It’s the end of the day and you’ve knocked every single item off of your to-do list. It feels good—but exhausting. The kind of exhausting that will have you crawling from your desk to your bed.
So many entrepreneurs struggle to find a productivity level that doesn’t sacrifice their quality of life. But this all-or-nothing approach only leads to one destination: burnout.
Despite what we’ve been taught, it is possible to be productive without sacrificing your sanity. You just have to find strategies that fit your own natural tendencies so that they don’t become obstacles to your productivity.
In this blog post, you’ll learn my top tips for being more productive without losing your mind.
#1 Know Your Personal Rhythms
One of the best ways to be more productive is to understand what your natural rhythms are, and when it’s best for you to work.
Some people prefer working in a concentrated burst throughout the day while others find their productivity spikes after lunchtime or late at night. Some people do better working short hours every day and others prefer a few long days and a few days off.
It also helps to know how your energy changes and shifts during different tasks you do. For example, if you do your best-concentrated work in the morning, try not to schedule any meetings during the early morning hours that would distract you from your flow.
Understanding how you work is a never-ending experiment. Keep playing with different times until you find something that works for you. And once you do, make it an unmovable standard in your biz.
#2 Eliminate Distractions
The amazing part about working for yourself is that you can do whatever you want with your time. The horrible part about working for yourself is that you can do whatever you want with your time.
This means we often fall victim to all the seductive, luring distractions of our home offices like social media, Netflix, and the yummy snacks in our fridge.
Now you should absolutely take advantage of all this freedom—but not at the expense of your productivity. Whatever time you block off for work, make sure you’re ONLY doing work during that time.
Do I want the latest episode of Scandal? Sure. But do I need to watch it right now, while I’m supposed to be writing this blog post? No way—I’ll save that for after work.
Eliminate the distractions that pull you out of focus and save them for off-work hours when you can enjoy them without guilt.
#3 Create Fun Buffers
Another challenge of working for yourself and working from home is the feeling that you constantly have to be “on.” Because of this, it can feel like you never really have a break from your business.
Just like it’s important to schedule and prioritize your productivity, it’s just as important to make time for rest and fun.
Create buffer times in your day to allow yourself time for rest and play.
This could be an hour at the end of the workday where you do something unrelated to working or taking some time in-between meetings with clients by playing a game on your phone. So long as it’s not related to work and it’s something you enjoy. However, I do think it’s better for your mental health if that *thing* is something that’s not in front of a screen.
Conclusion
Productivity is personal. It won’t look the same for everyone—and it won’t look the same every day.
But if you need help managing all the moving parts of your biz so you can get some of your precious time back, click here to set up a discovery call with me. I’d be happy to help.
