5 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY

TO-DO-LISTS ARE THE G.O. A.T

Remember how every time you clicked upon a productivity video or vlog on YT you found them writing their to-do list the night before and finally completing their tasks ahead? You might also remember the time when YOU tried that but discontinued it because you couldn't tick off everything on your list. It's okay; don't be ashamed. I did that more times than I can actually recall. So here is my trick that I use to tick off almost every task on my list while simultaneously being consistent with it. Start your day with an already-prepared to-do list from the night before; thus, the chances of you waking up and becoming puzzled about your day become low. Also, arrange the tasks in the order of most priority to least priority so you have a clear idea of what needs to be done immediately and what may be done after a power nap. And trust me on this one: each time you ticked off anything on the list, your dopamine level would rise, with the shot of victory motivating you to complete more tasks.

Now let's assume you pushed yourself to try to do the rest but, by the end of the day, were left with one task unticked. So the regular mind should go, ''This sucks! I am not doing it again'', but hey! Be the productive mind who says ''Okay, I did great and will do better tomorrow''. Write down your tasks again for the next day, and be ready to do your best to complete them. This MINDSET will actually be the key to your consistency in the long run.

THE CLUMPING METHOD

I don't remember if I told you about how LAZY I am in any previous blog, but here it is: "I AM LAZY ''. I am just that kind of sibling who wouldn't even open the door even if the door bell rang 4567 times, and yes, that one too who always asks for water even if it's 20 cm apart. I am not even sorry for this; it's just my brain; it lacks the strength. Every time I do five tasks, my brain adds zeros and says, ''You did 50 tasks; we need to STOP''. Jokes apart, when you have a lot of things to do but you are someone like me, things need to get creative, and well, here's my solution. Each time I have a task in hand, I try to pair it with another in such a way that they don't affect each other and get done simultaneously. For example, if I have to exercise and also listen to some podcasts in the morning, I pair them together, so instead of me listening to random songs, I have a whole playlist of podcast episodes paired with my morning stretching. For students, it can go like this: instead of completing the full chapter and then doing related questions separately, you can pair them together, so now you complete a topic and do related questions simultaneously. This is basically not multitasking, but doing two related things together. Previously, I called it THE COUPLING METHOD but that sounded too cheesy (let's not go there).

''EAT THAT FROG'' REALLY WORKS

I am sure many of you have heard about the famous self-help book EAT THAT FROG by Brian Tracy on how to get over procrastination and get your work done effectively in less time. This is actually my personal favorite and also my first recommendation on self-help topics. The book goes around many ideas like planning your day ahead, the 80/20 rule, the law of three, creative procrastination, the ABCDE method, and many more. It teaches the reader how procrastination can become a better enemy if let loose and how creative procrastination can become a tool for productivity.

Plan your day ahead with the most important task at the top of your mind or on your to-do list, and get it done at the earliest possible time. The moment that is achieved, you will feel at ease, and other tasks will not be as hard for you as they were before. If you are someone who hasn't read this before but is planning to increase their productivity, please do give it a read; the methods it provides are immensely helpful.

REAL TIME AIRPLANE MODE

It can't be just me who uses airplane mode to refresh my mobile phone when it looses it's calm a little bit and when i turn it back on it starts working properly. Weird right? And guess what? This can be used on humans as well; let me elaborate. In your everyday 24 hours, make a few hours for a real-time airplane mode, and let me tell you why. Firstly, because we are all surrounded by lots of stimulus from our surroundings, for example, our mobile phone that has these pop-up notifications, random people calling to hang out, and all of the things that can lead to scattered focus, which decreases our productivity. Secondly, it has also been found scientifically that people who give some time in their day just to themselves have better concentration and more productive hours. And lastly my favorite one, because the priority is YOU; the MAIN CHARACTER is you, this life is about YOU, so why not just pause and give time to yourself to reflect upon your life and do the things that needs to be done.

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS ARE A MUST

I can basically write a whole book about the benefits of reflecting on your life or, in general, about anything. Whenever you hit a Sunday, take a pen and paper and write things down, like, What tasks did I miss this week? What could I have done better? How am I going to make my next week more productive? What do I need to focus more on? Where is it that I am lacking? and many more self-reflective questions that you can ask yourself to do better. And trust me on this one because I have applied this the most in my life as a person who hates self-talk. The method of just confronting yourself and accepting whatever your flaws are is just so great to be described in a few words and for me it really had worked wonders. So for anyone willing to take an extra step towards productivity, self-reflection is a great choice.

WRITER'S NOTE: Hey! if you liked this blogs do give a read to my other blogs about "YOUR PLANS DON'T WORK YOUR WAY'' and do leave your wonderful views in the comment section, I would highly appreciate it. have a PRODUCTIVE day ahead!