I’m all about being productive. I want to get as much done in a small amount of time that I can. I love doing so many things, and I want to get as much of that done in a day. My goal is to find ways that I can make my workday more productive.
- Create similar emails or canned emails. Basically if you send the same or similar email over and over again. Write one then plug in what you need or delete what you don’t need. For example, I am a personal trainer and do online coaching. When I email someone who might be interested in training, I send the same email but plug in their information.
- Systems that work. It’s going to be a lot of trial and error, but if you aren’t being productive it’s time to switch up your routine. It’s easy to switch a routine because you don’t think it works. You actually have to do the system for at least 3 months to see if it really works or not. In the past, I blamed the system for not working instead of me.
- Meal Plan. Knowing what you are going to have for meals will take out the guess work. Time you could be working on something else. We have 5 proteins that we eat on a weekly basis. Tuesday is beef, and we usually have tacos. It makes planning and prepping easy because we have it broken down each day then plan everything around that. It has taken the guesswork out of dinner. This has helped us with not eating out as often.
- Meal Prep. Spend half a day to making the meals, and labeling them. My day is on Sunday. I cook everything and portion them out. It’s great because it’s also time my husband and I are doing something together. Not married or seeing anyone, find an friend/family to come over.
- Create times for social media. I know I could spend so much time just scrolling. It’s actually a habit I’m trying to break right now. I leave my phone beside my bed. Social media is the first thing I check. (Trust me, I know how bad it is.)
- Clean out your email once a week or whatever time works for you. Just be consistent. I try to get my email as close to 0 every other week. My husband gives me anxiety and does his at the end of every baseball season. I see his email, and i cringe.
- Plan your workouts. Right now, I am doing 2 workouts a day. One in the AM, and one in the PM. I plan what I am doing, AND put in my calendar. This is an appointment just like going to the doctors or anything else important.
- Focus on what is going to move you forward. Before I leave my office for the day, I write what are the top 3 things I need to do tomorrow. I think what are things that are going to move me forward.
- Mindless Time. I have a list of things of things that I can do while I am watching tv or we are traveling. These are things that aren’t going move things forward, but still need to get done. This has been a huge benefit for me because during my alloted time to work on something more important. I was wasting my time.
- Set a timer. However long you set for a task is how long it will take to do. If you dedicate 30 minutes to clean the bathroom. Then it will take you 30 minutes. I try to keep things at a small time with a rest afterwards. You will be shocked on how much you get accomplished.
- Time Block & Take Breaks. I have found out that I work best with 75 minutes of consistent work then I have 15 minute break. If I work any longer than 75 minutes my productivity goes down and my lack of concentration goes up. It took a lot of practicing finding what works for me.
- Limit Multitasking. When working on something focus only on that. I have learned when I am writing I need to have only one tap open, because if I have my email open I will notice everytime I get a new email. Another tip is putting your phone on the other side of the room. You’ll be less tempted to mess with it if you have get up to get the phone.
- Delegate. If you don’t love doing it. Look into delegating to someone else. I love graphic design, but I also will spend too much time messing with it. For me, it’s so much fun to mess around and see what I can create. I found someone that really understood what I was doing within my price budget. I send them what I need and a deadline. It was a little scary to delegate something but it has made more time for things that really matter.
- Say No. I took this advice from either Taylor Bradford or Craig Groeshel at LifeChurch. If it’s not a resounding YES, it has to be a NO! I have struggled with saying no in the past. I would try to do everything for everyone. Eventually I got burnt out and really sick because I was doing too much.
- Sleep. This is a double edge sword for me. I love my sleep, and could sleep all day if I wanted. But It is not in my best interest to sleep all the time. I have forced myself to get 7-8 hours of sleep of every night. For me sleep is a sleepy slope that I need to pay attention with. It is important to get sleep however you can get it in. I use to be a sleep snob that morning people are the best people. My husband is a night owl, and gets so much accomplished during the time he is awake.
- Review your day/week/month/quarter. Whatever you want to review spend time seeing what worked and what didn’t work. I do mine every month and quarter. My review at the end of the quarter is more in depth and making changes to fit more my ideal day/week/month. At the end of month, it is more on how I am spending my time. Did I do better writing in the morning or afternoon? Everything is focused towards what my ideal day and week look like.
- Make Fewer Decisions. On Sunday, I lay all my work clothes out for the week. This way I don’t have to think in the morning. I try to make as many decisions on Sunday, so during the week I can focus on other things. When Obama was President he said he wore similar outfits because it left more brain energy to make important decisions.
- Hobby. It is so important to have a hobby that you like to do just because. This is a hobby that you don’t make money off or for anyone else. This is something you enjoy doing just because it brings YOU joy. For the longest time, crocheting was that hobby for me. I recently started an etsy shop with it but I don’t know how long I’ll keep it going. I love crocheting because it was something to do when I wanted to do. When people see me crocheting and ask if I can make something, I love to make it to give as a gift.
- Have your why. Everyone says this and I know it’s cheesy. But you won’t do something if you don’t have something pushing you. I have learned that it has to be something besides money. This has to be something that get you out of bed and make you want to work when you don’t want to. I have really struggled with this throughout the years. I feel like I don’t have it all figured out.
- Celebrate. I learned that I don’t celebrate things. I did strength finder exam, and it called me out about not celebrating things. At first I was offended, but when I really thought about it. It was right because I set a goal, achieve it, and move on to the next goal.
