How do you keep yourself productive & focused during working days?
Kazimieras Melaika
63 replies
From time to time we all need some productivity and focus tips, or techniques on how we can take control of procrastination. Staying highly motivated and fully hands-on in the work we do is crucial to reaching our set goals. Share your experience!
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Biema Christina Banez@bibim_banez
"A healthy mind lives in a healthy body."
Since I changed my diet & lifestyle, rested well, and meditated more often— I have begun seeing improvements in my productivity and focus. Although I admit I'm still working on it, I see eating greens and drinking teas are all worth it! ;)
So ... invest in health & well-being. It's sustainable productivity, making it a lifestyle.
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@bibim_banez Healthy diet, sleep routine, and sports are crucial to keep a healthy mind and body : ) Thanks!
While researching my productivity problem, I almost fell into the information trap of the Internet again. I looked for different methods but did not even try them. It always seemed to me that I should first gain a lot of different experiences and techniques and then pick something up.
But I stopped in time, and I started reading primary sources. Specifically, a book about the brain: to understand how we work, what drives us, and why some people are mega-productive, and others are not.
And here are my conclusions:
1) Learn new things with a notebook and a pen!
2) Learn to prioritize
3) Down with multitasking.
4) While working, take breaks. And not just for lunch.
@evgeniyyakubovckiy love your tips, especially 2 and 3. I use a paper notebook and also highlight in books!
@evgeniyyakubovckiy Nice tips! I find 2 and 4 the most useful. While you can work non-stop, it's better to do it with intelligence. Deep work for 2 hours, followed by a break to get ready for the second cycle and so on. You need to plan and prioritize your work day!
taking mental and physical breaks in the day help me alot
@jimmy_spikes I think it's one of the most important things. Keeping your mind and body calm and giving some time off between tasks is crucial.
I follow these steps to be productive and focused during working days
- writing down my tasks before starting the day and the completion of each task gives me motivation.
- keep a water bottle near my table.
- putting my phone on focused mode.
- taking a short break after completion of each task.
@daksh_bhardwaj I love the apple ios updates (the find focus in the day)! Very valuable feature. I think people underestimate the importance of hydration for their productivity and focus. Water is the driving force of all nature!
Building a detailed time frame for anything and trying to prioritize the important things first.
1) Start discovering successful people in your field on social networks and follow them. On Twitter, you can find the most valuable people who share their thoughts and actions every day.
2) Start doing small, short-term things so you can see the result quickly. Don't focus on things or products that require a lot of time, effort, and money. You risk losing your motivation in the middle of the road.
@dima_botezatu Twitter or LinkedIn posts helps a lot to keep the motivation. However, long-term tasks are also usually very important
productivity needs freedom and running a company needs routine and discipline.
finding the balance is hard.
that's why I hire people to be productive for me. hahaha
YouTube has some awesome productivity music playlists
Hi!
Yes, you have a good and useful product:)
And as for productivity - it's important how you set yourself up. Thoughts can both ruin things and bring back productivity. I have a mountain of tasks right now - preparing for the release of our inqoob constructor. I'm clearly writing down what's a priority and ticking off what's already done - I'm motivated by those checkmarks that I'm getting everything done on time.
Red Bull, a hard out deadline each day, and a quiet room with zero distractions.
@rehan_choudhry1 Coffee or redbull, which one is better?
@rehan_choudhry1 I somehow feel good without Red Bull or coffee, haha. Don't need those things yet, but I'm pretty sure my time will come.
There are a couple of things that work for me:
1) Short coffee breaks every now and then.
2) Timeboxing tasks and monotasking. I also find it very useful to mix up repetitive tasks with other things to refresh, such as a german class or a workout (I can only do this because I work flexible hours).
3) Building a timeline for the day, organization is my main drive!
@martina_hackbartt I prefer water breaks instead of coffee. It somehow doesn't work too good for me (drinking coffee), gets harder to focus
With noise cancelling headphones and listening to brown noise, trust me it works!
Nowadays problems with motivation to do even something you like. To keep youself motivated during your working days much more harder.
So what do I do. Firstly, I have gotten a legal pad to write down something I don`t really want to forget. What I realize, that my memoes became a good remind of my progression in something. I usually reflection twice a month, during this procedure I look into my pad and mark the things, that I think I`ve done right or not. That`s really helps a lot with an understanding of common mistakes, that causes a decreasing tempo of progression.
Secondly, I always keep in mind why am I here. You shouldn`t decieve yourself. If your job only brings you money and nothing like a joy, you should say youself "okay, I should just do my best, so maybe I`ll earn more money in future to buy something I really need or want". That`s what I`ve done, when I worked as a waiter, but it helps me to achieve some goals, like to buy a good bass guitar and some equipement, so now I am free most of the time, because I`m a cover band musician, I do what I like and earn money on it. But I should mark I worked hard for 3 years on a job a have no joy from to get the work of a dream now. There is no way to dream without sacrifice
I hope I`ve helped someone)
@billy_armstrong Sounds like you have a strict working routine and you're very self-sufficient and highly mindfulness : ) Thanks!
@kmelaika Well, I had to work with strict routine as a waiter and it was mentally hard, so I had to do something with it. Now I am just setting goals and trying to achieve them in a strict period of time. It is just a dicipline with yourself, but it is one of the most important thing in self-growing.
I know my focus/energy peaks and try to schedule key activities into these slots while resting during dips of energy. Also, time slotting and good sleep
Goal setting and prioritisation are my keys to success. Every morning I make a list of must haves and nice to haves for the day. I take care of the must haves first and everything else I get to that day is a bonus. I timebox my efforts so I do not fall into rabbit holes - getting lost in the work.
@jennifersafox Whenever you're lost, you shouldn't be afraid to get some help from other teammates or just leave the task for some other time during that day
a gazillion cups of tea does the trick for me, :D
@saaiha_shakaib Haha, it usually makes me sleepy, but getting something warm in the morning really helps
@saaiha_shakaib I somehow don't have a habit of drinking coffee yet and I don't really like it, haha :D I usually just drink water and one cup of tea in the morning.
Coffee!!
@ksusha_golovchenko I somehow don't really like coffee and it doesn't help me. Instead, I drink much water
Things that I do are create a list and prioritize my task. This seems to be really effective. And great platform, can’t wait to see more 😄
Meditation and Pomodoro technique is a great base to start.
And of course banal things like Sport, Healthy Food, Strict Bedtime Schedule, Refresh on Weekend etc
It helps me to keep focus and avoid burnout for last 5 years :)