Simple ideas to boost productivity

Productivity seems to be a function of these ingredients- focus, environment, energy and clarity.

If you want to be more productive, improve upon these aspects of your life.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Focus– be interested in what you do. It’s hard to do a good job when you are bored. You may also want to try meditation to improve your general level of focus and attention.

Environment– Have separate places for different tasks. Don’t make your bedroom the only workstation you have. Eliminate distractions.

Energy– Run often. Stay hydrated. Get enough sleep everyday.

Clarity– Keep a to do list. Prioritize the tasks on that list and set aside specific time and space for each of them.

(There’s a lot more ways to improve you productivity. If you want to know about some more, check this out- My Top 10 Tips for a Productive Day)

The 30 day productivity challenge for the chronic procrastinators among us

I often complain about how I don’t have enough time to do the things I want to do. On the other hand, I usually waste a lot of time. So, there’s a little hypocrisy going on my part. I want to see if I really don’t have enough time or is it just a lame excuse I blabber out to justify my laziness.

I am a big fan of  30 day challenges. So here is a 30 day productivity challenge I have come up with. This will let me see how much I can do in a day (and eventually a month), if I stop wasting time.

Here’s the challenge-

For the next 30 days, I will not go more than 15 minutes without any of the following activities: Reading, writing, typing, coding, working out, meditating, shooting a video, capturing photos, practicing a skill and learning.

#Random YouTube videos don’t count as learning, random quora/facebook posts don’t count as reading and texting don’t count as typing.

#Each activity has to go on for at least 25 minutes (1 pomodoro session). That means after a 15 minute break, I can’t take a break again before 25 minutes of focused work.

#1 hour break is allowed for dozing off in the afternoon 🙂

I don’t know if anyone can take this challenge on, as some of us have a gruesome schedule. But, if you already have a strict schedule and are following it, then there’s no point in trying this out in the first place.

I rather urge my lazy (self proclaimed) brothers and sisters to take on the challenge and let me know how far you go!