Do you ever feel like you're busy all the time, but then when you look at what you've done, you didn't really accomplish much?
Are you living up to your potential?
Are you capable of so much more, but you're just not finding the time to get it all done?
It took a while for me to realize this, but productivity is a skill. You can learn how to be productive just like you can learn to speak a new language or ride a bike.
Once I realized that I thought, "Well if I wanted to learn something new I'd take a class on it. So let me find a good "class" on productivity.
So I found this 37-minute youtube video and it's very different than some other productivity things I've heard out there.
I watched it and decided to summarize it in text form for those of you that don't have time to watch a video (I usually don't. I put those babies on 2x speed).
The method they teach is with the acronym, FAST.
You need Focus, Attitude, Stamina and Time Management to be a productive powerhouse.
Focus
Humans can work faster at higher quality if we’re focused. You have to learn how to remove distractions.
If you can’t focus can you have time mastery??
No.
It’s impossible.
Block out the chaos of life.
It comes first in the model because blocking out all of the distractions coming at you is the most important thing.
If you can manage chaos, that’s a superpower.
Now, in the video, they don't mention HOW to do that.
Let me tell you some hacks I've personally come up with that work wonders for blocking out the noise:
💪Newsfeed eradicator Add this chrome extension to block out your FB news feed. You'll never find yourself getting distracted by your newsfeed again.
💪 Leave your cell phone in a drawer during the day. I'm serious. Don't look at it for 8 hours if that's how long your work day is. I do it, and people just have to deal with the fact that I don't constantly check my phone. I get to it when I get to it!!!
I have to in order to be proactive with my time.
Otherwise, I'm being reactive to what everyone else wants, and next thing I know my day is over and all I've done is respond to texts and e-mails and whatever.
💪Turn off notifications to anything that can distract you. Yep, I don't get notified of anything except for a text message or missed phone call. I turned off the rest and you already know I leave my phone turned off in a drawer. I specifically put it inside something so that I'm not tempted to pick it up out of habit because it's in my line of vision.
💪Download the self-control app in your computer. This one is everything!!!!
You can put a list of websites that distract you during your work day into this app. Then, you tell the app to block your access to these websites for however long. You can say 30 minutes, 2 hours, 15 hours.
It will block the sites for up to 24 hours.
I have EVERYTHING distracting listed on there, even steemit.
So if I'm working and TRULY don't want to be distracted, I put that app on for 3 hours and boy. There's literally nothing else for me to do but work.
Even if you delete the app, your access is still restricted to the sites until the time is up.
Which is great for people like me who would totally delete it to get youtube back or whatever.
Attitude
How to manage the 40k thoughts going through your day. You’re going to feel low-level anxiety towards your work if you have a bad attitude, which has a diminishing return.
Stamina
This one is about how you manage your energy.
If you stop watering a plant, it shrivels. You can’t get more out of your body out than you put in.
Don’t keep going 20+ hours extra per week.
That extra 20 hours per week is literally wasted.
Why?
You might think you’re getting 20 more hours of work done.
But the degradation of your performance is so small, that you don’t notice it.
You may even be thinking, “Look at me! I’m working on the weekend getting ahead. Working all night getting ahead.”
But actually, your work is so low-level that it’s counterproductive.
Your productivity will tank, and you won’t notice it ‘cause you’ll be like a drunk person driving saying “Oh I’m okay, I can drive.” They don’t see their own impairment…
…and you won’t, either.
So stamina is all about getting enough sleep and taking time to rest/take a break and have a whole day of doing something not work-related.
When you put in more, you get more out.
Time Management
Time is one of the most important resources you have. When you track your time…
Think about time like a currency.
Don’t spend it frivolously.
If you are, you’re not treating it like a currency.
We don’t treat the time we have like it’s a blessing from God. We treat it like a liability.
Like this, “Ugh, I have to work on Monday. Ugh, I have so much to do.”
Story time!
Imagine this scenario.
Instead of just getting another week to live, imagine you have to stand in line each week to apply for another week to live.
You’d have to say, “Here’s what happened last week. Here’s how I thanked you and here’s the return on the investment you gave me.”
And if God gives it to you, you’d be so excited.
You’d be like, yes! Another week to live.
And your productivity would go through the roof.
Time management is just one part of these 4 things that you need to have productivity through the roof.
You might think, “oh I have too much to do, I need to get caught up and can’t do this.”
Schedule self-imposed downtime.
Schedule pilates.
And schedule time with friends.
Schedule your down time AND your work time.
Give yourself permission to put the computer down. Tell yourself, if I do x amount of things, I give myself permission to put the computer down.
Schedule an art class at 5 pm so you’re motivated to be done by then so you can go.
You’ll also deal with procrastination less because you’ll say, “Oh, I’ve only got an hour to do this so it has to get done.”