5 productivity hacks for remote & hybrid teams that are worth the hype

How many times a day do you get distracted? Go on, have a guess. 5? 50? 100?

What if I told you that the average worker is interrupted a whopping *56 times a day, and according to one study, it takes the average employee *25 minutes and 26 seconds to get back on track after a distraction.

What’s more, distractions are everywhere, especially for remote teams who rely heavily on tech to collaborate effectively and stay connected.

Slack, email, WhatsApp, social media… Apps and their tantalising red notifications are all designed to distract us and keep us coming back for more of that irresistible dopamine.

Of course, being hyper-productive isn’t the be-all and end-all.

We won’t be whispering, “I wish I’d been more productive…” on our deathbeds.

Nor will we celebrate the number of emails we’ve sent down the pub on a Friday night.

But (and it’s a big BUT) it will, whether we care to admit it or not, have a direct impact on:

???Our stress levels.

???Our happiness.

???Our team.

And distraction, the evil twin of productivity, is one of the biggest pitfalls.

Did you know that the More Happi team is 100% remote and has been since our humble beginnings in 2020?

We’ve been through our fair share of productivity hacks through the years.

Here are our top 5:

1. Time blocking.

Use a?virtual calendar?like Google Calendar (or an app like?Motion ) to give adequate, uninterrupted focus time to tasks. For example, stop the urge to check your email multiple times a day, and?add a ‘check & reply to emails’ block?event into your calendar instead. Trust me, your day could be so much shorter if you did the same activity all in one shot.

Yes, it can be tempting to dive straight into the day, but adding your daily priorities into your calendar in big chunks helps you stay focused and aware of the time things are taking too.

?? Remember to block our space for lunch, fresh air and any responsibilities - like school drop-offs and regular meetings.

You can always adapt your calendar through the day if your energy levels start to wane, or other business priorities pop up.

2. Identify the tasks you NEED to complete (the most important ones) daily.

Hear me out. This isn’t a list. It’s SO much more useful than that.

Download the More Happi version below and?keep it in front of you, where you can see it, throughout the day.

?? Download More Happi's Daily Mindset Planner here.

3. Turn on ‘Do not disturb’ or Airplane mode.

Failing that, stick a Post-it on your phone, or download the?one sec app blocking app ?to deter you from getting pulled down the rabbit hole of dopamine distraction that is social media.

Need something a bit more rigorous??Forest app ?is a gamified alternative. Plus, using the app enables them to plant actual real-life trees as a result. It’s a win-win.

4. Learn to say ‘NO’ (even if everything inside of you wants to say ‘yes’).

A?‘No’?to the things that don’t matter = a?‘Yes’?to the things that do. Time is a finite resource, if you ignore this fact you will burn out.

Simply put, if you try to do everything, you’ll end up doing nothing.

Does the mere thought of turning someone down leave you feeling uneasy? Here are some suggestions of what to say in a pinch:

"I'm happy to help out with this project, but I don’t have capacity to do it this week."

“I’d like to help you out, but if I do [X], I won’t have the time to do [Y]. Which task is more urgent and important?”

"I'd love to catch up sometime soon, but I'm not free this weekend."

5. Use timers.

This one is specifically helpful for any ADHDers out there.

If you have ADHD you’ll be fully aware of time-blindness, a difficulty in perceiving and managing the passage of time. Individuals may struggle to estimate durations, plan tasks, or meet deadlines, leading to a sense of time slipping away. This can impact daily routines and time-sensitive responsibilities.

The hack, although simple, really works. Set a kitchen timer, use an app/extension (we love?this one ), or use your phone to?set a timer of how long you think the task will take. If you go over the time you’ve given yourself, make a note of it, then reset until you finish.

(Katie, More Happi’s Content Manager, swears by this one!)

Giving a time management method like the?Pomodoro technique?a go, can help massively too.

That’s 25-mins of uninterrupted work, followed by a 5-minute break. Keep going until you finish the task, or have repeated the method 3 times, then take a 15- to 30-minute break, depending on how you feel.

Key stats and the receipts

*These stats were taken from a brilliant blog post by Dom Murray at Go1 Technologies . Give it a read here . The stats referenced above were by:

“A typical worker is interrupted a whopping?56 times ?per day” (https://www.getclockwise.com/blog/what-is-focus-time )

“One study found that it takes the average employee?25 minutes and 26 seconds ?to completely refocus after being distracted.” (https://www.getclockwise.com/blog/what-is-focus-time )

Coach lab questions for your fortnight:

• What are the top 3 distractions or time-wasters impacting your productivity?
• When do you tend to be most productive and ‘in the zone’? What are you doing? Who are you with? What’s your environment like?
• How does being productive make you feel? What’s important about this to you?
• What emotions come up when you get distracted or derailed?
• Who could help hold you accountable and provide encouragement? How might you go about building this into your company culture?

A little bit about me (your guide)

For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm Ashleigh, founder of More Happi :) Nice to meet you! ??

I’ve worked across 9 industry start-up sectors, ranging from fashion trend forecasting, to wool, tampons, sustainable lightbulbs and more.

I trained to be a coach in 2020, after over 20 years in Product, Marketing and Leadership roles.

I noticed something that irked me.

Coaching is transformational for people’s life and career.

But the coaching industry was broken. ??

Due to high costs, only the usual suspects at the top of organisations were able to benefit from the superpowers that professional coaching brings — fuelling a vicious circle of privilege that sustains the status quo and leaves everyone else behind.

It wasn’t fair. So I’m fixing it. And so far, thousands have benefitted.

Interested in learning more about the most accessible coaching service ever created? Discover more here .