Productivity and Time Management Hacks
…but not as you may know them…
As a business, founder, board director and all out - wild hobby-collector, the following blog entries address 5 of the key things I do in my everyday life that actually ‘move the needle’ in my productivity and ability to effectively manage my time at work!
Aaaannnd I should add - I didn’t simply read a couple of books on Time Management or listen to a few famous peoples podcasts (well, ok, I did do that too) and decide to write these entries.
…
Beyond the typical hacks that tend to work in the 1st week - I was keen to know and understand the not-so-common hacks that actually worked in week 2 and beyond!
Like all things in both my personal and professional life, I tried to increase my productivity - I dabbled with some basic habits, played out ideas, took pieces of them that worked and discarded the pieces that didn’t.
So while these 5 key changes, I go on to detail through this blog have been a complete game changer for me, they may not work for you and to that end I encourage you to dabble and discard to the extent that it proves useful to you too. xo
This encouragement of adaptability - well it’s kinda my mantra - in many ways.
The thing I’ve become known for - if you ask my clients.
I’m willing to adapt when something no longer serves and like to think I’m always open to feedback (on a bad day, I might struggle a little with the negative) but no matter what I love to receive it. Truly!
So heck - if you’re reading through these and think ooooh, you know what else should be on the list: ‘x,’ well then reach out/comment - I’d love for this to be more of a working live piece.
On this note then - onto the main point of this post - to inform with an intent to empower you, my friend.
When reading through these blog posts - I encourage you to think less:
big picture dot points that just work; and
more, what they mean and how that shows up in my life and may in yours too! xo
Drum roll, please…
Number 1 - quite literally ‘straight out of the gates’ - in the oddest of odd ways - ‘cause after all - shouldn’t this be a list about doing?!
EMBRACE IDLENESS AND REFLECTION:
Allow yourself moments of idleness and reflection. I didn’t actually read about this productivity hack anywhere - rather forgot my phone in the office while stepping out for lunch on a few occasions and beyond the immediate audible “damn it!” frustration, was an unexpected moment of gratefulness.
Gratitude for this shift in gear.
From the go-go-go in-office gear: damn, I have so much to do, so many things I need to follow up on in my phone (email responses, social media post comments to be made, voicemails to be checked [let’s face it these lists are long!]) and yet I can’t (insert super frustrated face!)…
to new ponderings…
A break from the often overwhelming monotony of work thoughts.
Those are nice plants over there
I really should clean these shoes
Has this footpath always had an etching at the edge?
The forced quiet, started to foster my creativity.
Over time I even noticed an enhancement in my problem-solving abilities…
I’m totally going to plant those flowers between my herbs to keep the weeds down
maybe ‘x’ person at work felt attacked when I remarked on their work and they didn’t mean to be so rude in their response
hmmm, maybe I’ll offer to catch up with them over a cuppa tomorrow avo. Help smooth things over and get going on a ‘clean slate.’
My mind would wander free - it wasn’t scheduled to be somewhere.
It wasn’t tasked with judging whether my output was good enough - not unlike many of the weeds I saw for the first time (in a cafe I’d been frequenting for years!) it was free-flowing and within the free-flow, this is where unbeknownst to me, my brain could finally switch off.
I could see more.
The irony hey: focus less, see more.
As ‘damn it’ moments arose, where yet again - I’d left the office without phone in hand - I noticed upon returning that I had fresh perspectives on:
Ideas for the week ahead
several meetings for the day
mulling overs (is that even a word?!)
My output increased!
So embrace the idle moments and if your day doesn’t naturally allow for them (woken up to the kiddo’s crawling all over you?! being a parent means toilet time isn’t even alone much of the time?!) then I encourage you to:
LEAVE YOUR PHONE BEHIND!
Create intent in this action.
Try it for a couple of weeks - you very likely will be surprised and hey, if you don’t see the productivity uplift I’ve spoken to here - then you had a little less time on the phone and from a Neuroscience perspective - your prefrontal cortex will thank you for it! Trust me.
What’s this Neuroscience perspective I speak of?
The neural machinery of your prefrontal cortex and its ability to have you stay focused on the task at hand may very well keep the cascade of neurotransmitters generated deep within the brain from triggering a panicked tide of emotion (which might show up as that busy/anxious feeling) and promote overall well-being (which likely shows up as you feeling more rested, more at ease) and dare I say it - more wiling and wanting to do work!
Taking breaks to engage in activities like daydreaming or mind-wandering can actually enhance productivity and provide a fresh perspective on challenges. Yep - the very challenges that unchecked, often make us feel a little stuck in overwhelm!
And trust me I get it - as a People Manger for nearly 2 decades now (wowsa, even that surprises me!) feeling overwhelmed became part of my (toxic!) norm. I only wished I’d tried this earlier in my career - and hey - if you do find yourself reading through this, thinking yeah - it may help, but I'm in a world of burn-out hurt - then reach out. As a qualified Behavioural Scientist, Leadership Coach and Career Coaching Strategist - there’s a few ways you can choose to work with me. Let’s chat. xo
