3 Steps to Increasing Your Daily Productivity
With only 24 hours in a day, sometimes it can feel like there just aren’t enough hours to get everything done. What doesn’t get done today usually is pushed onto tomorrow, and it snowballs from there.
But there’s a way to maximize your time to boost productivity every day, each week, and for months to come. And it's a pretty simple strategy.
Here’s a look at a 3-step process to increase your daily productivity:
Set attainable goals
Create a routine (and stick to it!)
Be flexible
Going For The Goal
First and foremost, think about your goals. In order to be productive you need to be as clear and specific about what it is you want. Knowing what it is you’re working towards will definitely make it easier to break down the steps from there.
You want your goals to be powerful: they’re inspiring, believable, and you can act on them.
For a large project, let’s say a home renovation, that’s going to take many months of planning. For something smaller, like painting your bedroom, that project won’t take as much time. Fewer steps and less time to prep means the end result can come together much sooner.
And that’s what we want. Strategy + Efficiency = Productivity!
So how do we get there, to that end goal of ultimate productivity? Depending on your project, you’ll need to adjust each actionable step into manageable tasks.
We want to achieve our goals because it reassures us that we A) Know what we’re doing. B) Can do what we set out to do. And C) Make good choices to accomplish things.
“Go big or go home” isn’t always the most helpful mindset to have in this case. Because if our goals are impractical and unattainable, it’s so easy to give up entirely. We don’t want that! We want to reach our goals, all of them, and we can! We just need to be realistic about them.
Back In The Habit
I don’t know about you, but I’m an absolute creature of habit. I have my routine, a schedule that works for me, and it allows me to reach my daily productivity goals.
“But Zaida, doesn’t that get boring every day?” Well, yes and no.
True, sitting down at (roughly) the same time every weekday to make my to-do list or pitch to clients or outline my blog posts can get a bit monotonous. That’s why I change it up every now and then to provide some variety.
Here are some things you can try:
Work from a different location – You don’t even need to leave where you live. Move to your living room, or sit in the backyard. A different view can create a whole new vibe!
If you listen to music, try a new genre or playlist – Or alternatively, try working in silence, or use a white noise app and see if that works for you.
Switch time blocks for certain tasks – Play with when you dedicate certain tasks to. You might you’re much more engaged or efficient at doing something at a different time of the day.
A productive day, for me, means not only getting all my tasks done, but having that extra time when I’m not working to do the things that I want. Reading, catching up on the latest season of Barry, working on my scrapbook, and so on.
All work and no play makes life a drag. Remember that!
Go With The Flow
Now, I know I just hit you with two tips on how to increase your productivity. And here I am, coming at you with the complete opposite. I get it, it’s confusing. But hear me out!
You’ve heard people say, “expect the unexpected,” right? Well that’s pretty much what I mean.
You get stuck at the post office. Your washer or dryer breaks down. Your laptop won’t turn on. Someone is sick. You’re sick. Life is full of curveballs.
Some days just aren’t going to go the way you wanted them to. And you know what? THAT’S OKAY. All that means is you need to pivot, reevaluate, and go from there. Simple!
Rearrange your plans if you need to. Move tasks and errands around to tomorrow or the weekend. Need to cancel that lunch date? Do it!
These hectic and unexpected days will inevitably come up. It’s how you react to them that really counts. Be confident in yourself knowing that you can handle whatever comes your way.
The key is to stay calm. Don’t stress, don’t feel anxious. It’s all manageable, I promise.
If you panic, you sink. But if you take a deep breath, focus and figure out a solution, you’ll do just fine.
