Productivity has been on my mind a bit lately. With only 24 hours in a day how do you juggle everything from putting out fires, to taking care of the necessary tasks, to turning out new ideas? I say, “stay focused, and prioritize. Here are a few productivity tips I follow each day.
:: Prioritize -each morning open your daily planner (or simply use a wipe board on the fridge), look at your weekly To Do list and write down a daily To-Do list. Then write numbers beside each item and order them by time of day. My daily list today looks like this:
- Post Blog article
- Call relative about photography
- Walmart – storage bins
- Bake cherry streusel coffee cake and prep pest for Thursday play-date lunch
- Draft basement area re-decorating budget
- BBQ chicken dinner
:: Budget your time wisely - use a planner with limited space (mine is a 5″X9″ binder) to limit how much you can write down each day. Budget 150% of the time you think it will take to accomplish the task. I don’t pack my days too tightly because:
- My kids and husband need to know they are loved.
- I want to feel productive because I accomplished what I needed to, and not feel behind because I didn’t get it all done.
- My body is recovering and I need to manage my physical exertion each day.
:: Be flexible - things can change. Don’t waste time and energy on feeling stressed out and frustrated about the things you can’t control, like the weather, illnesses, traffic, and toddler intervention. This only prevents you from accomplishing the other tasks that are under your control!
:: Take care of your body- actively promote your physical and emotional health. Create an calming bedroom environment and assign enough time in the evening to quite down for a good night sleep. Exercise to increase your energy, “happy” endorphins, and endurance. Eat healthy meals (easier said-than-done, I know) for more energy, and less stress. Don’t forget pampering and time alone. A 90 minute massage after a landscaping project is a wonderful “reward”.
I hope these pointers will help you feel a little more productive. Do you have tips about how you increase your productivity? Leave a comment here for other readers! Happy Organizing!
The last thing I do before I go to sleep at night is make my to-do list for the next day. I am not a morning person. Making a list in the morning does not work for me
There is great wisdom in allowing more time than expected for each activity. Nothing I hate worse than rushing from task to task always a bit behind!
Great ideas! I do the list (although I have been slack the past week!). I did not ever think about numbering them by priority! I used to be really hard on myself about not getting things done on the list. Then it hit me that us Mom’s can’t do everything!!