Productivity_ the art of working less and achieving more

Want to know how to work less and achieve more, how to get more free time to do what you love and manage your deadlines really well?

Keep reading because I would be sharing my dead-proof 7 unqueried ways to always be productive… 

Hey, Mate! How're you? It's Teslimat Ishaq.

Today I would talking about something we all need as individuals and most especially as Freelancers! Yes, I am talking about Productivity but first...

WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY?

Productivity is a state of mind and can only be measured by efficiency, results.

It is important in every walk of our life, especially in our professional life.

It is a delicate action because when it’s taking place, you can’t feel it, touch it or identify it until you're done.

It is the key to your profitability and ability to succeed.

ARE YOU BEING BUSY OR PRODUCTIVE?

Most times, You are just “being busy” rather than being productive but you want to tell yourself otherwise because you think productivity is measured by how long or hard you work. It is not!

Productive is by how smart, fast and better you work and how big your results are.

So if you catch yourself working long and tiring with no big results or change just know that you are just 'being busy'

HOW YOUR DAY SHOULD LOOK LIKE AS A PRODUCTIVE PERSON?

Your day can be anything as a productive person.

  

It can start with you having a walk in the park and end with you scrolling down your social media for ' latest updates'

  

Or it can begins with you reading some timeless books and end with you reading an epic post.

  

But one thing is common about a productive day to everyone and that is: You Grow, Change, Improve or Learn Something new that day.

  

So here is the deal; Never Go to bed without learning something new, no matter how small.

 

SHOULD YOU ALWAYS BE PRODUCTIVE?

Sometimes, it's stressful to be productive. You just want to lose some times and do your work without so much schemes.

It's fine to ditch productivity if you don't have much to do or if you need a day away from your daily routine.

 

But if you have a deadline to meet, you'd better be productive and finish all the hard part first.

7 SURE SIGNS THAT SHOW YOU ARE A PRODUCTIVE PERSON

1. You know what’s important.

You know, not everything can be important, right? You would know for sure you are being productive when you know the clear difference between important tasks and less important ones.

You also know how to prioritize the important ones and leave the trivial tasks for the last.

And how do leave the trivial tasks for the last?

2. You know how to plan your day

If you fail to plan you plan to fail, right?

Then what's a better way to have a productive day that to plan your day the night before.

Don't wake up to writing your to-do list, that would slow down your day.

Get out of your bed and hit your goals hard!

And when things don't go as planned? Finish those important tasks first and get back on track.

3. You are a problem solver

What do you do when you come across a problem?

Do you lament over and over again in your 'attempt to analyze problem'?

Or do you think of the solution?

Of course, the right thing to do is to think of the solution and not the problem.

Don't self-blame, don't shift blame, just face the problem, acknowledge it and think of a way or many ways to solve it.

And yeah, be fast with that!

4. You know the right resources to achieve your goals and have them.

Productivity is about doing it better, faster and smarter. Get yourself the right resources or tools for your work, don't wait until your have abundance before giving yourself the resources, books or tools you need to work better, faster or smarter.

Know the right resources for your tasks and arm yourself with them.

The right resources might as well be all you need to become a better, faster and smarter person you always want to be.

5. You have a laser focus on your goals.

Are you able to concentrate on the task at hand despite of all the noises? Congratulations, you are a productive person.

Although anyone can learn to focus on any task, it's rather hard to maintain focus and that's the main sign of Productive people.

6. You are highly disciplined.

Maintaining concentrate, taking responsibility, meeting deadlines and improving daily is something only highly disciplined people can do.

That's why you have to be disciplined, highly disciplined, as a productive person.

You must also be well organized to get through your tasks faster and quicker.

7. You just keep learning.

Are you someone like me, who is curious enough to find answer to every smart questions? 

If you want to be productive everyday, you must always be ready to learn and try something new. Try to learn new things on a daily basis.

You are not prefect and that's why you have to keep improving, like everyday.

7 UNQUERIED WAYS TO BE PRODUCTIVE ALWAYS

1. Plan everything strategically and thoroughly

What do you see yourself doing tomorrow?

It sounds ridiculous to some people to ask themselves what they are doing tomorrow and these people are the same people that spend their whole day thinking about what they should do.

You should always plan your day ahead to avoid setting a goal you are never going to realize.

Make sure you plan each day purposefully in the fortnight before you go to bed. 

Write down everything you want to accomplish the next day then break it down to the biteable tasks that you can undertake, these tasks must be of the highest priority and you have to start with the hardest. Everything else can wait.

2. Don’t multitask!

This is indeed the hardest part of being productive, especially if you have a lot doing.

To be productive is to stay focused, you need to focus on just one thing at a time, not those 10 things you kept juggling with.

Focus on doing ONE thing at a time and that goes for everything you want to do.

You can get things done effectively and efficiently when you know the exact thing you want to do (another reason to always plan your day ahead?) and you are able to stay focused on a task at a time

3. Cut Your To-do List in Half

Why should you even do that? 

Well, in productivity always remember that less is more, so be kind enough to ask yourself if you really need those 50 intimidating tasks you are weighing yourself down with.

Focus on tasks that matter, productivity is determined by your result not by your process.

Estimate the things that don’t matter on your to-do list and remove everyone of them until all that are left are the few that get you the most result. (Talk about the 20/80 approach) 

4. Take more breaks

Productivity is not about weighing yourself down with tons and tons of tasks. No!

While being productive, you have tO take care of yourself and how can you do that if you spend the whole day busying yourself with your to-do list?

Reward yourself with breaks after every hard task to refresh your mind. It can be something as simple as walking around or grabbing a snack, anything that get you away from your list would do.

 

Remember the Pomodoro Style of 25/5? Spend 25 minutes working and when the time is up, go on a quick 5 minutes break.

5. Spend Your Morning For You

What is a better way to kill your motivation for the day than to go on social media for some ‘quick updates’ or check your email in the cold morning? 

Whatever you do, think, see or feel in the morning would last the whole day, so why not do something that you love, something that can lift your spirit high for the rest of the day.

It can be anything; exercising, writing a journal, preparing your breakfast. Anything that takes you away from your phone would do.

6. Finish All Challenging Task Before Lunch

Is it just me or do you also feel like the day become weaker and more relax-worthy after lunch?

It’s really not just a feeling, the brain is quite fresh and ready for the hard tasks before lunch (You know, that’s why Mathematics was never after lunch break!)

If you have any challenging task let them be before noon.

7. Be Consistent

Productivity is all about keeping a consistent pace throughout the day.

If you are fast and swift, then keep it up for the rest of the day and finish up quickly.

If you are slow and steady, then you should be patient lest you make mistakes.

Because it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you move, you just have to keep moving and never stop.

7 NOTEWORTHY REASONS YOU SHOULD PRODUCTIVE

1. You can work with little to no stress 

Did I tell you being productive is better than being busy because it comes with less stress?

Working with smarter, better and faster techniques reduce your stress, make work less tiring, make your deadlines less tight and your day less busy.

Learning to be productive with important activities increases your energy and focus allowing you to achieve bigger goals in less time.

2. More Free Time 

What can you do with more time at hand? 

A lot, right?

And what happen when you can finish your work in less time, with less stress? You have a lot of time to do all your lovelies, go out with friends and pursue a new hobby.

3. Less Procrastination 

Why do you procrastinate? Because you don't have a clear vision of what you would be doing.

With productivity, you can stop procrastinating and get to work because you already have a well planned list you would be working with.

A well planned day makes it easier to stop procrastinating and get to work.

4. Less Distraction 

Can you be distracted when you have important tasks to do? I don't think so!

Especially if you take regular breaks after every tasks or every some minutes, because you would come back charged and ready to move more rocks.

4. Greater Clarity 

Productivity is doing your work in a better, faster and smart way and how can you do that without having a clear vision of where you are going?

You have to make your tasks much simpler, easier and less complicated to be in control of your time, and work smarter and faster.

5. More Intentionality 

Productivity is all about being intentional with your goals. 

You have to know the importance of what you’re doing and you must have clarity about what your ideal outcome would look like.

When you become intentional with your goals, you become better, faster and smarter in achieving them.

That should be it about productivity but before I say Goodbye...

Here are my 5 favorite quotes on productivity.

1. The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing ➡️ Walt Disney

2.Simplicity boils down to two steps; Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest ➡️ Leo Babauta

3. It's not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less ➡️ Nathan Morris

4. Do the hard work first, the easy ones would take care of themselves ➡️ Dale Carnegie

5. Focus on being productive instead of being busy ➡️ Tim Ferriss

Okay that's it for now on productivity until next week when I would be bringing you another epic post.

I am Teslimat, bye for now 😘