5 ways to boost Productivity

Sure, we have 24 hours every day, but to be totally honest, it often feels as if there are closer to 5. So often we find ourselves slipping into bed at the end of the day, thinking to ourselves, ‘What did I do today?’ or ‘Where did the day go?’We can all agree that our time is precious. And with our increasingly busy lives, it feels like a rarer commodity than ever before. While we can’t stress the importance of rest (and play!) enough, we do think that being more productive during the hours where we should be productive is key to having that time for ourselves. Which is why we always keep these 5 tips in mind when we need to buckle down and get to work.

1. Don’t multitask. This can be a tempting way to work but trust us. It’s a trap. When you try to do many things at once, you end up doing all of them more slowly – and often less accurately or effectively. Pick one task and stick to it. Once you’ve completed it or made significant progress, feel free to move onto the next. 

2. Prioritise. For us, this means getting our most important tasks done before lunch, but different people operate on different schedules. Find the time when you have the strongest focus and book in your significant tasks then. Anything that’d be merely “nice to do” can wait for tomorrow’s to-do list. Prioritise the things with tight deadlines or that must be done today.

3. Avoid overwhelming yourself. Breaks are imperative! Obviously, being ambitious is a good thing, but if you try to tackle too much, you’ll likely end up feeling so stress you end up paralysed. Refine your list, be intentional and take breaks. A little bit of fresh air or a good sweat session (hello, Ro’ride) does wonders for the brain.

4. Start your day the right way. Again, taking time for yourself is so, so important. We can’t stress that enough. Make sure you begin each day doing whatever it is you need to get you in the right frame of mind. That could be 45 minutes in the saddle, 15 minutes of meditation or a delicious, healthy breakfast.

Embrace routines. The idea of having a routine might sound boring, but they are actually incredibly helpful when it comes to boosting productivity. Your routines needn’t be very rigid or comprehensive (we’re not talking about a schedule broken down in half-hour modules), but having some structure to your day allows you to be faster, more efficient and more focused on what you really need to do.