Most people are always busy but only a small percentage is actually productive.
Productive people get a lot more done in comparison to others. And they also experience less stress and are better able to manage their time and energy.
And as a result, they achieve more success and get more opportunities. So what exactly do they do differently from most other people?
And how can you use these productivity strategies?
In this guide, you will learn the key ingredients to become a master of your productivity. And with these skills, you will also experience less stress and overwhelm.
Let’s dive in!
- What exactly is productivity?
- Key factors of personal productivity
- A simple system for productivity
- 3 strategies to become more productive
What is Productivity?
We all have the same amount of time in a day and a year. Yet, how you use your time is what makes a big difference in the quality of your life.
Productivity generally refers to increasing your output within a certain timeframe. This means that if you’re highly productive, you simply get more done in that timeframe.
Though this definition worked before, today it lacks an important distinction.
Because over the years, we have shifted away from monotonous work and are doing many different things. We have more work to do and as a result, have become much busier.
But being busy doesn’t mean you’re also productive.
A better definition of productivity is getting more stuff done of what actually matters.
The busier we become, the more important it becomes to filter out what matters. And that seems to be the biggest challenge to increasing productivity today.
To understand how you can skyrocket your productivity, you need to know the important factors that influence it.
Key factors of personal productivity
Why are some people more productive than others?
It’s a good question to ask yourself. And in it, lie many answers to improve personal productivity.
1. Your Motivation
Why you do the things you do is an important factor for productivity.
People who have a strong reason to do something, feel more engaged and are more productive.
This is also another reason to do something you feel passionate about. Or to at least find something that gives personal satisfaction.
Rewards are another part of personal motivation.
This study shows that there is a positive correlation between the reward and the motivation of employees. Of course, you can also use rewards in your personal life to improve your productivity.
2. Your Energy
Energy is one of the most important factors when it comes to productivity. If you often feel tired and experience low levels of energy, you won’t get much done.
Managing your energy is one of the most important things to productivity. Especially in a world that seems to become busier and busier, your energy is critical.
That’s why taking time off is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.
3. Your Personality.
Some personality traits do affect productivity. For example, this experiment shows that higher levels of conscientiousness result in better productivity. And this research also shows how neuroticism harms performance.
4. Your Environment
Distractions are one of the biggest reasons why people are unable to focus. And there is a lot of evidence that distractions are ruining your productivity.
For example, how much time do you think it takes to get back to being fully productive after getting distracted?
The answer: 23 minutes and 15 seconds!
That’s a lot of time that you wasted. Even though you might have only spent a couple of minutes texting some people. Or read an “important” email.
And aren’t we all guilty of that?
Distractions also ruin the blissful experience called “flow”, which this book is all about.
Athletes might also know this as being “ in the zone”. And it refers to the state of experience in which everything seems to go with ease and joy.
Well, distractions also interrupt this flow experience.
I think you get it by now.
Setting up your environment in a way so you have the least chance of getting distracted is key to your productivity. And that includes all the popups on your phone.
5. Your Preparation
Planning plays an important role in achieving optimal levels of productivity. The better you organize yourself and your tasks, the easier you’ll find it to stay focused and productive.
Planning rewards and setting up your environment is one part of planning. But also think about prioritizing so that you can focus on your most important tasks.
6. Your Individuality
The biggest misconception most people have is that if one piece of advice works for me, then it should work for you too. And unfortunately, many people throw the towel in the ring too early when something doesn’t seem to work.
If it only were that easy…
You seldom find the right productivity hack straight away. You have to try and test some strategies to find the right one. And in most cases, you want to fit it to match your preferences.
So keep in mind that though the concepts behind productivity strategies do work, you might want to tailor it in a way that works best for you.
A simple system for productivity
What is the most significant difference between highly productive people and the rest?
The answer is quite simple.
Successful people have a better set of habits and systems in place.
They have the right habits to help them focus on what’s most important. And they have also built routines that help them to manage their time and maintain their energy.
In other words, if you seek continuous self-improvement and test different systems and habits, you’ll soon be a master of productivity.
This simple 5-step system will help you to get started on that journey.
Step 1: Define Your Focus
The first step is to define what matters.
To do that effectively, you need to get laser specific on what you want to achieve. What are the exact results that you want?
And then also ask yourself why these results are important to you.
The clearer you get on what you want and why you want it, the easier you’ll find it to stay motivated and become ultra-productive.
For your personal life, a good starting point is your goals, dreams, and desires. In most cases, these are the biggest personal motivators one can have. What is something you want to achieve in life?
For smaller and everyday tasks, it can help to create a priority matrix to determine your focus. In this method, you rank tasks based on importance and urgency. Then, spend 80% of your time on activities that are both important and urgent.
And keep in mind: defining what to focus on also means that you know what not to focus on. If it helps you to define those activities, it’s a good idea to do so.
The more clear you get on your focus, the better you’re able to manage your time.
Step 2: Prepare Your Day
Planning your day helps you to reduce procrastination and remove distractions. Knowing exactly what to do provides mental clarity, providing more energy to use on your task.
One way to plan is to set your goals for the next day the night before. What do you want to achieve?
For instance, prepare your desk so that you can get straight into work.
Another example is to prepare your workout clothes if you want to go for a run in the morning. The fewer hurdles you have to overcome, the more likely you are to do it.
Removing obstacles and potential distractions is a great idea.
Blocking out time to work on a task is another way to prepare yourself. Put your phone on flight mode during this time. And use productivity apps on the computer if you find that helpful.
If you can develop this habit alone, you will already see a big increase in your productivity.
Step 3: Getting Stuff Done
The idea behind this step is pretty simple:
With the right focus and preparation in place, it’s time to work on the task. Set aside some time and work on the task until it’s done.
Most people can only focus on a task for about 45 minutes. So if your task will take much longer than that, make sure to schedule some small breaks.
Remember how rewards motivate you?
A small break can be that reward.
Also, make sure to have bigger breaks if you work for longer than 3 hours on a task. Longer breaks help you to maintain energy so that you get more done in the time that you do work.
If you struggle to get started, check out the definitive guide on motivation.
Step 4: Reflect and Learn
Most people start and stop with the third step.
And when something doesn’t seem to work – including productivity strategies – they throw the towel in the ring. Worse yet, they might convince themselves that they are unproductive.
But that’s not true.
Everyone can become more productive.
Like I mentioned earlier, many productivity techniques come in a vanilla flavor. And not everyone likes vanilla.
But if you throw some chocolate in the mix, some others might like it now too. And some others might still not like it.
The point?
Though many productivity strategies work, you still need to tailor them to your needs.
For example, I can focus on a task for only 45 minutes and need a small break after that. But maybe you find that you’re doing your best work if you only take a break after 75 minutes.
People are different.
And many of us forget that all the time.
In life, you need to test stuff. Use a trial and error approach to see what works. Then stick with that and ditch the rest.
Step 5: Refill Your Energy
Sometimes the most productive thing to do is doing nothing at all.
Working hard to realize your dreams is good advice. Working hard around the clock may sometimes be necessary. But working hard consistently without replenishing your energy is disastrous.
Without the right balance between work and relaxation, you become depleted. And if you’re not careful, this may even cause you to burn out or become depressed.
If you want to master your time and productivity, you need to manage your energy.
The good thing is that productivity and relaxation go very well together.
Remember how rewards can stimulate you to do productive work? Well, why not take time for yourself to relax a little between activities?
Though relaxing might feel unproductive, it has the opposite effect. Having a good balance between work and relaxation makes you happier, which helps you to achieve more in the long run.
3 Best strategies to increase your productivity
Now that you’re equipped with the fundamental knowledge to become a productivity ninja, it’s time to discuss some popular strategies.
Again, keep in mind that these strategies are vanilla. This means that you want to give yourself time to test these. And when you find a good strategy, you want to personalize and refine it to make it even better for you.
That being said, let’s get into the first strategy.
Strategy 1: Eat That Frog
Eat that frog is a famous productivity book by Brian Tracy and explains a simple concept:
Do the most challenging – but also most impactful – task first thing in the morning.
This advice is simple yet powerful from different angles.
First, if you’re a morning person, you can work on your most important task while the rest of the world is still asleep. The early morning is most often the time that you will get least distracted by other people in general.
And secondly, you still have all your willpower in the morning. Whereas this resource depletes you throughout your day.
Of course, everyone’s situation is different. So it’s important to keep your situation and needs in mind.
If you work in a creative job, you might want to do your most creative work first. Or if you work much better in the evening, then use that time to work on your most important task.
Though I assume that for most people, the morning is when you have most of the leverage over yourself.
Know yourself and tailor your day in a way that benefits you.
Strategy 2: Focus Block
The second strategy is to block a specific timeframe to do your most productive work. If you’re a morning person, this concept works very well with the first one.
But the good thing is that you can schedule this block at any time in your day. Or even at many different times. It all depends on what works best for you.
When are you most productive?
A good thing to do is to schedule a focus block at the same time consistently.
That way, you also build the habit of productivity. And with this habit, half of the preparation becomes automatic. And the more you prepare, the more productive you become.
It’s also easier for other people to know when you want to focus. If you block every day between 8 am and 11 am, for example, they get used to it.
I do my best work in the mornings. That’s why I move my meetings to the afternoon as much as possible. If it isn’t possible, I try to book meetings for the same day, so I free up the other days for blocks of productivity.
Though this isn’t always 100% possible, try to find the best possible routine for yourself.
If you can schedule focus blocks consistently, you will find that you get much more stuff done.
Strategy 3: Pomodoro Technique
You might have heard of the Pomodoro technique. And though this is a simple time management technique, it may double your productivity.
The idea is to pick a task and then set a timer for 25 minutes. In those 25 minutes, you work on your task without any distractions – not even a toilet break.
After 25 minutes, take a short break for about 5 minutes. This is a great time to grab yourself a cup of tea, go to the toilet, or do some stretches. Consider that round 1.
Once you finish three rounds, take a longer break of about 30 minutes.
And then repeat the process.
Many people achieve great results with this method. But once again, test and try this for yourself.
For example, copywriter Eugene Schwartz used a similar method but set the timer to 33 minutes and 33 seconds.
Personally, 45 minutes works great, followed by a 15-minute break. Is this the best technique? I doubt that – but it works for me.
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