Why do we want to be productive?

Working remotely or having a home office presents a set of challenges that you won’t encounter working in a regular office.

Sometimes I’m growing sick of it, but it also has cool benefits, and you don’t have to waste your precious time in traffic jams. ?

But there is one massive problem with that… You can get easily distracted from your work and quickly start procrastinating… Believe me, I’ve been there, done that… ?

So how am I dealing with it?

Start with “Why?” ?

The first question that you should ask yourself is: “Why?”.

Why do you want not to procrastinate? Why do you want to be more productive? Or why do you want to achieve your goals or dreams?

It might be trivial to you, but this question is directed to your beliefs. If you really believe in something, then you are more likely to do something about it. It’s that simple.

Why do I want to be productive?

I’m a quite busy person. I do a lot of things regarding the Lublin GameDev foundation, this blog that you are reading, working full-time, and doing some more crazy things.

Each of these requires a certain about of time, and my day has only 24 hours like yours. So it becomes crucial for me to become more productive, as I have to squeeze all of those things into my schedule.

I don’t really want to “do more” in exchange for fewer hours of sleep. Lack of sleep is detrimental to your body. You can deal with it for a day or two, but after that, if you don’t get a good night’s rest, you will become overall less productive.

Why productivity is important for me?

So productivity is crucial for me because of these reasons:

• I have a lot of things to do, often with some deadlines;
• I have a clear vision of what I want to achieve;
• And I want to get proper rest at night;

They sound a little generic, but they are true to me.

Continue with “How?” ?

Over the years, I tried different apps and techniques to help boost my productivity. I’ve used pen and paper, habit building, stickers, to-do lists, and planers. Each of these has its pros and cons, and what is working for me, might not work for you. Be mindful of it, and use what works the best for you!

Pen and Paper ?

Pen and Paper technique is the easiest to start with. You grab a pen, you grab a paper, and you are writing things to do.

It worked for me for a long. It simple, you can always have it somewhere near you, and you can always easily add something to it.

The drawback is that you will waste a lot of paper… ?

Habit building ?

We all have habits. Some of them are good, and some of them are bad. The thing is that to be a better person, you should get rid of the bad ones. It’s not something simple or easy to do, but if you are trying to replace one habit with another one, it might be a little easier.

The simplest approach would be to write a quick note about our new habit that we want to develop and schedule when and how often we want to do it.

There is just one catch! Don’t overpromise here, a start with a small and obtainable goal!

For example, if you are going to sleep at midnight, and you want to develop the habit of going to sleep at 11 PM, you should start with something smaller. Start with going to sleep at 11.45 PM for a week. On the next week, you will go to sleep at 11.30 PM, and so on. After a month, you will start sleeping at 11 PM.

Don’t try to make a radical change in your life, take small steps, and you will achieve your goal. ?

Stickers ?

Stickers are similar in a way to the Pen and Paper. If you have something to do, you are making a sticker note. You might end up with a lot of them on your wall, but hey, that’s part of the fun. ?

And it’s satisfying to remove them, and throwing them to trash! ?

TODO lists

There is a lot of TODO apps available on Android and iOS. You can use them to make a list of things you want or have to do.

They are cool, as you can set reminders in them and have multiple lists.

The problem with them is that you have to open the app to see what’s coming next.

Planer ?

Handy, simple to use, and easy to bring with you. It’s basically the same thing as Pen and Paper, but it’s much easier to be mobile with it.

There are a lot of planners available in paper shops, so you can easily go and grab one of them. You can even order fancier ones from the internet.

If you can live with carrying a planner with you daily, then it might be a choice for you!

Finish with “When?” ?

People are lazy! Even I’m sometimes, but if you want to change it, start right NOW! But don’t make radical changes, they don’t last too long… Trust me. ?

What I would suggest is to pick up the easiest thing. Check if it’s working for you and stick with it! If it’s not, then go with the next one. Some of these techniques helped me for weeks, some of them worked for me for months!

Why did they stop working? Well, that’s the story for the next time. ?

Now, let me ask the question, why do YOU want to be productive? ?

Let me know in the comment section below!

I’m going to release a few more posts about productivity, so if you want to be notified about them and other content, make sure you join my newsletter!

And I hope to see you next time! ?