3 Ways to Be More Productive
Words by Danielle Roberts // Image by Robin Jansky
Are you ready to feel like you’ve gotten something done today?
Several months ago, I decided that I was done living everyone else’s life through social media. Their life was not my life. My goals, dreams and aspirations would never happen unless I spent dedicated time to actually accomplish what needed to be done in my life, instead of watching the highlights from someone else’s. Cutting out a majority of the time I spent on social media put more time back in my day, so I could do what was important for me. Now, I still am active on social media, but I stay aware of how I’m spending my time. I want to use my time well so I have time for living my life.
My reasons for being productive are all the things I want to do in my own life. You have to know why it is that you want to get things finished, instead of just trying to do things without a purpose. So, friend, what is your purpose? What is your “why” for wanting to be more productive?
Got your purpose? Great, because I’m going to share three things you can do right now to have more productivity in your life. Everyone has the same 168 hours in their week; you do too. You can do this!
There are three things that I see as important for more productivity. You might not need or want to implement them all. As with anything, changing habits takes time. Be patient with yourself and remember, it’s a work in progress; you don’t need to make changes all at once.
Here are my strategies for success:
1. PRIORITIZE YOUR LIFE
Do you know everything you do every day? How about every week? When you want to do more with your time, it’s important to know what you do every day.
Think about what it is that you want to achieve in your life, in the next five years, even in the next year. What will help you get there? Once you know where you’re headed, you can set your priorities and know what you need to do for everyday survival. If you’re a parent, then you have rearing your child as a priority. Also, count the time you spend helping others and with those you love. I recommend no more than five priorities so you don’t get spread too thin.
For me, my top priorities are my relationship with Jesus, my family, my health, my business, and finishing my college education. Even with those five things, I’m spread pretty thin. Since I’ve identified those five priorities, I’m then able to say “no” to extra things that don’t help me get to where I want to be.
What about the not so fun and unwanted things that need to get done like paying bills, cleaning toilets, and other activities? Make a set amount of time for them so you know when you’ll be working on those and when they’ll be finished. You have non-negotiables that are a part of real adult life; whether you want to do them or not, they’re still a priority. My furnace is pretty darn important right now in the middle of February in Wisconsin.
Activities that may be a secondary priority are things you make time for occasionally. For me, that’s time with girlfriends. I don’t have a lot of wiggle room in my schedule, but I’m able to make time for it every once in a while. You may have noticed I didn’t put friendships in my top five priorities; I did that on purpose. At this time in my life, I’m not able to make it a regular part of my week, or even month for that matter. I still keep in contact, but face to face isn’t always possible. You might be in a different place where you have that as a top priority.
What you will notice when you create priorities is that you’re able to focus in on what’s important. You narrow your vision on how much you can and should do in the time you have. Productivity comes out of this space of being clear on what you need to do and then figuring out what steps will get you there. Whether you’re a fan of check lists, notes, online tools that help keep things moving forward, or another method, it’s important to note what you’ve decided as a priority. Then you know what you need to get done.
To take care of my family priority means I dedicate time to driving the kids back and forth to school, cooking, cleaning, cuddling, taking care of them when they’re sick, and performing other motherly duties. I also aim for weekly date nights with my husband. That alone fills up a lot of time on my calendar. I have a schedule where I write out my routine, along with special events like birthday parties.
My husband and I decided that our priority for the family was education at the local Catholic school, so that means my priority is taking the kids to school every morning at 8 a.m. I feel productive when I’m able to get them packed up and out the door to school. Then I can move on to the other things I need to do to keep the household running. This has become a routine, but it didn’t start out that way. I had to write down all the things I needed to clean, what meals we need to make, what I needed to do, and how they were going to get done.
For my business, I want to grow my essential oils company, and as a result I dedicate time to educating others, touching base with my team, and learning more about oils. This isn’t a huge part of my schedule each week, but having it as a priority allows me to set different goals for each month that I can work toward. When I work towards my goals, I feel more productive and I start seeing results.
These priorities are not set in stone. Maybe you have to reassess every month what your priorities are according to what season of life you’re in, However, I find this a great way to be more fulfilled in my life and get more done.
2. DO LESS
You have a lot competing for your attention. Don’t get me wrong, I like to have a lot going on as well. (In fact, my husband often jokes that I love stress.) However, there are times when we need to cut back, myself included. Playing Tetris with your time just adds to your stress. There’s no need to fill every minute of every day.
Cutting back is not so much about productivity, but our capacity. Realistically, we can only do so much in one day. Every week you have 168 hours. If you know how much time you have, and how much time you need for everything that needs to get done, you’re able to gauge if you’ve got enough time for what you currently have going on.
One way you can see how much you have going on and if you need to cut down on commitments is if you use a tool like Toggl and track your time. How much time are you taking for each activity? Again, take into account what you prioritize and what’s important to you and make sure those are on your schedule first. Then you can add other things. (And don’t forget to sleep too!) If not, the important things won’t get done.
3. REST
This might seem counterproductive, but let me assure you, this is one of my secrets that has allowed me to do more.
Resting doesn’t have to be sleep, but it does need to be restorative and rejuvenating. Whether you like to go on walks, read books, take naps, or have coffee with your friends, you need time to rest.
As you rest, you’ll notice you have more energy, more focus, and more than likely, you’ll naturally be more productive. I often say that we need to focus on taking are of our bodies so that our bodies can take care of us. This might sound silly, but when we think about our “why,” we know that we need to be operating at our top capability. Resting helps us do this.
I’m so excited for you to dive in and make yourself more productive! This is a great start, and I know you can do it! Be sure to give yourself time to adjust to new things. And remember: you’re capable of so much more once you get these tools for productivity down.
About the Author:
Danielle Roberts is passionate about equipping women to thrive in their homes and businesses through life coaching and education on essential oils. She's a wife, mom of four, and avid reader. When she's not chasing kids or sipping coffee, she's probably out for a date with her handsome hubby.