My team went over productivity tips and this is what wasn’t mentioned
Productivity is constantly evolving with tools but for the most part the foundations are the same. Some might include: start the morning right, take control over your habits, systems over goals, time management, etc.
To benefit in the long run, we want to change our habits as opposed to using substances or enhancements like Adderrall or caffeine. There is no doubt these are effective, but for how long and at what cost financially, physically, and mentally?
According to the NIH — ’Roughly 16 million Americans used prescription stimulants including Adderall in 2017. That number rose even higher after the advent of the COVID pandemic.’
According to market analytics provided by Trilliant Health — ’Although prescriptions for people under the age of 21 remained fairly stable, the number of patients aged 22–44 with Adderall prescriptions jumped 7.4% between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020. It jumped another 15.1% the next year.’
It’s important to note that there is a clear distinction between prescription and misuse.
Take a moment and reflect on how you start your day, how you structure it, what you are intentional about, and what areas could be improved?
While there are tools like Notion, Todoist, Evernote, etc. and while they do help with productivity, they are more complimentary than anything.
Below are practices that have stood the test of time or bits of knowledge, shared with the intent of addressing the root cause of unsteady productivity over time by changing who we are at the core.
Pomodoro timer
What/How?
Uninterrupted 25 minutes followed by a 5 minute break.
Why?
“The idea behind the technique is that the timer instills a sense of urgency. Rather than feeling like you have endless time in the workday to get things done and then ultimately squandering those precious work hours on distractions, you know you only have 25 minutes to make as much progress on a task as possible.”
Habits and productivity is easier to follow when in cycles or predictable cadences rather than being randomness and/or impulse.
The key here is to set a target so you can orient yourself towards a goal but also keeping in mind that it is meant to help guide you and not be a strictly enforced rule or harshly judging yourself against it.
Parkinson’s law
What?
“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
When we’re given a deadline, we don’t usually question it or shorten it. Although, in most cases, there is an opportunity to trim it down and achieve it within a more reasonable/realistic time frame. Often we find ourselves procrastinating the work until the end and filling the time with trivial matters.
If you give yourself 1 week to complete something that can be done in a day, you’ll use 1 week. Also, it is likely that you’ll add unnecessary complexity. The idea here is to give yourself less time as the focus and effort increases.
Atomic Habits (book excerpt)
What?
While there are many effective takeaways from this book, one that stood out to me is Law 1 — Make it obvious.
How?
Give your goal a time and a place.
As a designer, instead of ‘complete wireframes’, I would try ‘complete 2 wireframes by 1PM today’.
I gave myself a target (deadline) and made it quantifiable (measurable).
Planners
Why?
To compliment and tie these strategies together, it helps to have a tangible place to note your plans and hold yourself accountable. Each morning, try writing what you want to accomplish and give each item a time and a place. Seeing it and having that reminder will help you orient yourself to that activity. Keeping a planner or journal like this stored in a way in which it can be brought anywhere will inevitably create a snowball effect of the habits evident in the planner.
Where?
Lot’s of effective and diverse planners are available on Etsy and made easy to purchase and use immediately by including ‘printable’ or ‘downloadable’ versions.
Timing
There are different ways to look at when and where to place the more difficult or dreadful tasks. Some research suggests placing it at the beginning of your day due to the idea behind ‘will power’ and how choices and decisions you make throughout your day does drain your ‘will power’ tank. The more will power you have, the more energy and focus you’ll have to enduring difficult or onerous tasks.
Also, we tend to be more alert in the mornings due to light exposure (sunshine) and circadian rhythm.
Closing
To really wind back the clock on the history of productivity, the Stoics in particular were striving for ways to optimize their day. In regards to journaling, here is one popular quote:
‘Prepare for the day ahead; Review the day that just passed.
