10 Things I'm Doing To Be More Productive (even though I loathe trying to maximize my time for productivity)
I have a love/hate relationship with productivity.
Sure, being "productive," which is a nebulous term with no defining purpose (for what are you being productive, and why?), can help accomplish a goal.
I want to hike up a mountain, and I want to do it in three hours; therefore, I must be productive (i.e., efficient) with my time to accomplish this goal.
Never mind that part of the point of climbing a mountain is to enjoy the experience, something that is more easily done by not rushing to meet some arbitrary timeline.
That said, there are times in life when, if I truly need to get something done by a specific time, I have to buckle down and be "productive."
Sigh.
So, here is what I have implemented in my life recently to increase my productivity.
I'll add a side note that I've done this while traveling for the better part of the last five weeks, so these techniques could be implemented by almost anyone at any time.
1. I started waking up at 3:00 am.
As discussed here: https://notepd.com/idea/10-reasons-why-i-started-waking-up-at-300-am-hccoz
2. I joined a mastermind.
Well, I sort of jointly started one with three other outstanding entrepreneurs. We held our first meeting yesterday.
3. I asked a friend to hold me accountable for a specific task I need to complete once per week.
Much like the mastermind, this is an age-old tactic to make sure things get done.
4. I structure my days with a task list arranged by order of priority.
Simple but effective.
5. I use the Eisenhower Matrix to help identify priority tasks.
An excellent method for weeding out the less important and less urgent tasks. You can read more about it here: https://jamesclear.com/eisenhower-box
6. I constantly reassess my priorities.
Things change throughout a given day, which means an increasing number of tasks get added to my list. Some of them are important and urgent (see #5 above), and therefore need to be moved up the list. Others can be added to the list but don't need attention until much later. So, I periodically review my list to ensure I'm truly working on the most important thing at that time.
7. I don't mess around in the morning.
I still linger a little over coffee when I first wake up, but otherwise I'm up and moving fairly quickly.
8. I joined a community where the members run similar businesses as my own.
Nothing better than being part of a like-minded community for support and to support others.
9. I removed all applications from my phone that I don't regularly use.
The smartphone is the world's greatest instrument of distraction.
10. I am starting to outsource more work.
Going back to the Eisenhower Matrix, I am increasingly looking at the tasks that are not important and/or not urgent and asking myself if someone else can do them.
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