If productivity is not your middle name, we’re here to help. It’s easy to think you’re failing when you’re in the depths of procrastination or feel like you’re just not getting enough done. But there are some simple strategies you can put in place to not only up your productivity but do it without overhauling your entire life and routines.
Ahead, we break down seven simple things you can do to streamline your day a little bit, cross more things off your to-do list and generally move through the week with less stress.
Invest In Your Sleep
Most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, to give their brain time to recover from the day that was. That’s why investing in your sleep routine is one of the best things you can do for your health and productivity. Over the past year, I’ve bought a pillow that is actually supportive, a blackout sleep mask, good quality linen sheets and, on nights where I feel like I need some extra help, I bust out the lavender essential oil. That sounds excessive but I know I can’t focus and get things done when I’m tired, so it’s worth it.
A Good Quality Workstation
After a year of working from home in some capacity, I’m done with making do on the kitchen counter without the right equipment to do my job efficiently. The lowest-hanging fruit is investing in a multipurpose monitor (we rate the Samsung Smart Monitor, which comes with Smart TV apps for streaming, too). That means I can work and watch (or switch between the two) on the same screen without changing rooms.
If you need more convincing: according to Samsung’s Australia @ Home 2020 survey, Australian households have an average of 2.7 screens, and the Samsung Smart Monitor is ideal as a space-saving option for single households or as a secondary screen. It even lets you work without having a PC, through Office 365 and experience your mobile apps on the UHD screen with Samsung DeX.
Write Your To-Do List at the End of the Day
Instead of signing on for work in the morning and planning everything you have to do that day, plan it the night before. That way, you can hit the ground running and immediately tick off the quick tasks on your list while you sip your morning coffee. There’s also research that suggests spending five minutes before hopping into bed to write a very detailed to-do list for the next day may actually help you doze off quicker.
The Two-Minute Rule
This one is pretty simple. If you, like me, tend to procrastinate on tasks no matter how simple and quick they are, this is for you. It goes like this: if a task will take you two minutes or less to complete and cross off the list, do it immediately. That’s it — that’s the tip.
Embrace Saying No
Nothing thrills me more than saying no and that’s down to the fact that I’m an over-promiser who over-stretches herself. In case you need to hear it: say no to the things you don’t want to do or don’t have the capacity to complete at a high standard, and instead, focus on being productive with the things you care about.
Drink More Water
It’s my firm belief that none of us drinks enough water, and it’s for that reason I’m including it on this list. There is some research that suggests dehydration can impair cognitive performance, particularly for people who work with heavy machinery or where attention and motor coordination are required. So fill up that water bottle one more time.
Buy a nice notebook
Writing down your to-do lists or the ideas that pop into your brain at random times of day is one way to take the clutter out of your mind and also remember everything you have on that day. But scrawling it all down on a scrappy piece of paper is, simply put, uninspiring. Buy yourself a nice new notebook (it doesn’t have to be fancy) and dedicate it to your work-related lists only.
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