3 steps to not be overwhelmed by all the productivity hacks
Do you also think productivity sounds like stress and doing more? This doesn’t have to be the case.
I stressed myself being more productive: doing more in less time. But this was counterproductive: I got less done and was stuck in a negative mindset spiral.
At work, of course being productive means: if you are faster you still have hours left to work. But then you can use those for educating yourself or experimenting.
Productivity is not about working harder, but smarter.
You don’t just get more time, but also more energy. And you can use that energy for your passion, hobby, and making more money.
I always want to work more efficiently. I want it done fast, especially things I don’t like.
But this mindset of always improving and always being fast was stressing me and kept me from actually being fast.
After a few years of experience, experiments, and reading books I know I need to take breaks and take time to enjoy life.
And I shouldn’t rush it.
So here are 3 steps I took to have a positive mindset around productivity:
First Step: Find The Purpose
Why do you want to work smarter and get more done?
The first step of a positive productivity mindset is figuring out why you are doing it.
Be intentional about what bothers you every day:
- What do you want to change?
- Why do you want to be done faster with something?
- On what do you want to spend more time?
Productivity is not just about work, and getting it done faster.
It’s about finding the time for the things you love to do.
At work I want to be done faster, so I have less stress and I can go home earlier (if that’s possible).
At home, I want to be done faster with cleaning to have more time with my partner.
But it’s not just about being done faster, but about enjoying life more.
If I listen to an inspiring podcast while cleaning I don’t mind taking longer.
It’s about intentionally living more joyfully.
What is your purpose for making your life more efficient?
I know I’m improving my productivity to have the time to work on my online business. For a better future with more freedom and flexibility for me and my loved ones.
I’m also productive in my online business, I get faster by practicing.
Then I can use the leftover time to read, improve, and think about new topics I’m interested in and write about.
Second Step: Analyze Your Time
You don’t have to be 100% productive every day.
I also see breaks as an important part of time management:
to have more energy and focus afterward.
But they have to be intentional breaks, not unintentionally scrolling through social media and forgetting time.
Are you using your time intentionally?
Ask yourself the question a few times a day to analyze how you are spending your time.
I intentionally take breaks every hour from my work to be productive for a longer period throughout the day.
My mind takes a break, and my eyes need a break from the screen too.
But I had to work on using the breaks intentionally, instead of scrolling through social media without an end.
This doesn’t mean social media is all bad. I intentionally also use social media to research topics and get inspiration.
You could also watch TV intentionally. If you take a conscious break to relax or spend with your loved ones.
Unintentional use is:
- you are binge-watching a series because you can’t stop
- you procrastinate
- you watch something because of an ad
Analyze your time during the day by asking yourself the question:
Am I using my time intentionally?
And then you decide if you want to spend your limited time with those things.
Third Step: No Negative Energy
At the beginning of my time management journey, I had a lot of negative energy towards me every time I didn’t do something according to my plans.
- Woke up 5 minutes later than I wanted: “I’m lazy”,…
- Didn’t do all my to-dos that day: “Why can’t you do better?”…
- I watched more TV than my max goal: “You are a failure”…
This was counterproductive because it put me in a negative spiral of: “Well that’s me so I can just continue doing the bad things…”
And that’s not how things get done.
And that’s not how I want to spend my time.
The key here is to not be annoyed by yourself not finishing everything, but to remember that you are not a machine.
You cannot be 100% productive every day, even though you want to be.
- we can be distracted
- life happened
- we didn’t sleep well
- we are sick
- we had a fight with our partner
Whatever it is: we are not machines.
And that’s good. Life would be boring if we were actually 100% productive every day and nothing new happens.
Let’s view our everyday lives differently: we have systems and habits.
We’ve established them to work faster and think less of the tasks to do.
If something didn’t work or you failed to do everything, ask yourself:
- Why didn’t it work out the way I planned?
- Was I lacking the motivation?
- Was there not enough time to finish?
- Was there something in the way that distracted me from my to-dos/systems?
And then: what can I change?
Find the things that didn’t work, and find a solution to get better tomorrow.
Iterate, find the problems, solve them, and try again.
Just like every system or experiment: we are not perfect.
We analyze, get feedback, find problems and solutions, and try again.
If you view yourself and the world like this, you will improve fast and learn a lot.
You will be more productive with every change you make.
Conclusion
With those 3 steps, you learn why you want to be more productive, how to analyze your time, and how to get a positive mindset.
Those are not the typical productivity tips but they are important to improve your efficiency and especially the amount of energy you have left after blocks of work.
Take it one step at a time, iterate, and find the solutions that work for you.
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