How to supercharge your productivity

Over the last eight months of Covid-19, I wrestled with the question of how to maximize my productivity. Which, by the way is an important thing to define before we go further. James Clear, the author of the wonderful book Atomic Habits, poses on his website:

Let's define productivity. Productivity is a measure of efficiency of a person completing a task. We often assume that productivity means getting more things done each day.

Wrong.

?Productivity is getting important things done consistently. And no matter what you are working on, there are only a few things that are truly important.

Let's poke at this - it's about "getting important things done consistently." Realizing this AND that I love creating lists, thinking in systems, and experimenting with change, I began to toy with ideas. Ideas of how I could re-discover my productivity in spite of being in my home most of the time - and while balancing childcare with my wife, my health/fitness, and my daily responsibilities from my job and coaching work.

Find some free time where nothing else is demanded of you.

• No childcare responsibilities. No cooking. No working out. No client calls or catch up Zoom meetings. Nothing but what you need to get done. If these things are in the way, ask for help, clear or block your schedule, or otherwise find ways to prioritize you.
• I used to be an avid badminton player and hadn't played in years. But when I found an academy half an hour from my house, I reluctantly brought it up to my wife. She encouraged me to go, asking that I watch our son on another night in the week in exchange for my three hours of working on the badminton court. Done. And it has restored so much goodness in my life. Healthy competition, a good workout, and even making new friends are all improving my life tremendously.
• I started writing this post in June 2020, after having been in quarantine and social distancing for three months. Given that it is now October 2020 and that my son only went back to part-time daycare two weeks ago (after being out since March), I recognize that not everyone will have the luxury to find the space, ability and/or time to be alone and focused. That's okay. It's okay that you have commitments and distractions and priorities, including the wellbeing of others. Do what you have to do!

Figure out where you get your most productive times.

For me, it was in a coffee shop or library. Unfortunately those options are a little hard to come by right now.

The picture above is Caffe Greco, my favorite coffee shop in the world, located in my hometown of San Francisco. But what was it about that space that worked for me? I loved the noise, the marble tables, the smell of coffee, discussing life in Spanish with the staff, and seeing people walk by outside. Think through the five senses and ask yourself, "where do YOU need to work?

Sound

• Was it the sound of people in the room working on other things but not bothering you?
• Perhaps ask a few friends who have similar working styles to jump on a zoom and just have your speakers and microphones on while you work.
• Do you prefer silence or noise?
• I like having my headphones on with ambient noise, the sound of rain falling, or I turn on something I know will make my mind go blank. Disney soundtracks, Phantom of the Opera, Beethoven, or Les Misérables will all do the trick for me. What does the trick for you?
• I highly recommend these two ambient noise YouTube videos - Star Wars LoFi HipHop and Coffee Shop Sounds for Study and Concentration.

Sight

• Bright or dark? Big open space or small, cozy nook? Beautiful oak desk or marble table? Lots of people around you enjoying time out of the house?
• I work really well in brightly lit spaces with sunshine and natural light aplenty. And now that I work from home, I picked a room to be my office that has big windows, a view of the beautiful changing fall leaves, and lots of natural light.

Smell

• Was it the smell of coffee or freshly baked cookies? If so, brew a pot while you work at the kitchen table or set a pan of cookies in the oven as you work - though I would counsel you not to bake this every time you need to get productive or the Covid-15 will become the Covid-50.

Taste

• Do you typically work with food?
• If so, be careful! I am an example of someone who eats mindlessly and zombie calories can be dangerous.

Touch

• Do you work better on a big communal table made from beautiful old bowling lane pine? Or do you do better sitting on a firm couch with a laptop on your lap?
• How about with a fancy Herman Miller office chair with lumbar support and a headrest? By the way, if shelling out thousands of dollars to furnish your set up does not appeal to you (it doesn't to me!), consider buying office furniture from an office liquidator who will have tons of items at major discounted prices.

Once you're in your productive environment, how do you prevent distractions?

Computer

• Try minimizing all windows except the one you need to work on. Or maximize the video you need to watch so you're not tempted to read the news or answer an email while you watch.

Phone

• Turn off your phone or place it upside down to minimize distractions.
• Turn your phone to greyscale - you'll be shocked how much less stimulating it is, thus less attractive and less likely to distract you.

Workspace

• The reason I love working in cafes is not just the coffee and pastries and friendly hipster baristas. The desk is clean. I am not encumbered with papers and junk all over my home desk.

Monotask

• If you have a list of things to get through, go one at a time. Prioritize which one(s) you need to get done first or require the most energy/brainpower.

Eliminate external impacts to your productivity

• If you parked in a garage/parking space with a two hour time limit, that can both force you to be focused for those two hours but it can also artificially disrupt your concentration as you run to make sure your car doesn’t get ticketed.
• If you get to a coffee shop at 7 PM and it closes at 9 PM, your constraint is the environment (heck, they need a break too, you know).

Take advantage of lack of other options

• Is it raining outside? That certainly limits your ability to run or play soccer today. Go find your workspace and get to work.

Everyone needs different things to be able to get things done. But whatever you need to do for yourself, find it. And if you need some other resources, I've added links to some of my favorite books on productivity, habits, and getting things done. Best of luck getting productive!

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Books to Read:

• Getting Things Done: I mean, do you really need me to describe this?
• Atomic Habits: A couple lessons from early in the book which revolutionized my thinking:
• “Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits weight to eating knowledge to learning clutter to cleaning You get what you repeat.”
• Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it.
• Behaviors are a reflection of identity…The biggest barrier to positive change at any level is identity conflict…If good habits conflict with identity you’ll fail to put them into action
• The First 90 Days: A practical guide once you find your path and your next project, role, or assignment. With a thoughtful approach to ensuring success in your next play, you will avoid the mistakes of