Killing life hacks to increase productivity

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The eternal theme of productivity. Everyone has their own recipes for how to work better, harder, cooler. Today we bring you some very unusual advice from Damian Pros, blogger and author of the book, on defeating procrastination.

Even if you are tired of articles about productivity, you still can't do anything without it: the results will be lower than what you can achieve. Productivity is a quality work result. It can be measured by how much you get by spending a certain amount of energy.

Productivity is the ability to do things that you previously couldn't.

Franz Kafka

The higher, the more you will achieve.

When it is taller than the stars, it is easier to work and results are achieved in a better way. With productivity, goals are hit and the rewards are greater than what you hoped for.

But she has many enemies. They can be extremely dangerous, and if you let them get close, they will tear your success apart. You run the risk of not getting the job done, missing all deadlines, or worse, giving up before starting business.

Everybody has 24 hours a day. On our shoulders lies the responsibility for how to conduct them. If you find the right method, life hacks to increase your productivity, you will be using those 24 hours to the fullest.

Here are nine powerful life hacks to help you win. Every now and again.

You don't have to apply all the techniques at once, because the choice depends on the schedule. You will find several tips on the list that will suit your lifestyle. The more tips you apply, the higher your productivity will become.

1. Two hours of hermitage

What is this anyway? Should I go to the forest and sit in a secluded hut? Not unless you want to. The hermit method is much simpler.

For two hours each day, focus on your work and do the work in general. Lock yourself in the room, in the bathroom, even in the garage. Anywhere, where absolutely nothing will distract you for two hours.

And it doesn't matter that mom demands to immediately run for the cutlet, that the girl is waiting at the door, that there is a fire outside the room. Loneliness and complete focus on work.

Find a place where no one will interrupt you. Nobody at all. Even if God decides to talk to you, let him wait a couple of hours.

Is it clear how important it is to be absolutely focused? If you’re working on something serious and you’re answering a call, it’s a failure. Adios, productivity.

You will lose concentration. The brain will decide to make a change and signal the body to rest more.

How to enable hermit mode:

1. Turn off your phone or turn on airplane mode. Answer all messages and calls in two hours.
2. Log out to all social networks.
3. If there is someone near you, ask them not to disturb you for two hours and lock yourself in the room.
4. If you can't find a quiet place at home, head to the nearest library.
5. Place water and snacks near your work area in case of hunger and thirst. Go to the toilet. Of course, going to the toilet is not forbidden again. Productivity isn't worth it … you get the idea.

If you have a tight schedule, you don't have to devote two hours to hermitage. Let it be one hour or half. When you need to do something really important, you will find a way. On the other hand, if you have a loose schedule, you can practice reclusion for more than two hours.

2. Disconnect the phone for the maximum time

When you're working on something, whether it's homework or a business plan, the ringing of the phone really interferes with concentration. Turn off the sound, or better, turn off your phone altogether. This will increase the chances of working continuously.

Similar to Hermit Mode, but in a lighter form. You simply reduce the likelihood that you will be interrupted.

3. Focus on one task

Multitasking reduces productivity by up to 40%. Psychologist Susan Weinschenk says that people cannot do more than one task at a time. More specifically, multitasking is simply switching between several different tasks.

It is impossible to keep two things in mind at once and switch between them without losing concentration. If you think you are speeding up this way, get used to the idea that if you do two tasks in turn, they will take less time.

The brain can only focus on one thing. You can read or watch TV, but you cannot do it at the same time.

What happens when you try to do this is called a switch. So there is no such ability as. You are simply wasting attention and producing less.

If you want to keep your productivity high, it's time to give up this habit. Take tasks in turn and prioritize.

4. Start Your Day With What You Hate

Sounds unattractive. But I can explain everything.

When boring and unpleasant work has to be done, we tend to put it off. We transfer it to the end of the day, then we transfer it to the next day, in the end we do nothing at all. We continue to say: “I’ll think about it tomorrow,” but this does not come tomorrow.

Do the unpleasant job right after waking up, or within a couple of hours after it. That way you at least won't indulge during the day. And this adds self-confidence.

When you decide to do something and actually do something, the subconscious sends a signal that you know how to keep your word. You can be relied on. The result is self-confidence.

5. Work the 25/5 method

This method can be used in hermit mode and maximize productivity.

The idea is to divide the work into two parts. The first part, 25 minutes, is continuous work. The second part is a break for 5-7 minutes to drink water, eat something or warm up.

Use a timer with a call that will remind you when the next time period ends.

This is great if you are going to work in hermit mode for a long time, for example, more than four hours. But it is also suitable for two hours of hard work, because the brain gets tired from strong stress.

On the one hand, understanding that you need to be as focused as possible until the alarm rings is ultra-productive and you get more done. On the other hand, you have five minutes to relax, but don't overdo it.

Make no mistake! Don't go to social media or answer calls during the break, or five minutes will turn into 50.

6. Listen to audiobooks and podcasts while eating

Snacking is a great opportunity to nourish your body and get a little smarter at the same time.

Many people watch TV while eating or just stare at the kitchen wall, but you can stand out from the “brainless crowd” and devote this time to self-education. Of course, if you choose books or not because you want to, but because it is written in the article, it will not help. Look for what you like.

You can choose any theme, for example:

• How to build self-confidence.
• How to lose weight.
• How to build a relationship.
• How to gain muscle mass.
• How to improve memory.
• How to make money.

Etc.

No need to listen to audiobooks with selected works of Nietzsche and Freud's studies, if this does not go down your throat. Find an interesting topic that engages you and helps make your life better.

Do you have doubts? Does listening to books have the same effect as reading? Depends on the content of the book, but basically the result is the same. A study from back in 1997 that those who listened and those who read short stories described the content equally well.

7. Use easy-to-use to learn new things

When it comes to productivity and achieving goals, you need to learn. You can't just take and achieve all goals without pumping yourself. If you don't take a small step towards your goal every day, nothing will work out.

We can say that there is no time for this. But in reality, many of us are wasting a lot of time.

What did you do the last time you stood at a bus stop? What did you do in the queue for an appointment with the doctor while sitting in front of the office? What did you do on the way to work in the car? In most cases, they waited until time passed, or sat on social networks, checked their mail, listened to music, or looked out the window.

In fact, they lost the time in which something is possible. Start reading books and listening to podcasts during this dead time. If you are on the bus and you have 30 minutes to spare, don't let them pass just like that. Read and get smarter. If you are driving, listen to audio.

It is impossible to imagine how much your thinking will change in a year after you start listening to audiobooks during those 30 minutes that are spent on the road to work.

Get started now: make a list of books, download the free ones to get started. Podcasts won't cost you anything either.

8. Use the three-color method in the checklist

This is a recommendation from the book Beat Procrastination in 10 Minutes.

Regular checklists are boring. And the tricolor list is attractive. It's a good way to be productive and complete important tasks on time.

Why? Because you categorize tasks according to their importance. All you need is a piece of paper and three colored pencils. I like black, red and blue.

Next, split your work:

• Level 1. Red. Priority, urgent work to be done today.
• Level 2. Black. Medium priority.
• Level 3. Blue. Low priority.

When the day comes to an end, the tasks of the first two levels must be completed.

But there is a rule: for each task of the third level, there should be two tasks of the first and second levels.

This will insure you against moving all work to a low priority level to delay it.

For example, if you have two tasks on the blue level, then there should be two on black and two on red, or three on red and one on black. Maintain a two-to-one ratio between tasks on black and red and tasks on blue.

This system will help you focus on assigning and doing important things. Important things will get done and you won't forget about low priority tasks.

9. Practice short-term fasting

Fasting for a short time will help you lose weight, while you will not spend minutes on food. That is, you will not consume less nutrients, just reduce the number of meals.

Skip breakfast. While common sense dictates that you need to take a large plate of porridge or muesli to "activate the metabolism", it doesn't bring much. Food makes the body spend energy digesting food. This phenomenon is known as the thermal effect of food. But if you increase the number of meals, then no difference can be observed within 24 hours. The thermal effect remains the same if you eat the same amount of calories three times or six times.

The food industry is investing millions to convince us of the need for breakfast. You need to eat pancakes, milk, cereals, breakfast cereals, otherwise the body will think that you are starving. And we believe in it.

In fact, skipping breakfast only helps us burn more fat and provides other benefits, such as increased production of growth hormone and increased mental activity.

But how does this affect productivity?

When you skip breakfast, you only eat two or three meals a day. Lunch, dinner, snack in between. This saves a lot of time that you don't have to spend on preparing breakfast, and for lunch you can eat a large portion or order a dessert. The calories you don't get for breakfast are added to your lunch.

It is not necessary to skip breakfast, you can refuse another meal. there are 5-6 times a day, "because this regime activates the metabolism."

It doesn't matter if your goal is to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your existing weight. The number of calories and nutrients you consume plays a decisive role. They can be obtained in two to three meals a day. But you will save time on the preparation and process of eating, as well as save the energy that goes into digestion.