Maximizing productivity is something I’ve been deeply interested in for years. If you’re working on bettering yourself or improving your life in any way, becoming more productive is essential. Boosting your productivity and efficiency allows you to work on the things that are important to you more often and with improved focus. In this article, I’ll be sharing 5 tried & true tips for how to be productive everyday.
The Best Tips for How to be Productive Everyday
When I started learning how to be productive everyday, I tried out a bunch of different strategies. Some of them were helpful, while others were honestly exhausting.
After a lot of trial and error, I’ve compiled a list of the best productivity tips, so you don’t have to waste your time on everything else.
The biggest game changer for my productivity has been time blocking.
1. Start Time Blocking
Time blocking (or calendar blocking) is when you block off your daily tasks (work, hobbies, workouts, etc.) in your Google calendar. I use Google calendar at least for ease of use, but you can use whatever calendar you want!
It’s very flexible to you, your responsibilities, and your typical schedule. You can choose to time block as much or as little of your day-to-day as works for you.
Personally, I love to have the majority of my weekdays time blocked. This makes it easy for me to stick to my habits, work towards my goals, and also make time for relaxation, social plans, and me time.
My time blocking categories include: work (my full-time job), blog work, exercise, social, wellness (a really general category), and appointments.
You can choose to calendar block however you want, but I’d recommend it for anyone who wants to be more productive. It takes the guesswork out of what you’ll be doing each day and frees up mental space to actually do these positive habits, not worry about what you should be doing.
I wrote a whole post on time blocking here, so check that out if you want more details on time blocking categories and tips to get started.
2. Focus on One Thing at a Time
While it’s tempting to multitask from time to time, if you’re doing it constantly, you’re not ever going to be fully focusing on one thing at a time.
No matter how great of a multitasker you think you are, I guarantee you’re better off focusing on one thing at a time.
Believe me, I’m all about efficiency, so I’ve tried to multitask almost everything in my life at some point. Every time, I end up feeling more stressed and burnt out, and not actually giving full effort to any task I worked on.
Our brains aren’t wired to multitask, we’re much better at working on one thing at a time. Multitasking makes us less efficient, more easily distracted, and more susceptible to making mistakes (1).
To reduce multitasking and learn to focus on one thing at a time, I’d recommend not only time blocking, but also trying a focus app.
I love to use the forest app, which allows you to select an amount of time, and a task to work on. If you lose focus or get distracted on your phone during that window, you kill your virtual tree that is growing. It seems silly, but believe me, you won’t want to kill those cute little virtual trees once you start growing them!
For more details on finding a focus app, and other productivity tips, check out this post: 6 Life Hacks for Your Most Productive Year Yet
3. Schedule in Time for Rest & Relaxation
We’re human, not productivity robots, so making sure to take time to recharge is essential to be your most productive self.
If you don’t take time for R&R, you can’t expect yourself to be functioning at your best during work times.
Personally, blocking off time in my calendar for relaxation works wonders. This way, I don’t end up with a “go, go, go” mentality, always thinking I can get “one more thing” done.
I’ll mark time off in my Google calendar for watching TV shows, watching Cubs games, taking time for self care, etc. This time is essential for me to be my best self, so making sure I actually take the time to recharge once my calendar says so has helped tremendously.
Not only that, but I’ve gotten into the habit of taking a full day off each week to not work on anything. No job work, no blog work, nothing.
For the entire day, I allow myself to relax (play games on my phone, go to farmers’ markets, go on a bunch of leisurely walks) guilt-free.
If you’re always thinking “I could be doing [insert productive habit]“ when you’re trying to relax, you don’t end up actually feeling recharged at all. You have to give yourself full permission to chill out and not worry about your to-do list or goals for a while to really reap the benefits from your recharge time.
4. Get Enough Sleep
Anybody who’s struggled with insomnia, like me, knows how exhausted you feel after a night (or 7…) of bad sleep. Getting enough sleep is essential to have the energy to be productive in your daily life.
If you really want to learn how to be productive everyday, it starts with your sleep habits.
When you’re constantly exhausted, you’re more than likely going to end up cancelling or rescheduling all of your productive calendar blocks.
Anytime I’m tired and didn’t sleep well, I end up:
- hitting snooze 10x (or turning off my alarm completely in the middle of the night)
- eating sugary quick foods throughout the day hoping they’ll give me an energy boost, but actually end up leaving me more tired
- thinking “I’ll do it tomorrow” with all my productive habits and best laid plans
- being irritable at everyone who talks to me (& at myself in my internal self talk)
No one is the best version of themselves when they’re tired — which is why getting a solid 8 hours of sleep (or close to it) is so important.
For some tips on how to get better sleep, check out this post on my other blog: 10 tips to sleep better (& beat insomnia for good)
5. Make More Time for Good Habits & Less Time for Bad Ones
One of the biggest blockers for me when it comes to productivity is binge-watching Netflix. It’s so easy to turn on a show, promising yourself you’re only going to watch one episode, and then 5 episodes in, wonder where the time went…
It’s easy to think you’re recharging your battery when binge-watching something, but the truth is, you’ll probably end up more tired and burnt out feeling after.
Having time to recharge is essential for everybody. But there’s a fine line between taking an hour or two to recharge vs. spending 6 hours straight on the couch watching a show. Believe me, I’m guilty of the latter more times than I’d like to admit.
By time blocking for rest & relaxation, you can be sure to still have time for your favorite shows (or movies, hobbies, whatever it is that helps you relax.) But you can set a healthy amount of time for it that leaves you feeling rejuvenated, instead of tired, by the end of your relaxation time.
This leaves you more time in the day for good habits that add to your life. Like your side hustle, your hobbies, getting outside, exercise, cooking, and more.
Now it’s up to you!
I hope this article gave you some inspiration and tips for how to be productive everyday!
If you try any of these out, or have your own productivity tips that I didn’t cover, drop them in the comments. I’m always looking to learn new tips to try out from you guys and would love to hear your thoughts. 💛
Unfortunately, I had to disable open comments due to a ton of spam comments coming in, so comments will only be open for one month after a post goes live now. If you’re unable to comment but want to get in contact, feel free to email me. I’d love to hear from you! 🙂
If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:
- 5 Essential Time Blocking Categories (to be Super Productive)
- 8 EASY healthy habits to make this your BEST year yet
- 7 Riveting Summer Books to Read This Year
Thanks for reading! 💛
