Anxiety and Meditation

Ways to Increase Your Productivity

Everyone loves their spare time. The problem is that most people's lives are so fast paced and hectic that it's difficult for them to come across unmarked blocks of time. Which is why any opportunity for recharging your batteries should be immensely treasured. Many people are guilty of pushing themselves too hard, myself included. We've all been there. It's two am and you're squinting at a computer screen trying to pump out an amazing project even though you're sleep deprived. Your duvet is slung over your shoulders as you chug coffee and desperately try to carry on. It might happen to the best of us but you shouldn't find yourself in the aforementioned scenario every other night. 

According to the Harvard Business Journal there is a "direct correlation" between the absence of a recovery period and health problems as well as safety issues. Your career and/or education, as everything else, should add to your life rather than become your entire life. When you're done working put on some music and have a dance party, hit the gym, or curl up with a good book. Anything that makes you feel energized enough to do it all over again tomorrow. If you don't take the time to recuperate your exhaustion will impair all the other aspects of your life. 

So I suppose the question being asked in your heads as readers is "how can I get more time to myself?" That's where the list below proves to be very useful. 10 ways in which you can increase your productivity. Note that no matter how many techniques you pull from lists of this nature they will not be able to cut your work load in half or eradicate it altogether. You'll still be working towards checking all the boxes off your to-do list by the end of the day. You would, however, have more time to relax in a twenty four hour period. In other words, you'll continue to have to plant the seeds and water them but the fruits of your labour will be much sweeter. 

Tips to Increase Productivity

1. Get a decent amount of sleep. You'll feel less sluggish throughout the day and more inclined to focus on tasks at hand. It's not easy to crawl into bed every night at a reasonable hour, especially when you've conditioned yourself to do the exact opposite but it's a habit that needs to be made.
   
2. It is just as important to wake up in the morning as it is to fall asleep. Wake up a little earlier than you need to and stretch, make yourself a gourmet style breakfast, and put a little more thought into your outfit. You'll feel more collected when you head out the door. As a plus point your dreams of being 'that' morning person you always see in skincare commercials might just come true. Once you get past the initial crankiness.
   
3. Prioritize. It'll shave down your daunting to-do list. Half the stuff on there may very well be completely irrelevant. On days I'm dreading and feel completely overwhelmed regarding my to do list is about the length of a football field. Just last week on one such day my to-do list had boxes on it for waking up and tying my shoes. As if I really needed to be reminded to do those things.
   
4. When in doubt take a break. Staring at your computer for an hour won't cure your writer's block. Grab a snack or take a power nap and tackle the problem afterwards.
   
    
5. Stop procrastinating. Not only does it make your end result shoddy work but your brain is functioning at a lower rate of efficiency later in the day than it is in the morning. Take advantage of all that brain power and focus on your more important projects first. You'll also feel a lot better halfway through the day when you realize all your major work is done.
   
6. Keep your eyes on the prize. While it may seem as though you're accomplishing multiple tasks at once by multi-tasking you're actually slowing down your rates of productivity. You're not a high tech robot who can scramble an egg, watch TV, and write a report at once so stop working like one. Don't hold yourself to standards that aren't achievable. Accept the fact that your work load is heavy and complete each task one by one.
   
7. Get into the habit of making habits. Lots of successful people plan out their entire schedule for the day before even putting their shoes on. Assign certain times in the day to performing certain activities. 
   
8. Set yourself deadlines. There might already be an absolute deadline you have to meet for a project but setting yourself mini deadlines or arranging a road map will allow you to regulate yourself. If the project is due on Thursday tell yourself that you need to have a rough outline for it ready by Monday. 
   
9. Regulate the amount of time you spend on each and every task. Everyone's spent way too much time on a project in hopes of churning out some sort of impeccable masterpiece. Give yourself a set amount of time to complete each assignment. This block of time can vary depending on how long you feel you need to accomplish the task.
   
10. Perhaps the most difficult suggestion to follow is to unplug. Try turning off your notifications and leaving your phone face down. It really does increase your productivity rates when you're not checking your phone every ten seconds to see if Julia texted you back. 

Hopefully you'll be able to implement at least a few of the techniques displayed in the list above. Unsure of what to do with your abundance of newfound spare time? My next post might be able to help you out with that. Go on and be more productive individuals. Realize that there's a lot more to life than your everyday hustle.