Again, I’ve been watching Ali Abduul videos and figuring out my best working techniques to be more productive. Perhaps it’s because I’m 37 and feeling like have my life has passed. Perhaps I’m having a midlife crisis. But I’m finding myself very aware of my place in life. What am I doing? I’ve got my hands in too many pots. I had a work session with my friend Ty and I was telling her “I’m doing a lot right now but I’m not doing them well.” I’m just barely getting by on what I’m doing and I want to try and “get gud”.
So how do I become more productive? Well, lets look at what tools I have at my disposal.
Calendar – In order to keep track of my time, I use my schedule to help organize it. I think it’s really difficult to track something that isn’t tangible. I’m a hands on kind of person, so time is illusive. Bullet journals would help actualize what time was for me. If it didn’t fit on the page, it didn’t fit in my day. I have to keep that in mind as I begin scheduling too many meetings and too many tasks.
Agenda/To Do List – I’ve been using Notion to keep track of detailed agendas and lists of tasks I need done. I have a HORRIBLE memory and it’s super important to get the things I need to get done on paper or digitally recorded. I also use the Todoist app on my phone because there’s a widget that makes it FAST and easily accessible from my home screen. It’s also nice to click a finished task and to have it disappear.
Music – I don’t see many people talk about this but I have noticed that when I have music on, it helps put me in a mood. Think about it: Movies and TV shows use music to convey an emotion or idea. Why not use that to our advantage? Listening to Kpop gets me going and makes me go HARD. Listening to LoFi calms me down and focus when my mind is going too fast and not thinking clearly.
Clarity – It’s important to know that doing a LOT or doing things FAST is not the same as being productive. Think about driving a car from point A to point B. Driving fast may seem like you are achieving your goal faster, but you have to be driving in the right direction. You have to make sure you take the right turns or you could get lost and waste tons of time. Or think about typing: If you make so many typos that you can’t even register what you wrote, there’s no point in being “fast”. Sure if you don’t mess up, it’s amazing. My point is, do things right or it could cost you in the end.
Systems – I love in Notion that you can create template lists. I have a daily routine and it takes a lot to make something into a good habit. The systems I’ve set up make things easier for me. It took a bit to set up and to curate to fit my lifestyle, but it’s saving me so much time in the end.
I hope it’s been interesting hearing about my process. Let me know if you are interested in any particular thing and I can dive deeper into it for you. have a lovely day!