How can I become more productive?

How can I become more productive? I have often noticed that I spend a lot of my time daydreaming. I also spend a lot of time planning, rather than actually doing, things on my to-do list. Although I seem to be busy all the time, I don’t seem to have a lot to show for it at the end of the day.

This really baffled me, and I wanted to find a way to become more productive. I analysed what I was thinking about in the moments when my mind was off on its own tangent. Interestingly, I realised that a lot of the time I was worrying about things that I needed to get done later in the day, and trying to work out if I had enough time to get everything completed.

I realised that this was wasted time, and resolved to get it back to spend more productively. I decided that the best way to do this was to structure my day more efficiently.

Priority

I realised that one of my main problems is my procrastination. I have a tendency to put things off. There often isn’t any valid reason for me doing this, and it definitely contributes to my productivity issues. Sometimes my inner critic is responsible, by telling me that something else is more important. But often it just comes down, in truth, to my own inherent laziness.

I’m just not the type of person who likes getting things done in plenty of time. I have always been someone who crams for exams at the last minute, studying right through the night. This bad planning often led me to be tired, and probably not functioning at my best, but on the other hand I seemed to somehow thrive under the pressure.

I noticed I always seemed to be putting off tasks that weren’t enjoyable. At first, this seemed to be logical, but on reflection, it was a false economy. I was spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about these tasks later on, so it would be wiser to prioritise them.

I realised I would actually be better doing the unpleasant things as soon as I got up in the morning. That way, I didn’t have time to worry about doing them, and then once they were done, I had the whole rest of the day available for things I actually wanted to do. This really was a lightbulb moment for me.

Now I focus first on the things I want to do least every day, and get them out of the way. I am tackling them while I am full of energy and willpower, before I have had the chance to be bothered by my inner critic.

Routine

Another thing that has been very helpful for me is having a structure to my day. My routine, like everybody else’s, was thrown up in the air by working from home and the lockdown restrictions. However, this has also given me the option for a simpler life, with less things to do. Once I found my new routine and settled into it, I found that it helped massively with my productivity.

Habits

One particular element of my routine are the habits I have recently introduced into my life. Every day I research, write and publish an article on my website and social media sites. I have also started a daily mindfulness course. As I get more practice with each of these activities, I enhance my skills in each area, and they get a little easier. These habits should be fully embedded by day 66, which means I should be able to do them without much effort. At this stage it will only take minimal willpower to keep up the habits, which leaves me free to take on my next challenge.

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 339 days to go!

Why not check in on a regular basis to see how I am progressing, and what I have discovered?