What does it mean to be productive?
We will have to analyse in depth what these tasks are and if they are really prioritised in a fair way in order to achieve our objectives or to carry out a project.
By definition, ‘being productive comes from achieving a task in the least amount of time possible’.
In contrast to this definition, the idea of being efficient is born, which means performing a task while enjoying the process and achieving great progress without making too much effort. It is not necessary to feel that we are working hard to feel productive.
How to organise my to-do list
Making a list of possible tasks can help us not to forget any task to be done, so it would be a good method to make a first focus and identify those activities to be done. But it is of utmost importance to ‘know how to organise our tasks’.
Tips
Before starting each week, make a list of everything that needs to be done, from the lowest priority, for example, taking the laundry out of the laundry room, to the most relevant or important tasks for a work or personal project.
Know how to identify each task by name. In this way, each of them will be clearly established day by day, and we will help to achieve the objectives proposed in the list, for example, writing the report, studying a part of the thesis, completing a learning course, going to the doctor, etc.
Determine the working time we will dedicate to a task, i.e. how much time we will dedicate to each chosen task, ideally 40 minutes or 50 minutes, one task at a time will move us forward and free our mind from other pending tasks, avoiding distraction and accentuating full attention on the chosen task.
Also establish what day we will do each activity, for example, dedicate three days a week and at the same time to connect for a course, or perform a specific long task, this will avoid that mental disorder that causes us that feeling of mental exhaustion. Realise that you can’t do everything in one day. Organising the calendar of tasks and activities clarifies our week in an orderly way.
Start our working day by doing those tasks that take us the most time and that we like the least, occupying our energies at the beginning of the day without arriving at the end of the day already tired and with this task pending.
Distinguish the priorities of tasks, i.e. identify what is important from what is urgent. For example, a minute task is not the same as starting a project. Realise that a project involves many sub-tasks to complete the overall idea that will support and give birth to the project. Starting with the small tasks that bring me closer to that final work as a project. For this reason, identifying in our list, each mini-task as part of the project, will make sure that we do not leave those various pending tasks for another day. Start small and then we will achieve the big things we want to achieve and it will not be so long and tedious.
Avoid distractions, this means if I am at the computer, close any other notification windows that distract me such as email, open windows in our browser, such as Facebook or WhatsApp. Avoiding distractions will give us information about the time when we are most able to concentrate and identify if we are high energy for that task. As a complement, look for a quiet place, free of noises or murmurs that do not help our concentration.
In the list of tasks, we should also include break times, rest times and lunch times so that we do not spend too much time on tasks that cause mental exhaustion and lead us to look at our mobile phone or talk to our partner, making each task never-ending.
It is important to know that when we leave a certain task and enter another at the same time, the time it takes our mind to return to focus is fifteen minutes, this time it takes us to resume our concentration on what we were doing.
Recommended activities to rest between work periods
Do not look at alternative screens in our moments of rest, that is to say, if we have finished a subject, get up from the computer, do not look at the mobile phone and let our body rest from screens, have a coffee, a shower, look out the window, talk to someone, eat something, it will distract our mind, and cognitively breathe, and then continue with another task without feeling overwhelmed. Also stretching and moving the body helps to oxygenate our brain and will give us more vitality to perform our upcoming executive tasks.
Going for a walk after a productive day or choosing an activity that is pleasurable for us such as dancing, listening to music, cooking, meditating or connecting with our pets, activates our happiness neurons giving us an overall well-being in our mind, body and spirit.
Understand and know that it is not necessary to start and finish a task in the same day. Everything takes a process. It takes time for the seed to sprout first, then become a plant, then a tree.
Thinking about achieving the tree in one leap will cause us to become saturated, frustrated at not achieving it in the first place, and we will end up abandoning the initiative to achieve it.
That is why we must understand that our mind does not know about time or clocks, nor about managing our energies. If it is for it, it thinks about doing and doing constantly, and does not understand that it can lead to exhaustion, it makes endless to-do lists without knowing that we need to stop or order the ideas for a process. She doesn’t understand that day by day, we can make progress, when we do it little by little, to reach the goal. On the contrary, she likes the immediate, and this is not possible to achieve our goals.
To conclude this article, I would like to emphasise that achieving daily habits that help us to be productive is the key to being efficient in what we set out to do. This includes a good rest, healthy food throughout the day, setting up a clean and tidy place to get down to work on our tasks, doing physical exercise, connecting with nature at least ten minutes a day, playing with our pets, and establishing quality emotional bonds.
We are integral beings, where our attitudes reflect our small steps, and that day by day, will bring us closer to our goals.
Maintaining the balance of our mind, achieving our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing will be evident in how we organise ourselves to be productive in whatever we set out to do.
