Without productivity, it’s hard to make progress that’s even near your potential. The more productive you are, the better you allocate your work while achieving more goals. Unfortunately, productivity is highly sensitive to distractions. Distractions can be a significant obstacle on your way to success, and by letting them affect you, you risk not getting your work done or not even trying.
Luckily, with the right productivity lifehacks, you could boost your effectiveness. Here are the 5 most effective productivity lifehacks, I hope you will find some of the lifehacks useful and practical.
1. Start the day doing what you hate
Okay, this doesn’t sound great, I know. Just let me clarify. When we have to do something boring or unpleasant, we often tend to procrastinate. So, we postpone that task to the next day, and in the end, we don’t even do it.
The hack is doing it right after you wake up or at least within an hour after waking up. That way, you know that you won’t procrastinate during the day, increasing your self-confidence as a result.
When you say that “I will do this,” and you do it, you send a subconscious signal to your brain that you are a person who keeps their promises and is trustworthy.
2. Use the colorful checklist method
Let’s face it, the traditional checklists are not enough to manage your tasks. A colored checklist might be the change you were looking for to get more organized. It’s a great way to be more productive and get the important tasks done first.
How? You prioritize your tasks based on importance, that’s it. All you need is a software tool or a mobile app, or if you’re more old-school you could even use a piece of paper and 3 colored pens.
Then you split your work into tasks with the next colors:
Red color: Top priority, a task that must be done today.
Orange/Yellow colors: Medium priority
Blue color: Low Priority
When the day is over you must strive to finish all tasks with the red/orange/yellow colors.
Pro tip: Keep the red and blue tasks on a ratio of 1 to 3. This system will help you become more focused by learning to identify and finish the most important tasks first. And if you”ll have some time left you can go on with the low-priority tasks as well.
3. Don’t get too attached to the outcome
Make sure you don’t get too attached to the results of your tasks. Do your things after planning and focus on the methods rather than the result. Productivity doesn’t guarantee success in every task. Just keep trying until you get it right. You should practice it as a lifestyle to get more things done.
4. Ditch the office!
No, I don’t mean to quit your job! I mean taking advantage of remote work as it contributes to your productivity and reduces office distractions.
Working remotely is also known to reduce stress and anxiety and at the same time, improve concentration. An office environment is full of distractions. When you work from home, you reduce time-consuming activities like commuting or chatting, leaving you a lot of time to get work done.
5. Music can help you improve concentration
It’s pretty established that listening to sounds while working can improve concentration. A study by researchers at the University of Illinois found that a level of ambient noise typical of a bustling coffee shop or a television playing in a living room, about 70 decibels, enhanced performance compared with the relative quiet of 50 decibels. However, for best results, it’s better to experiment by listening to different kinds and genres of music and see what music improves your concentration more.
Mastering productivity can help you defeat both personal and professional tasks. The best thing you can do to get onto the path toward productivity is to get aware of your distractions and know the challenges. Only when you know the exact problem can you find the appropriate solution. Using productivity techniques like Pomodoro are great for keeping your brain focused on one task at a time, keeping you away from multitasking.
