Ignite Your Success: 5 Proven Techniques to Skyrocket Productivity
In today’s modern world, there are many distractions.
Most people have several devices on their desk with multiple tabs open and music playing in the background and they wonder why they’re not achieving the things they want to achieve in life.
Eliminating these distractions and focusing on the current task is the best way to ensure success.
Let’s explore 5 proven techniques that will help you maximise your productivity.
The Power Of Your Phone
The first proven technique is the power of airplane mode.
Most people see this as something they only use when they’re on a plane but its benefits have much more significance.
Let’s explore some of the benefits of a commonly misused tool.
Keep reading.
Our phones are powerful devices. They allow us to communicate, post pictures, share stories, learn about topics online and a whole range of things that people would have thought were impossible a couple of decades ago.
However, they also come with their negatives.
We are constantly being bombarded with notifications which make us want to check our phone and when we do, we lose focus on the task we were doing and get sucked into the digital world and end up spending hours on Instagram even though we have work to do.
According to CNN, “Teens get as many as 237 or more notifications each day on their smartphones“
That’s 15 notifications every hour! (Assuming you only count waking hours).
Airplane mode is an effective tool to guarantee that no one can reach/contact you so that you can be focused on the work that needs to be done. It allows you to direct all your energy towards being productive rather than worrying about when your friends going to reply.
If you aren’t comfortable with the idea of no one being able to contact you, you could try putting your phone on silent and in a different room so that this way you can still hear important phone calls through the vibrations and still limit the number of notifications that you are exposed to.
If you do need your phone to do work for whatever reason, it’s a good idea to put it on greyscale mode. This will limit the amount of dopamine you get from your phone and allow you to be more focused on what you need to do.
To put on greyscale mode, simply go to settings, accessibility, display and text size, colour filters turn it on and select greyscale.
One more tip is if you’re using platforms like YouTube to do research on topics, install an adblocker from Chrome extensions so that it blocks out the YouTube feed and you can be focused on watching only the content you need to, and not mass-matching video after video.
The blocker I use for YouTube is called: Unhook. You can find this on the Chrome web store.
To summarize, you can limit your dopamine from your phone and streamline your focus on being productive by:
- Airplane mode/Put your phone on silent and in a different room
- Greyscale Mode
- Adblocker
Streamline Efficiency By Focusing On One Task
The setups you see on social media of multi-screen setups with hundreds of tabs open may look cool and give the impression that they’re doing a lot of work.
But in reality, it’s the opposite.
Keep reading to find out more.
At first glance, this may look cool: Multiple screens with a nice setup.
But is it effective?
Having multiple tabs open on several screens not only distracts your focus, it also splits your attention because you have to focus on different things at the same time. Multiple tabs also serve as a distraction that stops you from concentrating on what you need to do.
To maximise your productivity, you need to only have one screen in front of you( this includes iPads, phones or any other devices that could distract you) and direct all of your attention towards it.
You should also only have one tab open, because that’s the one where all the work needs to be done and any other tabs can be re-opened later.
You never need more than one tab or screen in front of you, and most of the time, people do it just to look cool.
Concentrate all your attention and focus on one task so that you can complete it efficiently and effectively before moving on to the next task.
Up next: Define Your Day
Define Your Day
you will never be productive if you don’t define what a successful day looks like fo you.
You will always feel like you could have done more when in reality, you’ve done everything you could and was acutally really productive.
By defining what a productive day looks like for you, you give yourself a sense of clarity and peace and you no longer have to worry about not doing enough.
Find out how to define your productive day:
How to define your day:
Step #1: Write down your goals. Write down 3 tasks that have to be done the next day no matter what. These should be the most important tasks and require the most attention. Colour code this in red.
Step #2: Semi-important tasks. Now write down tasks that you would like to complete the next day, but are not a necessity. These might be goals that need to be completed by the end of the week, but if you don’t complete them tomorrow, it’s not the end of the world. Colour code these in yellow.
Step #3: Unimportant tasks. These are the tasks that have no real impact on your life if you don’t complete them, but it would be nice to do them if you had time. colour code these in green.
Step #4: Write down what a productive day would be for you. Your main goal tomorrow is to complete all of your red tasks as effectively and efficiently as possible. If you can do this, you’ve had a productive day and anything else you do is extra.
By defining your productive day and adopting this mindset, you take out the stress and worry of not doing enough and give your mind the peace and calm it needs to be innovative and productive.
Also, don’t look at what other people are doing, focus on yourself. This is the principle of the Japanese philosophy: Oubaitori.It teaches that everyone is different and has different paths and you should focus only on things that you need to do, and not worry about what other people are doing. This is how you achieve maximum growth and productivity.
Next Chapter: Timeline Events
Timeline Events
Planning out your day ahead is an effective way to stay productive.
It allows you to concentrate on the things you need to do instead of worrying about what you need to do next.
Here’s how you do it:
Time is a precious thing. Every person gets exactly 24 hours a day, no more, no less. So how is it that some people manage to achieve so much in a day when others achieve so little even though they’re both given the same amount of time?
The key to being productive and not wasting time is planning. Plan out your day in advance so that you don’t have to worry about what to do next and you can focus on completing the tasks and being productive.
The night before, I want you to get a piece of paper out and plan out your day by answering these questions:
- What tasks do I have to complete?
- What are my 3 most important tasks?
- How much time do I have available tomorrow to do the work I’ve set out?
- How much time do I need to complete each task?
Complete your 3 most important tasks first and then move on to the others.
After you’ve answered the 4 questions, I want you to create a small timeline for yourself.
e.g.
At 9 a.m. I’m going to do x
At 11 a.m. I’m going to do y
.
.
.
etc.
Plan out your day so that you don’t have to worry about what you have to do next.
Planning out your day also has benefits for your sleep. By taking the time to plan out your day, you take the stress out of your brain and it can relax more and fall asleep easier. Often, when I haven’t planned my day, my brain keeps working even when I’m in bed and I keep getting thoughts about things I need to do the next day. This stops me from sleeping and by planning out my day, I remove the stress which allows me to fall asleep quicker.
Let’s move on to the last chapter: Deep work.
Deep Work
Deep work is the purest form of work.
It is where you are 100% focused on the task you are currently doing and have elimiated all distractions from your environment.
Let’s explore how you can reach this state:
The first step to entering the flow state of deep work is to eliminate all distractions. The only thing on your desk should be the thing you are concentrating on, anything else you need to remove.
This is also a good way to tidy your environment and keep it neat which will make you more inclined to work because everything is in the right place.
You should also not listen to music/podcasts. Some people think that listening to stuff will promote creativity but in reality, it’ll do the opposite and hinder your productivity.
It takes away your focus from your work and you end up putting more attention into listening to the words of the song or podcast than you do on the thing you should be doing.
The only thing you could listen to is binaural beats.
You can find them on YouTube and they help streamline your focus and eliminate distractions from your mind so that you can be as productive as possible.
Entering a state of deep work is hard but once you achieve it, you’ll notice that your productivity skyrockets and things that used to take you hours to do, now only take you 40 minutes.
However, after a long period of intense work, it is important to take a break and take some time for yourself. This allows for your brain to relax for a bit before going back to work.
Now It's Your Turn
What was your favourite tip?
Did I miss anything?
Let me know in the comments below.