Creating your own Productivity Routine.

Let’s be honest, we all want to be productive, we may have experimented with some techniques, read up on it, and tried a few tips and tricks until we realized that none of the stuff on the internet really works for you. ??

But I’ll let you in on a little secret, there is no ‘One-size-fits-all’ matrix for being productive. Each and everyone of us have different habits and routines, distractions and motivations. And so, it’s important that you customize your matrix to suit your lifestyle. ??

Productivity can mean different things in different contexts, and may even change with perspective and time. But understanding all the contributing factors to productivity is important in each scenario.

We could say the general definition of productivity is using your time, energy, and attention effectively to achieve your goals.?
        

We recently conducted an internal workshop to explore the different definitions, techniques, and contributing factors of productivity. More importantly, understanding yourself and creating a routine that fits you, here’s how you can do it too.

First, ask yourself “Why do I want to be productive and what do I hope to achieve by being productive” ??

Once you know your goals you can start working on the tasks that’ll help you reach them. ????

Creating a Task Priority & Completion Matrix

Now what we’ve got to do is prioritize your tasks, you may write a list of things you’ve got to do for the day but you may not always be able to do it all. Rather, learn to prioritize so that by the end of the day you feel good about having done the important stuff. ?

High-priority tasks directly contribute to cost cutting or revenue gain. These tasks are what you should finish off. There are only a few ways that you can complete a task. So any tasks in your to-do list can be viewed from this lens to declutter and attain clarity. ??

• Completion - Do it and Finish it off
• Deletion - Remove it if it adds no value
• Delegation - Hand the task to someone competent
• Deferment - Schedule it or Put it to a late-list

Time and Energy Management

Next, let’s jump into conserving your time and energy. There are probably a few days where you feel super content with yourself, proud that you’ve got everything you’ve done for the day, unfortunately, those days are rare! the more frequent ones have you feeling kind shitty and unproductive. ??

All days can’t be ultra productive days and that’s okay! doing it all is an impossible task, but here are a few techniques that may contribute to feeling less shitty.??

Through creating Time Blocks

Time blocks are identified pockets of time where you find certain energy. For example, some people are more creative and innovative in the mornings. And would prefer to have meetings, alignment and operations work towards evening. Finding time blocks that suit your schedule, lifestyle and personality is very important. ?

It’s important to take a moment and think about your own chronotype and energy patterns throughout the day and fit your work to meet those patterns. ??

Managing Meetings

Okay, so maybe we’ve figured out which part of our day we prefer to have our meetings but meetings can sometimes be unnecessarily time-consuming and worthless. Much like the Pareto principle, meetings are mostly ‘Noise’, it’s important to conserve your energy for creating and reducing wasting time on meetings. ??

Here are a few tips you can follow to make sure you have a productive meeting without wasting energy and time. ?

• Practice the Pareto Principle at meetings - Putting an effort into the 20% that’s important will is better than trying to absorb everything.
• Have a written agenda so you stay on topic and stick to the timeslot. If other important side discussions come up, schedule another time for the discussion and carry on.
• Have buckets of meeting types - You need to be of different mindsets for these meeting types. it’s important to schedule these for different days to get the most out of the meeting.

A few Meeting Types could be categorized as :

1. Introductions                  2. Sales
3. Alignment                      4. Conflic Resolution
5. BrainstormIntroductions
        

• Document outcomes - Most meetings are not documented. This cause meetings to not be effective. People don't remember how things get connected to the main outcome. Use digital tools like Miro to document.

By ending Procrastination

Let’s touch on the basics. Are you in the habit of delaying important tasks till the last minute? Do you indulge in fun activities like binging Netflix or scrolling through Instagram even though you know you’re close to a deadline? Do you find yourself getting distracted right before you sit down to get some ‘focus’ work done? ??

If you answered yes to a few of those, you’re most likely a procrastinator, but fret not, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, most of us are. It’s identifying that you are in fact a Procrastinator and minimizing the distractions around you that actually matters! ??

Write down the activities you engage in when procrastinating and take measures to put an end to it.

To put things into perspective this ?? is a ‘life calendar’ that’s one box for every week for 70 years. The area highlighted in red is where you are right now in life. There’s not too many boxes left, so take this as motivation to stop procrastinating and get Shit done! Time’s not waiting for anyone.??

Awareness of your Habits and Routines

Good habits

There are a few habits that are keystone habits that have a big effect on productivity. eg: Practicing self-awareness, engaging in creative activities, fitness and Meditation and being socially conscious. ????

→ Write down the good habits you cultivate and find out how to make time for these in your time blocks and days schedule.
        

Bad Habits

These are usually symptoms of problems, that usually interrupts your life and prevents you from achieving your goals. i.e. Not getting enough sleep, laziness, overworking, procrastinating, negative mindset, micro-managing, stressing about things out of your control. ??

→ Write down the negative habits you want to put an end to and make a conscious effort to rebuttal these habits.

        

Burnout is the result of bad habits sustained over a continuous period of time. Burnout is commonly associated with high levels of stress and lower productivity.?

Having a Healthy Environment

It is well assumed that the more satisfied you are in your physical and mental environment, the more likely you are to produce better work outcomes. i.e Music, mood, company you surround yourself with, temperature, lighting and noise conditions may affect work concentration and productivity. ??

Here are a few tips:

• Do not neglect your physical and mental well being ???? ♂?
• Listen to music that motivates you ??
• Make sure you have the right tools, equipment and resources to get your work done ??
• Tap into a ‘Positive’ mindset ??
• Identify and reduce distractions around you ??
• Be clean and organized ??

Tools to enable self productivity

After you’ve analyzed your do’s and don’t the weaknesses and strengths utilize digital tools to help you continue your progress. Setting goals, assigning tasks, tracking progress and time, improving your good habits can all be done with digital tools. ??

Here are a few common digital tools used to help improve productivity:

Here is a week planner template on Notion that you can duplicate and use to Map out your goals, create time blocks, Monitor self-awareness and manage meetings. ????

Hope this piece helped you get a greater understanding of Productivity and How to customize your lifestyle to reach your fullest potential. ??

Watch the full workshop on Productivity here ??