How to Be More Productive

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Are you struggling to make the most of your time and be productive? Do you find yourself constantly procrastinating, getting sidetracked, or struggling to prioritize your tasks? 

Don’t worry, you’re not alone! Being productive is a challenge that many of us face, especially in today’s fast-paced and distracting world. 

But fear not! In this post, I’ll share with you 10 practical tips and strategies to help you boost your productivity and get more done in less time. 

Are you ready? Then, let’s get started!

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1. FOCUS ON YOUR DIET

I’m sure you didn’t expect this to be the first point in a list of productivity tips but yes, it is. 

Like the Romans said “Mens sana in corpore sano”, which translates to “Healthy mind in a healthy body”.

If you want to be more productive, it all starts with the food you consume.

You can compare your body to a car. Let’s imagine you have a long trip ahead of you. You’re at the gas station, but you put the wrong oil in. Most likely, your car will end up breaking down after a couple of miles, making it impossible for you to reach your destination. 

Your body works just the same. 

Let’s say that you have just woken up and you have a busy day ahead of you – with lots of tasks to get done and some errands to run as well. 

If you have a coffee and a donut for breakfast, after the sugar high, you will fall into a slump state by 10 AM. 

Even worse, if you don’t eat breakfast, how can you expect your car to drive miles and miles with only a little gas left?

What you decide to have for breakfast – and later on for lunch and dinner – will have an impact on the performance you will carry out throughout your day. 

Prioritize nourishing your body with balanced, dense-nutrient meals and snacks that can make you feel at your best and – consequently – perform at your best.

2. PRIORITIZE SLEEP

If you have an inconsistent sleeping schedule, I cannot tell you how important and beneficial it would be if you could get serious about your sleeping patterns. 

Syncing your circadian rhythm will do wonders for your productivity! 

Keep in mind this: I’m not only talking about how many hours you sleep but also the quality of your sleep matters.

So, what should you do?

• First, observe when you naturally start feeling more tired:
  • If every night you fall asleep on the couch while watching your TV show, there’s a need for some adjustment
  • The same goes if you scroll on your phone until 1 AM
• Secondly, you should set a sleeping pattern and try it out for a least one week. One week in which you go to bed and get up at the same time.
  • Is your body getting adjusted to it?
  • Or doesn’t it feel right for you? 
• Last, set some rules for your nighttime and morning routine. Some good habits are:
  • Not using your phone 1 hour before sleeping or for the first hour of the day
  • Having a room temperature of approximately 65F (or 18 degrees Celsius)
  • Finding some gentle ways to both wind down and wake up your body – that might include reading, meditating, journaling, or stretching. 

A body that’s well rested will be 100% more productive than someone who’s running on coffee – I see you: 3 cups a day are definitely too much!

3. BE INTENTIONAL WITH YOUR TIME

I like this tip because it covers a broader topic that connects intentional living and mindfulness. 

Since we live in a fast-paced world, every second there are millions of external stimuli fighting to get our attention. 

What does this mean for us? Sadly, it means that we have forgotten how to be fully present – physically and mentally – at once. 

To be intentional with your time means that when you are working, you are 100% working. 

But that also means that when you’re taking a break, you’re 100% relaxing. 

I could have provided you with 3 more rules: no multitasking, deep work, and taking breaks. 

If you think about it thoroughly, you can recognize that these 3 productivity tips that we hear and overhear can all be linked down to one simple principle: being intentional. 

One of my favorite inspirational quotes is:

“Wherever you go, there you are”

– Jon Kabat-Zinn

4. YOUR ENVIRONMENT MATTERS

If you’re trying to be more productive, a good place to start is to look at the environment around you. 

Like a flower cannot grow in unfruitful soil, a person cannot be productive in an unorganized office.

Some of us, though, do a pretty good job of staying organized! 

In this case, there is another way we are going to approach the external environment: we are going to change it! 

Yes, you heard it right: we are going to change it! 

The saying “the old gets boring” has a kernel of truth. 

I don’t know what your prerogative is but feel free to try anything:

• Move your desk to the other side of the room
• Buy new planners
• Frame a picture and put it on the wall
• Buy a new organizer 

You got the idea! 

If you’re limited with the options of restyling your space, then the only thing left to do is to literally – and physically – change your environment! 

• Try getting some work done at a cute café
• Work at the park if you need more fresh air
• Try your local library if noises really do bother you

I hope you get a sense of what I am saying. 

I know that not all of us have the flexibility to be working remotely or have money to spend on office decorations. But I tried my best to give you some options because you do have many options!

Some of them won’t cost anything but some creative juice flowing.

5. CO-WORK

We talked about the physical space, so now the next thing to tackle concerns the people. 

Again, I don’t know what your situation looks like – but I’ll try my best to pass along some of my inspiration.

One of the best ways to be more productive is to have someone who can hold you accountable (that’s why personal trainers have a job). 

So, if you’re having a hard time getting the right motivation, I suggest you change the environment in terms of people. 

• Put yourself in a growing environment made of like-minded people
• Ask a friend to come over to work on your things, but together – so that seeing someone else focused will increase your focus
• Find an accountability buddy online

It’s true: motivation comes from you, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be enhanced by others. 

Surround yourself with people that want your success and are willing to help you succeed.

Find your tribe to thrive.

6. PLAN YOUR DAYS

This is probably the most old-fashioned advice on this list. Still, it isn’t applied by everyone. 

Like the wise Benjamin Franklin once said: “Failing to plan is planning to fail”. 

It’s not surprising that, if you want to have productive days, you need a plan. 

Personally, I could spend hours writing on my paper planner, organizing my digital calendar, or using Notion to plan my whole life. 

I do recognize, though, that not everyone is a planning freak like me 🙁  

In that case, don’t stress out because here you’ll find everything you need! 

I created this planning template that you can download – for FREE – and get your life together! This is my gift to you, and I really hope it helps. 

This is what my planning routine looks like:

• Every month, I jot down any appointments, already-made plans, and celebrations that will happen during the month
• Then, I like to plan week by week. Usually, I would sit down on a Sunday and define the goals for the upcoming week and the tasks that need to be accomplished
• Lastly, I like to review each day the night before. In this way, I can make adjustments in case something changes or doesn’t work out as previously planned

If you’re new at planning, or if you’ve been struggling with it and want to find an easy way to have it all together, then I can’t suggest enough to download my FREE Planning Templates!

7. REDUCE DECISION FATIGUE

It is now common knowledge that Mark Zuckerberg wears the same gray t-shirts day in and day out. He doesn’t care about what he has for breakfast, he just grabs what’s available.

I mean, why would he have to spend his time thinking about breakfast when he has to decide what the future of Metaverse will be?

Psychology Today came to the conclusion that we make an average of 35,000 choices per day. 35 thousand decisions our brain has to make, every single day. 

The question is: “How many of these decisions do really matter?” 

The more you go out and about on your day, the less willpower and clarity you’ll have. That probably explains why it is so easy to make impulsive decisions at night – like eating a whole pint of ice cream, scrolling on TikTok for 2 hours, or watching another Netflix episode. 

So, one tip to be more productive: reduce the number of decisions you make by automatizing most of them. 

Now, at first, it won’t be easy: you’ll have to make more decisions now than ever. 

The long-term benefits, though, will be inestimable. So do it! 

• Decide now what you’re going to have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner this week
• Choose the type of workout you’ll do this week
• Plan out your outfits
• Decide when and where you’re going to do what

8. NO DISTRACTIONS

This point can be tied to the one of being intentional with your time. 

Screen out the stimuli that could get you distracted from what you’re doing or – even better – cut them out! 

• Put your phone on flight mode, hide it in a drawer, or leave it in another room
• Turn your notifications off
• Tell your co-worker to swing by your desk at set times – not every five minutes
• Check your emails only a couple of times a day, not per hour
• Delete any app that is making you waste your time
• Mute those Whatsapp groups that we both know you don’t care about

Remember this: I don’t want you to become a hermit, I just want to help you be more productive! And yes, that requires being highly critical and structured with the way you spend your time.

9. HIGH-MEDIUM-LOW ENERGY TASKS

This is a productivity technique that I learned by watching a video by MuchelleB.

This productivity tip consists of setting goals for your different energy levels, so that – even if you have a really bad day – you still manage to make the most out of it!

The way she breaks it down looks something like this:

• High energy – Behave like your aspirational self 
• Medium energy – Aim for an above than average day 
• Low energy – Do the bare minimum 

Okay, there still might be quite some confusion on the topic, so I’ll take myself as an example. 

One thing that I struggled the most with being consistent was working out. 

After hearing her take on productivity and energy levels, I finally realized why I struggled for so long.

Instead of listening to my body and giving it what it needed (hint: it looks different every day), I would force myself to do one type of exercise even if I didn’t have enough energy for it.

After many trials and errors, I allowed myself to set flexible goals regarding working out. 

Now, my fitness goal is to simply move my body every day. So:

• On high-energy days, that might be: spinning class, working out for 1h at the gym, running
• On a medium level of energy, that looks like: doing a 30-minute workout at home, hitting 7.000 steps, or doing a Pilates class
• On low-energy days, I am satisfied with practicing some yoga or even going out for a 20-minute walk

This productivity technique is beneficial, in particular, for anyone who tends to have an “all-or-nothing” mindset. 

Why? It trains your mind to think that it doesn’t have to be all black or white, the grey areas are just as important! 

Remember: small progress is better than none!

10. EISENHOWER MATRIX

Stephen Covey, the author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, ideated a time-management and productivity technique called the “Eisenhower Matrix”

I like to use this technique especially when I feel overwhelmed by my to-do list – so I even don’t know where to start (alert: procrastination!). 

Compared to the previous productivity technique, we are not focusing anymore on ourselves and our energy, but rather directly on the tasks we need to accomplish.

In particular, there are 4 categories into which your tasks should be divided:

1. Urgent and important → What are you waiting for? GET IT DONE!
2. Urgent but not important → Is there any chance someone could do it for you? If yes, DELEGATE!
3. Not urgent but important → Get it done in a future moment, but make sure to PLAN IT on your agenda!
4. Not urgent & not important → Why is this even on your to-do list? ELIMINATE IT!

You can follow this scheme every day, or you can use it when – like me – you feel particularly overwhelmed but still want to be productive. 

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Again, the goal here is to make you become the most productive you can be!

I hope that you found some helpful information here. Thank you for reading!

Please, if you have any productivity tips that the community could benefit from, don’t forget to leave a comment below!

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