We all want to be productive. Life is short and there's a lot of stuff that we want/need to get accomplished to make awesome stuff happen. A lot of us struggle with that though. There are a ton of things that can pull us off of our productive path and sway us towards other paths.
Procrastination. Laziness. Confusion. Stress. Etc.
Once you get onto one of those not so great paths it becomes harder to find your way back to the path of productivity. That is until you realize that it doesn't have to be that way. You can be productive while those little distractions are trying to pull you off of your path. But the great thing is that it won't work. You'll keep walking that path of rewards and value.
Productivity is different for everyone. It has a different meaning and works differently for different types of people. I have come to find a way that helps me be productive each day while not feeling to stressed or overwhelmed with the tasks at hand. I simply write things down. I make a visible to-do list that I split up into 3 categories.
To-do today.
To-do this week.
To-do in the future.
I write literally everything down on the today list. Meditating. Yoga. Working out. Reading. Etc. Crossing each thing off, even something as little as oil pulling in the morning is so gratifying. I find myself wanting to do more and more things so that I can cross them off of the list.
The list for this week consists of things that I want to do this week and need to write down so that I don't forget. This works well when I'm scheduling posts to share, when I have an appointment, or something along those lines. Each day whenever I'm writing out my today list I am then able to look at the list for the whole week and add what I need to at the time.
In the future is mainly ideas that I have for recipes and stuff like that. Things that I don't want to forget, but things that I don't want to put my energy into right now. Writing these things down allows me to let go of those thoughts that I fear losing and clear my mind to focus on the tasks that I currently am working on.
This method has worked so well for me the past few months. I genuinely find myself wanting to accomplish everything on the list and am having fun doing so. I always make sure to write down some things that I can do each day to relax a bit. Somedays that's reading a book, other days it's writing, painting, watching Netflix, etc. By scheduling in some relax time I am able to look at my list for each day as simply tasks that I want and need to get done so that I can erase a complete board full of productivity before I go to sleep.
I know that this method wouldn't work for everyone but it works for me. That's why I'm sharing. I know some people who would get overwhelmed by seeing everything they need to do each day sitting in front of them and stress out about doing it all. It's not like that for me though. I take a very relaxed approach towards it. I genuinely want to accomplish everything I write down and if I don't get to a few of the things, that's okay. I just leave them there for tomorrow or I write them down to do later in the week.
Taking an easy approach towards my goals gives me the chance to get things done but not overwork myself and get burnt out in the process. It's a cheap and simple way to stop the procrastination and work towards your goals.
So what are you waiting for?! Get out there and be productive.
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”