I hate to admit it, but productivity is definitely NOT my strong suit… I mean guys, I kid you not I’ve had days where I waste an HOUR looking up the best – get this – Productivity apps… just let that sink… Like WHAT?? And am I the only one that has spent actual HOURS online shopping, only to step back, be honest with yourself, and come to the reality that you 1 – don’t need any of it and 2– you can’t afford it? So you resolve by closing the entire window and pretending like you didn’t just waste an hour of your life doing absolutely nothing. It’s a pretty defeating feeling if we are being real…
I don’t care who you are or what you do for a living, being productive feels fucking fabulous
I have absolutely nothing scientific to back this, but productivity high is most definitely a thing. Something about crossing things off your To-Do list is just EUPHORIC. In fact sometimes (most of the time, who am I kidding) I write down the most mundane things I can think of just so I can cross them off. How silly right? I mean after that initial oh-so-satisfactory slash through the thing you were obviously going to do anyway, you come crashing to the realization that, in fact, nothing has been accomplished. UGH. So annoying.
Habits You Should Have Stopped Yesterday
Stop making 3-mile long ToDo lists in the hope that some of it will get done. – This doesn’t work. You know it doesn’t work. You’ll just overwhelm yourself, jump from task to task and then wonder why nothing got done. Stop putting the mundane on your ToDo list. – Including the obvious does not mean you got more done, it means you spent more time making a to-do list for no reason & less time getting shit done! Stop letting the idea of your tasks frustrate you. – Just do them!
Snap out of it. – I 1000% get this isn’t the advice you’re looking for, but sometimes it isn’t about some crazy life hack, it's just about you making the conscious decision to snap out of it and get busy! How to Consistently Reach that Sweet Spot of Focus! After admitting to her that I just really didn’t feel like I was accomplishing all that I could each day, my friend and amazing mentor Ashley Diana shared some really badass advice with me that I have just been itching to pass on!
Done is better than perfect.
Is there a way to check the stats on how many people stopped reading after that statement? I get it, I love perfect, too, but “perfect” really just isn’t efficient. No one is asking you to produce crappy sloppy work, just very strongly suggesting that you stop wasting your precious time on the tiniest things that contribute very minimally in the grand scheme of things. Example – The half an hour I used to spend tweaking my graphics by .00001 mm or the way I used to begin the task of cleaning my room by alphabetically organizing my bookshelf... Obviously, these are extreme examples (have you met me?) but you get the point. JUST GET IT DONE. The next piece of advice from Ashley was game-changing for me. She instructed me to chose three tasks to accomplish every day, those 3 tasks would be my To-do list. If you are like me you are probably thinking- “THREE THINGS?!? that's it?!” But yes! just 3 things! This idea comes out of The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey, Which I HIGHLY recommend! Chris talks about how our brain works best in 3’s and emphasizes that by focusing on a shortlist of three, you allow yourself to really hone in on what is most important to accomplish that day, rather than letting yourself get overwhelmed. This is far from the only piece of GOLDEN advice included in his book! Literally, go check it out, you will not regret it for even a second! Lastly, My Fav Hack for the Days You Just Can't Even As much as I can pretend all day long that I’m smashing my goals every single day, the truth is, I don’t. Making the most out of every single day can be tough and improving myself is something that I am CONSTANTLY working on. Sometimes days just don’t go as planned… but that's okay! Somedays I forget to make my list of three, or I get caught up in something I wasn’t even planning to tackle that day! So, as I work through my day, I make note of the things I HAVE done! Obviously, this list isn’t made up of things I need to remember or continue in the future, it simply serves as a little reminder that I should feel good about the things I DID get a chance to accomplish that day!
If you planned on laying in bed with a glass of wine all day, and that's what you did, then you were productive that day!
Just a little reminder that being productive does not always mean writing a 6-page paper in two hours, meeting a new sales goal, or running 50 thousand errands. Being productive is simply accomplishing what you have set out to do that day! This little piece of advice is Productivity Project approved and something you should most certainly always have in mind! That's all for me today, but I would LOVE to hear any productivity hacks you might have to share!
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