3 Tips for Boosting Your Productivity in the New Year
Posted by HeyCarson on
If we know anything, it’s that these last few years have changed the world as we know it forever.
There were systems to be transformed, perspectives to be shifted, and lessons to be learned – amongst the most important of them being:
When it comes to productivity, one size does not fit all.
The flexibility and freedom that has come with this new “remote working” lifestyle has revealed to entrepreneurs, employees, and executives alike that the 9-5 system we’ve been following the past several generations might not actually be the best one out there. Not just for quality of life, but for productivity, too.
So, for those of you hoping to nurture your creative juices and optimize them for maximum productivity, we’ve put together a couple of tips to help you find your flow in the new year.
Check ‘em out:
- Pinpoint your “flow hours.”
These are the hours of the day when you produce your best work. You’re energized, you’re focused, you’re ready to pump out some projects. You likely already have a pretty good idea of when these hours are (i.e. you might refer to yourself as a “morning person” or a “night owl), but there are more definitive ways you can figure them out if you want to be more strategic with it.
One of the most simplistic yet effective ways is to track your daily activities. Put together a spreadsheet and keep note of every task you do. Remember to include what time you started, what time you ended, and how focused/energized you felt doing each task on a scale from 1-5. We recommend doing this for at least a week or a full month, if you’re able. Once you have your data collected, you’ll be able to go back and recognize certain energy patterns. These patterns will reveal which hours you are most productive – AKA your “flow hours.
- Pinpoint your “low hours”.
The great thing about fleshing out your “flow hours” is that it indirectly fleshes out your “low hours” (or “resting hours”), too. These are the hours of the day when your energy is dropping, your mind is starting to wonder, and your work suffers as a result. The important thing to note here is that having “low hours” is okay! In fact, it’s completely normal – humans were not wired to focus on mind-draining tasks for eight hours at a time. The important thing is that we’re aware of our energy patterns and using them to optimize our work schedule to the best of our abilities, which brings us to our final tip:
- Embrace time-blocking.
Time-blocking is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Essentially, you use this strategy to divide up your schedule into blocks of time. Each of these blocks of time is meant to be dedicated towards a specific task – and that specific task ALONE. Not only does this alleviate the temptation to shift from project to project, but it removes the pressure of having to make continuous decisions throughout the day.
Using this method in alignment with the insights you gained about your energy patterns throughout the day/week, you can develop the optimal productivity schedule. For example, let’s say you’re most productive from 10am - 12 PM on Mondays and Tuesdays. Instead of using this time to complete more routine, less mentally-draining tasks (such as scheduling or responding to emails), you would ideally block out this time to complete the bigger, more taxing projects.
The same idea applies to rest! Taking breaks, contrary to what some might believe, is crucial to productivity because it allows our brains the time and space it needs to recharge and refresh (which, in turn, enables us to do our best work!).
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Did these tips help you find your flow?
Send your feedback to sales@publishbrand.