6 Easy Hacks to Live a Productive Life

Living a productive life is a dream for us all. But not every day in our lives brings the optimal yield. There are times when we struggle to keep the needle moving and try to stay on track of perpetual progress.

Elevating productivity at times can be easier said than done as we grapple with distractions around us and challenges that keep us from realizing our true potential.

Some even sacrifice their personal time and work-life balance to stay on track and keep checking tasks off the to-do list. However, that's not an ideal or the only way to increase your productivity.

Here are the 6 easy hacks to live a productive life.

So, without further ado.

Let's get started.

1. Plan Your Day

It doesn't matter if you represent a remote work culture or work in an on-site facility. Planning ensures your success and enables you to be productive throughout the day.

Planning enhances your efficiency and elevates your productivity as your plan serves as the roadmap to your destination. Having clear goals for the day allows you to stay focused and be less susceptible to distractions around you.

Having a well-thought-out plan enables you to spend your time diligently as you're actually doing things rather than trying to figure out what needs to be done.

Planning helps maximize your efficiency by enabling you to focus on tasks that generate value. Since you've already filtered unimportant things from the agenda, your productivity improves exponentially as your efforts align with your ultimate goal.

2. Manage Your Time

As companies around the globe are embracing a flexible work culture, the skill to manage time efficiently has become the need of the hour. Flexible working hours may sound like a blessing but can severely affect your productivity if you lack self-discipline and time management.

So, it's essential that you learn to manage your time, especially when working remotely. Even if you commute somewhere for work, your ability to manage time enables you to raise the bar and perform above expectations.

However, it's not easy to attain mastery over this skill as time management demands practice and persistence. But once you learn to harness time properly, you'd see a noticeable increase in your productivity.

3. Pause Notifications

Humans are highly susceptible to distractions. It's challenging for us to gain focus but we lose it easily by getting distracted by our surroundings. Though you can't be totally immune to distractions around you, there are things you can do to keep them at a bare minimum.

Did you know that on average, we spend 2 hours and 29 minutes on social media every day?

Every time we hear a notification sound, we have this urge to pause work and check our phones for updates. One thing leads to another and before we know it, we find ourselves cluelessly scrolling through our timelines or watching random videos on the internet.

No wonder YouTube is the 2nd most-visited site in the world with over 1.9 billion user logins each month.

Breaking free from such distractions requires self-control but pausing notifications when working also helps. So, it's best to either switch off your phone when working or at least pause notifications from non-work-related apps.

Building this habit helps improve your focus which in turn significantly increases your productivity.

4. Learn to Prioritize

To maximize your productivity, it's important that you learn to prioritize your tasks. The goal here is to focus on things that generate the most value to make the most of your day.

Prioritization enables you to utilize your time in the most efficient way possible. It helps you grow professionally but not at the expense of your work-life balance.

There are many ways to prioritize tasks on your to-do list. One of them is the use of the Eisenhower Matrix. It's a globally acclaimed framework used by professionals to prioritize tasks based on their urgency and importance.

But, you can also use other frameworks or tools fitting your needs as long as they help you do the needful.

5. Eat the Frog

This is an amazing technique to improve your productivity. Here, you identify the most challenging and intimidating task on your to-do list and attempt to do it first.

When you've just started your day, you have high energy levels and it's easier for you to tap into the zone. So, doing the most difficult task first is a wise strategy to attain productivity.

Checking the most difficult task on your to-do list gives you a motivational boost and prepares you for an awesome day ahead. Since you've already climbed the highest mountain, you're prepared to stand out from the crowd and take on anything the day throws at you.

6. Take a Breather

Being productive doesn't mean that you should be working non-stop. It's alright to take a breather as it helps calm your mind and prepare you for the next round. However, it's essential to consider moderation or you'd end up wasting time than using it to your advantage.

Using the Pomodoro Technique can help if you prefer to take multiple breaks than just one or two. Using this technique, you split your work hours into different intervals of 30 minutes each. Here, you'd spend the first 25 minutes staying focused at work followed by a quick 5-minute break.

This is one of the best ways to keep your breaks organized. But, since all humans are not the same, this may not work for everyone. In that case, select a way that works for you but keep in mind that moderation is the key to success here.

It's a Wrap

There you have it. The 6 easy hacks to live a productive life. If you've been struggling with productivity issues lately, try out the recommendations and see if they work for you.