8 hacks for a more productive daily life

0
lifestyle

Productivity is something we all would like to have more in our lives. Ending a day with the feeling of achievement is one of the best things. But then there are those days when you just don’t want to do anything and it turns into a cycle of procrastination that doesn’t move you forward in life. To help you get over that, we have compiled 8 hacks on how to keep that motivation going and live a more productive life!

Pomodoro method

Are you familiar with the Pomodoro method? It is very simple – put your timer on for 25 minutes, do your work/the thing you want to get done for those 25 minutes, and then have a rest for 5 minutes. After 4 Pomodoro sessions (equivalent to 2 hours), take a 30 minute long break.

It is important to remove any distractions during that 25-minute time – put your phone away, check your bladder, let pets out of the room, prepare warm tea and snacks if needed and do the work for 25 minutes straight. Since 25 minutes is not a very long period of time, it is relatively easy to be concentrated during that time.

If you are working alone at home but you like the feeling of a company that someone is working with you, you can find on YouTube several creators who share their Pomodoro experience in real-time and offer to virtually study/work together with them. Those are calm videos, with no distraction – just someone filming how they do their tasks at the desk.

Start with 10 minutes

In addition to the Pomodoro method, if you feel like you cannot pull yourself together for 25 minutes, try smaller amounts. Sometimes the key is just to get started and on days when that is extremely hard, you can trick yourself by telling that you will do the task only for 5 or 10 minutes. It is a very small amount of time that you can definitely dedicate to the task you need to get done. After that you can check with yourself do you really feel like that is not the thing to do today. If not, just leave it and come back to it later. But chances are you will keep working on it because the task wasn’t a problem, you just had a mental block for starting it.

Don’t forget lunch

Food is important to feel fresh, strong, and lively. Why do we then so often forget to have proper meals? Food plays an important role in leading a productive life – healthy meals and snacks provide good nutrition for the body. A body that is well fed, will feel physically good. And feeling physically good will contribute to more productivity as it is so much better to do any tasks when you feel fantastic in your body.

Forgetting about lunch or proper meals regulary deprives your body of the nutrients it needs to function. You start to feel sleepy, tired, and maybe even experience brain fog. Those are things that lead to mindless scrolling and lots of TV consumption – activities that do not help you achieve your goals and live a productive life.

So, pack your lunch or go out for a healthy meal, but never ever forget to eat during the day!

Include a short meditation

Meditation is a spa for your mind and mental state. Why not pamper yourself for a moment or two? Meditation will help your mind to calm down, will increase your focus, and help you feel more put together. And you don’t know, maybe some good thoughts or ideas will come to you during meditation! That wouldn’t be a suprsise. Also, don’t worry if you fall asleep, having a 10-minute power nap also is a good idea, especially if you really needed it. If you are not into meditation you can try mindfulness exercises or similar practices. 

Movement medicine

Any movement contributes to better circulation and blood flow which improves brain function as well. If you are feeling drowsy, try doing some exercises for a few minutes – do some squats or lunges. If you have the space, you can do pushups or jumping jacks. A 10 minute quick yoga will do the trick as well. If you work in an office and don’t feel confident enough to start working out during a workday, have a walk. Go outside for a few minutes or make a lap around the building.

Experience outdoors

Even though we have built our lives to spend lots of time indoors, our bodies crave outdoors experiences – sun, rain, wind, and the fresh air. Even in the city, a brisk walk is a good way how to get that outdoors feeling. Whenever it is possible, go outside! During your lunch break, go sit on the bench in sun! If you can – walk home from work.

Surround yourself with positive messages

It is good to keep reminders of what you want to achieve or how you want to feel by hand. A good way how to do it is not just with post-it notes or phone or desktop screensavers, but with intentional home or office decor.

Create custom canvas or custom posters with sayings you enjoy! You can even print out your vision board collage on a big poster and keep it visible. Or go a little bit subtle just by having artwork that supports you. For example, a canvas that says “You can do it!” is simple but still effective. Or if your goal for working hard now, is to travel full-time in a few years, a minimalistic poster or canvas with just one word “TRAVEL” might do the trick to remind yourself why you are sitting through the boring hours at your computer now.

If you are wondering, where could you get a custom canvas or posters, wonder no more! There are lots of print on demand companies that will print whatever you have in mind. One of the print on demand supplier companies is printseekers.com. You can check out their offer and gain inspiration what you can do with blank canvas.

Take care of yourself and your environment

Taking care of yourself now is the key to productive life later. Good food, good sleep, good rest, and enjoyable social activities – all of that contribute to a better life and higher productivity. One thing to keep in mind though, if you struggle with productivity daily for a long period of time, you might need to consider if the job you are doing is for you. Maybe you are just pushing yourself to do something you are not meant to do. But no worries, if you are sure about what you want to do, but still have difficulties being productive, we all have those days. Achieving dreams is not easy-breezy, it usually means a lot of boring and hard work, and sweet victory later.

However, to keep yourself on track and feeling productive, make sure you take care not just of yourself, but also of your surroundings. If you work from home, take time to clean the room and tidy up the desk. Organize things so everything has its own place. When you walk into your working room, you need no distraction, you need inspiration! Clean and tidy rooms that represent you and your values, do that very well.

Conclusion

Be compassionate to yourself if you still struggle with productivity even after trying out these hacks. You need to find something that will work specifically for you, so experiment, try new things, and work on discipline! Productivity will follow.