself and then be bummed when I didn’t get it all done. Now I pick just three urgent items every morning that need to get done that day. If I cross those off then great – I can move on to additional tasks! The psychology behind doing it this way makes so much sense. Think about it this way: let’s say you got 6 tasks done in a day. If you wrote down 10 things on your to-do list that morning and “only” accomplished 6, you might feel like a loser. But if you wrote down 3 and then ended up doing 3 extra, you’ll feel much more successful. Try it out and you’ll see what I mean! 🙂
3. Schedule big to-do list items into your calendar & TIME BLOCK
If an item on your to-do list for the week is going to take you more than 30 minutes, add it to your calendar. Find a chunk of free time and actually schedule it. I like to add these things in in the morning, before I get busy with meetings and client needs. This is a great way to hold yourself accountable! Be realistic about how long things will take you. When in doubt, give yourself more time rather than less so that you don’t get caught off guard.
“Time blocking is a time management method that asks you to divide your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task, or group of tasks, and ONLY those specific tasks.” (todoist.com) When you intentionally set aside a chunk of time for one particular task instead of aimlessly working on a bunch of different things throughout the day – you will be much more productive.
A quick example of how I implement this: I am currently managing social media/blog partnerships on top of full-time real estate. It would be very easy for me to be distracted by every single blog related email that popped up, wanting to answer it then and there. Instead, I really try to set aside one hour in the evening a couple times a week to respond to emails and work on brand partnerships. I can’t even explain how much this has helped me! I’m less all over the place and way more efficient.
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I hope at least one of these tips helps you in some way! Remember to go easy on yourself – our worth is NOT determined by how much we accomplish.
As always, thank you for reading this post!
XO Sorelle