Episode #4 - Strong productivity hacks you need right now

You've got things to do, people to meet, places to go... but only 24 hours in a day. Let's figure out how you can get more done in less time! Here are my 12 productivity hacks to do just that.

These are things that I do on regular bases and these have been game changers for me.

Are you ready?

Lets go.

1. Only "work on purpose" - so often we sit down to work with a very vague idea on what we are going to be doing and without a clear intention. This means we can get to end of the day without really having accomplished that much. I encourage you to take your planner and not just have a list of to-dos but actually before you start working open it up and write down what are you going to accomplish. Like - finish report, answer ten emails, send proposal or make the presentation. You need something that has clear and finished outcome. We want to be producing things all the time and not just working mindlessly.

2. Eliminate Distractions - we live in a busy world and there are so many things taking our attention all the time and most of them are coming out of our mobile phones. So take your phone and put it on airplane setting while you are working. This was the biggest game changer to me. Now when I deleted all of my social media channels its even easier to step away from that distraction. Read more about my story HERE. I`m not saying do the same, but finding the ways how to minimize these distractions will help you big time.

3. Set yourself a deadline - Before I start each task I set myself a deadline. For example: I give myself a certain amount of time to accomplish the task. This will mean working my ass off non-stop for 1 hour and then take a little break. Or set a timer to 20 minutes and that`s all the allowed time for me to answer emails. You get my vibe. Make a game out of it. It will be fun, productive and you will crush those goals.

4. Remember that sometimes "done is better than perfect" - sometimes we waste so much time of redoing our own work as we are not satisfied with it. (I`m a total perfectionist so I totally get it) Of course quality is definitely important, but sometimes its better to have things to be done rather than perfect. So do your absolute best, but then be able to step away from it and let it be finished. Move on to the next thing.

5. Sharpen the ax - there is a famous quote that goes something like this "if I would have 10 hours to chop down the tree I would spent the first nine hours sharpening the ax and the last one hour actually chopping down the tree" Basically what it means in this context is that we need to be working on ourselves, our skills or our tools so we can do our work more effectively. And what it can mean practically to you is that whatever it is you are spending a lot of time doing, or you have to do over and over again - if you can learn how to do that things faster and more effectively then you can be a whole lot more productive. So take some time and think about all the things you spend a lot of time doing and then figure out how you can get better at doing it.

6. Unsubscribe and Unfollow - Lets be honest your inbox is probably too full with different newsletters and too many things you have subscribed to. You might also have a lot of accounts you follow on social media that doesn`t really add much value to your life and might be even a distraction or really getting you down so be intentional about who you following to and who you are subscribing to. Choose actively unfollow and unsubscribe so that you are not wasting time on these things that aren`t adding any value to your life.

7. Say no to more things. Specifically say no to things that doesn`t support your big goals. That doesn't mean to say no to spending time with family, friends or going on holiday. It means be mindful about your big goals and make intentional choices every day to support them.

8. Use templates - if there is something you have to write over and over again, or use a particular response to emails you get on a regular bases then write an email response that you can save as a template and then just copy and paste it over and customize it as required.

9. Save your work constantly - We all been in a situation where we have worked hard on something for hours and then computer crashes or the programme crashes or something else goes wrong and you lost all that time you put into it. And it always is so awful and so annoying because it wasted so much time. So become obsessive about saving your work every 10-15 minutes.

10. Be realistic about what you are wasting your time on. We all have those things that we are just spending a way too much time on. Maybe for you its scrolling through social media, or watching Netflix, TV or something like that. If you can figure out where your time is wasted then it will be easier for you to cut that thing out. For me it was social media, so I deleted it all. You don`t have to follow me on this and delete your social media, but you can try to minimize the time you spend each day scrolling. Put an app on your phone that tracks the time you spend on each social media platform. You might be surprised. (Try app breakfree)

11. Schedule "white space" on your calendar. Its the time which you choose to not schedule anything. Its the time that is to-do free, appointment free, task free. This will make you a lot more productive. Because when you do give yourself this white space it helps you to be more relaxed which allows you to be more creative and it gives you the time to be more thoughtful about things in general. That can allow you to prioritize better, get more clear on what you actually want to focus on and to solve problems more creatively.

12. Plan your day a night before. I like to do it on my planner - I list every single day I want to do the next day , it allows you to be more intentional about what you are spending your time on . You can look at the list of your goals and priorities in your life and you can plan tasks that will help you to get closer to those goals and be in alignment with those priorities. That way you wont need to waste your time in the morning to figure out what you are doing for the day .

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I hope you found this discussion interesting. Now I want to hear from you, comment down below what is your number one productivity hack and how does it help you to get more done.

If you liked this article, please consider subscribing to this channel if you want to keep in touch.

But for now, I will be rediscovering the things I liked before social media and exploring myself inwards. I am redirecting my energy to things more aligned to my goals, values and interests. I will keep capturing this journey one article at a time.

Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.

Franz Kafka

Stay humble,

Liv.