Ok, I’m getting back in touch with my word of the year! I went through some crazy weeks there for a little bit but I’m excited to get back into a routine and get re-focused. That’s why I love setting monthly goals. However, I feel I’m turning into a more quarterly girl because the months seem to be FLYING by lately! I’m going to stick with monthly intentions, but I think I’m going to really focus in on my quarterly goals this quarter. Speaking of, can you believe 1/4 of 2019 has already come and gone?! I truly can’t. It’s giving me anxiety just thinking about it. (AHHH) But here we are. Hello April, let’s make this month a good one!
I’m really feeling like April is bringing a breath of fresh air to me. Winter is finally gone, things are starting to grow outside, I’m feeling excited and inspired again, I feel like I have some things behind me and I’m just ready for a new season and a new quarter! Good things are COMING! Can’t ya’ll feel it?!
So here we are. One thing I’ve been really working on lately is productivity. I’m declaring April my month of really getting into a good work flow. My goal is to learn to work less distracted, more focused and more structured. I’ve really realized lately that I’m so distracted by my phone. Unfortunately I need it throughout the day to work so I’ve been trying to focus on ways to keep me on task and less distracted by the phone, the notifications, the emails, the distracting thoughts, etc, etc, etc.
How to be More Productive
I’ve realized that when I have REALLY productive work time, my days, weeks and weekends are so much better all around! I also just re-read an older post on 5 ways to be more productive and I loved re-reading some of my own tips! Ha! But here are 5 MORE ways to be more productive throughout my work days and work weeks.
Set Aside Specific Hours for Specific Tasks.
When I give myself a set time limit for a task, I can usually get it done in that time frame. Then, when I don’t, I can take foreverrr. When I look at my to-do list for the day, I’ve been trying to block my tasks out in time frames. I put all the quick to-do’s together in an hour time block, then bigger/longer tasks I put an end time, that way I can sit down, focused, and knock that to-do off my list. I like to do these early in the day to cross a big thing off my list and make me feel super accomplished!
Make Reasonable To-Do Lists and Pull Them out FIRST Thing
I’m always jotting down to-do’s and try to write down a master list either the night before or first thing in the morning. I typically do more of a brain dump and then once I start working, try to block my day out. But as the day goes on, and my focus strays, I get back to my list and say let’s get one more thing on the list done & that usually gets me back in the zone. OR I can say one more thing off the list and then I can ____fill in the blank (for me it’s, have lunch, get a coffee, get on instagram for 10 mins, etc)
Less Distractions
I think my phone is my biggest distraction. Sometimes I’ll pick it up to respond to a text message and 30 minutes later I have no clue what I’ve been doing but I’m watching someones instastory! Ugh! It’s so easy to get distracted once the phone comes out. But I’ve filled all apps away in folders on my phone, I’ve turned off all notifications and try to keep it on silent as much as possible. I think just being aware of what distracts you can help you keep it in check.
One Task at a Time
I have a hard time with this one. I’ll be working on one thing, an email comes through and then I’m like ooo yeah I need to do that, and move onto something else. Then the next thing I know, I’ve started 5 things and haven’t completed one and the day’s over! So, that’s where the to-do list, the time blocking and the less distractions come in! Those are all great ways to just go after one task at a time.
Attainable Goals
All these are great and all, but we literally can’t do EVERYTHING! So I think just reminding yourself, that all these things have to be attainable. Set attainable goals to start out with and work your way up. Right now I’m trying to get better at being more consistent with some things, so I’m writing those things on my to-do list each and every day. Hopefully they’ll become a habit, but until then, they’re going in the calendar. Every dang day. On the other aspect, don’t fill that to-do list to the brim and then feel discouraged when you don’t get it all done. A lot of times my brain dump list or master to-do list ends up taking me all week or it sometimes gets transferred to the next week. So just figure out what works for you and don’t forget to make those lists and goals attainable!
Whew! I know that’s a lot! If ya’ll are like me and feeling like you need some work in this area, I hope this is helpful! I’ll try to expand on some of these throughout the month and share little tid bits here and there. Let me know what areas you need help with, or hacks of how you’ve overcome some things! I’d love to hear!!
