If you’re anything like me you’re always on the hunt for personal development tools, books, and productivity hacks. Especially in a world that is full of distractions. Learning new ways to boost your productivity and seeing the results you’re striving for is key.
This post is all about the Top 10 Productivity Hacks
What are Productivity Hacks?
Productivity hacks are tools, systems, or tips you can implement into your daily routine in order to boost productivity. They’re likely small things that create big results and change in your productivity that you may not have thought of before.
Why do Productivity Hacks work?
Productivity hack sounds technical and fun but do they really work? as with most things in life they work if you work it. If you’re someone who is dedicated to your success and willing to see things through to the end then they will work for you. Of course, it’s all about adapting to what works best for your routine and specific needs. Not all tips and tricks will be a blanket solution to everyone’s unique needs. Take what aligns for you and flex the rest.
Top 10 Productivity Hacks
1. Eat Breakfast Every day
It should come as no surprise that we need fuel and nourishment to function. Our brains work best when we are caring for them. Starting the day with an energy-boosting breakfast will do just that. If you are someone who struggles with finding the time to cook in the morning try something quick like a smoothie or protein bar.
2. Intentional movement
Getting our bodies moving first thing in the morning provides an energy boost and lasting motivation throughout the day. Intentional movement is proven to help with focus and clearing our minds, allowing us to perform our tasks more efficiently. Movement is also good for our motor skills and brain health keeping us both sharp and energized for the day ahead.
3. Turn off notifications
Whether it’s your phone, tablet, or laptop, your notifications are distracting you. As you sit down at your desk for the day ensure your notifications are turned off. You can take it a step further and use an app like clockwise to set focus time in your calendar. This will block any notifications while also keeping your calendar clear of any meetings. A great app for managing social media apps and other pop-up distractions is one-sec.
4. Listen to binaural beats
Listening to any sort of mood-boosting, hype, or motivational music while you are working will boost productivity. However binaural beats are specifically designed to reduce anxiety and increase focus. If you’re performing time-consuming tasks or need to be in a state of flow for a few hours try putting on a binaural playlist.
5. Stop Multitasking
Contrary to what you may believe you cannot (and should not) multi-task. When we multitask we usually underperform each of the individual tasks because our focus is split. Multi-tasking also usually takes longer than if you were to focus on one task at a time. Because your brain is bouncing back and forth between tasks you’re also going to drain your energy quicker. All of this leads to a lower quality of work and less productivity than if you were to focus on one task at a time.
6. Break down goals and projects into tasks
One of the biggest things hindering your productivity is your to-do list. You’re most likely adding too many items to your daily to-do list, and may even be adding entire projects vs tasks. It’s important to get clear and honest about your capacity. Not everything can or should be completed in a day. Start by setting the main three tasks that will move your project/goal along on your to-do list. Anything you complete from there is a bonus! You also want to be mindful that you’re not listing an entire project on your to-do list. For example: launching this blog was a project, not a task. Launching a blog involved a multitude of tasks that can be spread out across to-do lists for a few weeks. Take your project or goal and break it down into tasks, you can do this using a notebook, google doc, or a project management system.
7. Automate where you can
Anywhere you can implement automation in your business or work will save you an immense amount of time. You can use CRM databases to onboard new clients automatically, send invoices and guide clients through your email marketing flow. In terms of marketing, you can use platforms like Later to pre-schedule your content and even stories. If you have a more substantial marketing budget you can even automate your Instagram DM’s and comment responses! The bottom line, if you’re not using automation somewhere in your business you are losing time and working inefficiently.
8. Track your time
Tracking the time it takes you to complete your tasks is going to give you insight into how to schedule your days and price out projects. Using an app like toggl you can track the length of time it takes you to complete tasks and have detailed records of your billable hours. This helps with productivity because you will have lots of data showing you how long a project might take you to complete. You’ll know exactly how many projects you have the capacity for at any given moment and will also be able to use this information to properly price out your services.
9. START SAYING NO
Sop doing all of the things! You don’t need to be the one who completes every single task on your to-do list. Remember, productivity is all about working smarter, not harder. One of the most important skills to have in the workplace is knowing when to complete a task yourself and when to delegate. Aside from delegation, you also want to make sure you’re saying NO to opportunities and tasks that do not align with your end goal. You may be motivated by short-term goals (like making more cash) however, these quick cash jobs are distracting you from your larger end goal. Saying no to projects that do not align will leave more space and time to focus on the ones that do, getting you to your end goal sooner rather than later.
10. Remember your why
This might be one of the most important steps. Your “why” is what’s going to keep you motivated, it’s that light at the end of the tunnel, the reason why you’re working in the first place! Remembering your why (if you’re a creative visual person) could be taking time to look at your vision board. It can also look like reading out your list of goals for the year or reading a mini-story that you wrote about your future self.
Whatever it looks like for you just make sure you’re taking time to immerse yourself in your goals and your purpose. Vision boards are a visual reminder of our goals and looking at them every day can help maintain excitement and give us the momentum we need to pursue them.
This post was all about the Top 10 Productivity Hacks
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