A Personal Guide to Productivity
Productivity is one of the biggest key measures in work performance across many different fields and many different disciplines. It can also help set expectations in one's personal life, too. With many people working from home nowadays, it can be hard to concentrate. So many things have the potential to distract us in a place where we're used to being distracted. For example, the people we live with, pets who want your attention, laundry that needs folding or dishes that need to be put away.
Bringing your work home with you might also feel invasive at times. It allows stressors to invade a space that was originally meant to make you feel comfortable. Maybe looking at your laptop makes you think of your next virtual meeting instead of your next Netflix session. You might find yourself relaxing on the couch, only to get distracted by work email notifications on your phone. Working from home can both increase productivity and decrease productivity, depending on how you spin it. You might not have to commute to the office anymore, but now more than ever, it can be harder to escape work obligations. This inevitably leads to increased stress and decreased performance.
Productivity plays a big role in routine and vice versa. Like a lot of kids, I was a big procrastinator back in elementary school. Routine was whatever, efficiency was whatever - none of it mattered to me. I would finish my homework when it was finished. It was only when I got to high school, then university, that I understood why it was important. In this post, I'm going to cover some key productivity tips and tricks that I have learned over time.
WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA
Growing up, I came to eventually appreciate the school agenda that we got at the beginning of every academic year. I didn't love the look of it - the clear spiral binding, the school logo on the cover, the wide ruled lines - but I appreciated what it was meant to be. Quite simply, it kept track of my tests, my homework, and my extracurriculars. It provided dates and school holidays and other little conveniences to help me stay on top of things. For me, the school agenda was the start of recognizing the importance of being organized.
The school agenda, and other basic journals like it, are for those who want to keep things simple, those who don't want to think too much about it, and those who get overwhelmed by choice. Here are some takeaways to keep in mind:
Choose an organization system that will put in the work that you do not want to do yourself.
If you're not interested in tracking dates and holidays yourself, don't get an undated journal. If you like to doodle alongside your daily tasks, pick up something with some blank spaces or pages for you to get creative.
Making an impulse buy at your local stationery store for the prettiest agenda you can find or the one most recommended online will not serve your productivity needs in the end. Consider what you need to make things easier for you before you invest in anything.
Keep track of what you need first. THEN think about what you want.
Ask yourself what you're actually trying to accomplish with your organization system. Is it for improving your work performance? Is it for staying on top of your home life? Or is it both? There are plenty of articles out there telling you how to track anything and everything, from your finances to your fitness, from the movies you watch to the music you listen to. But first, ask yourself what is necessary for you and you alone.
Maybe all you need is somewhere to jot down your meetings or your due dates. Maybe you want to plan your days down to the minute. Either way, make sure your own system doesn't overwhelm you. Know that changing and adjusting your means of productivity is normal and expected.
BITING THE BULLET (JOURNAL)
The concept of the bullet journal first came to me through study blogs, sometimes referred to as "studyblrs", on Tumblr. The bullet journal, conceptualized by Ryder Carroll, is a freeform organization system that allows you to customize it in whatever way you want. Make it methodical and precise, make it fun and creative, or somewhere in between. I've used a handful of different bullet journals in the past and have finished a few Leuchtterm 1917's. I'm currently using an undated Mossery Twinbook, which is half-planner, half-dotted pages for lists and doodles.
The bullet journal is for those who want to strike a balance between a systemic approach and a flexible approach, those who like to be creative where they can, and those who like the ability to experiment and switch things up. Here are some things that the bullet journal can teach us:
Do not feel pressured to fill every waking minute of your day with something to do.
As silly as it may sound in a blog post about productivity, I personally think people put too much emphasis on being productive. I've seen schedules where a single day was packed with an entire week's worth of tasks. If your day consists of doing a month of meal planning, assembling an entire IKEA dining set, filing your taxes, and finishing five loads of laundry, you just might be overdoing it.
Some people love being busy, and that's perfectly fine. But being productive shouldn't be about doing everything you possibly can in the shortest amount of time. It should be about doing everything you can to the best of your ability and recognizing when to save that last load of laundry for tomorrow.
Take some time to recognize what is working and what isn't.
It can be pretty easy to fall into the trap of feeling stuck. Maybe you started ordering groceries online to give you more time during the week, only to find that your preferred products are out of stock and now you have substitutes you didn't want. Maybe you signed up for yoga classes to help you de-stress after work, except the instructor's teaching style is only making you more anxious.
When possible, take a moment to pause. Start by assessing all the products and services you're using that are supposed to help you. Then, consider getting rid of what isn't doing its job. It isn't a sign of you failing to know what you need. It's simply just recognizing that something isn't working out. Don't forget to enjoy the small victories, either! If you develop an unexpected new love for yoga, that's worth being happy about.
GOING DIGITAL NATIVE
By the time I started working on my diploma in business, I had switched to a digital-based system. When I was in fashion, we didn't have traditional sit-down lectures very often, so I didn't need my laptop to take notes. But once I was taking marketing, accounting, economics, and so on, keeping on top of my classes meant a lot of typing. I started with the standard Notes app, then Agenda. Today, I use Notion, which has all the features and functionality that I personally look for.
Keeping a digital system is ideal for those who are constantly on the go, those who consistently collaborate with others, and those who are keeping track of a wide variety of variables. Here are some takeaways of note:
Never limit yourself to just one approach until you're sure there is no room for improvement.
There is nothing that says you have to stick with a physical or digital system of productivity. Think of it as and/or, not just or. Maybe, like me, you keep a digital agenda and a bullet journal. For example, you might keep track of your due dates in one format and take meeting notes in the other.
However, be careful not to overlap if you're using more than one approach. There is no need to write down your project planning steps in five different places. Otherwise, you're creating redundancies and unnecessary extra work for yourself.
When possible, keep your organization of your work life and your personal life separate.
Most, if not all of us, have different mindsets at home compared to the office. There may be a stronger desire for perfection in your work life, but less urgency. Your errands and hobbies may require less focus but a higher sense of time-sensitivity (take a look at the urgent-important matrix for more details). In my Notion app, I have two separate workspaces for personal and work-related tasks so those mindsets don't clash.
Breaking tasks apart into smaller, more attainable chunks will also make everything seem easier. Instead of the generic "complete report", write down all the steps of what completing that report requires. Even basic things like "grocery shopping" and "clean the bathroom" may benefit a little bit more detail. If nothing else, checking off several little checkboxes instead of just one big one can feel oddly satisfying.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There are lots of different approaches to incorporating productivity methods into your work and personal life. It is not a one-size-fits-all. When I was in studying fashion, I was quick to realize that I was not the most creative or technically skilled person there. But I was often one of the first people to finish projects and meet deadlines. It wasn't because I rushed, or because I sacrificed quality or investment. It was because I had learned one very important thing:
Give yourself room to make mistakes.
When planning your day or your week, your big project or your small task, think about what you're not good at. Maybe you're working from home and you get easily distracted by phones and computers. Maybe you have a big essay due, but you're not the fastest typer. To save yourself from falling behind and getting stressed, it may be as simple as giving yourself more time. While we certainly don't have all the time in the world to do this, we should take the time to evaluate our priorities and our abilities. Instead of assuming you can finish off that essay in three hours, give yourself four hours. That might mean doing your less urgent tasks tomorrow, or making a quick meal instead of something more indulgent. It might feel like you've failed to manage your time in the moment. But it actually means you've recognized your weak spots and are accommodating for them. For me, I was a slow sewer in the fashion program and prone to making mistakes. Once I started giving myself two hours to sew a set of sleeves instead of one, I stopped feeling like I was behind. I was meeting my own realistic expectations instead of pushing my limits. And if I happened to finish in one hour instead, that felt pretty good, too.
