Productivity hacks: getting the most out of your day

It’s easy to be overwhelmed these days. Our schedules are busier and busier and I for one am a total advocate for people being able to work from home. Think about it, the amount of time we all waste commuting to and from work is ridiculous. Especially if the work is office work and you’re stuck at your computer all day. I personally don’t see the benefit of having people all sit in an office to do their work. I mean, I get that it can be misused and I know there are people out there who are stupid enough to do that, but imagine the productivity from staff if you said, “hey guess what…you don’t need to be losing 3-4 hours daily travelling to work.” I can guarantee you that the masses will be much less stressed and have better opportunities to spend the money required for commuting, fuel, tyres maintenance and parking fees (and the odd speeding fine) on better things.

I mean, it isn’t revolutionary you know. If you want to help reduce household debt issues, don’t force people to drive into work to physically sit at a desk. Everyone has phone, laptops and tablets these days – digital and online security is ridiculously well encrypted and large companies and government agencies have some of the best protection going.

But I digress. I get so fired up about this topic. Obviously there are many professions that require people to be on site, and that’s fine, but if you want to make a difference to not only people, but communities, local councils, road ways, traffic, house hold debt and affordability, guess what, let people work from home where they aren’t congesting the roads, causing accidents, driving tired or other such nonsense. It’s such a simple answer to a question that affects so many facets of our lives.

So considering this, and considering all the extra time you use throughout the day that you don’t have control over, it’s important to be able to schedule our days in order to get the most out of what time we do have. This blog spends some decent time going through productivity, making lists, being more efficient and developing habits and routines. It’s important to be able to manage your life this way, but also not be so strict that you don’t have any fun or down time.

I’ve discussed this before – the importance of making lists, writing in your diary and planning tasks/action is really important especially when you have a lot of things to get to. But some organisational hacks work better than others, so let’s see if we can identify these and implement these into our lives:

1. Use effective tools to helps you manage your time and productivity. There are apps out there these days for time management, social media management, saving articles offline and even those who remember and create new passwords (think LastPass). Many of them are cross platform and have a variety of login options, meaning you can manage your personal, small business or online personas as you see fit! (Buffer, Pocket, Evernote, Wunderlist and StumbleUpon are some that I use for these tasks).
2. Implement the 2-minute rule: the notion is that if it takes less than two minutes to do, complete it immediately. If it is a short task such as responding to an email or meeting request, getting these small tasks done feels very productive and encourages you to have better insight for larger tasks.
3. Get used to planning and try to implement it every day to encourage your next day work to have a head start. Think of certain recipes you make that require a day or two of prep or planning. When you know you’re going to make those items, you put in the ground work to ensure you have all the ingredients, resting time, etc are in place so that your recipe doesn’t fail. The same applies for work tasks – if you know your boss wants a proposal by a certain day and you need to do specific work to it or for it, make sure you nurture that project daily, put in your stakeholder meetings and requests, do your research and write your notes. You never know when, randomly, an emergency meeting will be called or you might have to discuss your preliminary findings with other senior staff. Happens in my profession all the time, but I never go to a meeting with a senior stakeholder not knowing my shit.
4. Have realistic goals in achievable chunks that you can work towards each day.
5. Develop good habits. This includes developing ways of filing things in your brain or in your work station so you can turn back to them, respond to them, provide additional advice on, etc.
6. Turn off your alerts, remove white noise and give yourself time to just work. Dedicate small chunks of time where you do not look at your phone, put yourself on do not disturb and don’t open social media or any other browser. Just work steadily for that space of time to ensure you get some quality work done.
7. If you’re a meeting manager/leader: reduce your meeting times to 15-30 minutes. Be short and snappy and concise and get to the point. There is no need to waste valuable working time in excessive meetings.
8. Don’t get in over your head, or do work that’s excessive or not relevant. And don’t be afraid to say no.
9. Use lost hours to catch up. I have a massive commute every day for work and I utilise that time to catch up on my podcasts. When I get to work, I have a half hour before my shift starts which I use to update my work and personal diaries, plan the week, do some reflection exercises and make lists of tasks that need to be completed.
10. Introduce scheduling where possible. For example, if you spend a certain amount of time managing your finances with regular transfers, see if you can automate some of them. This will automatically send your money where you need it to, saving you time in the process. It might not be a lot of time, but it’s still something you don’t have to remember to do, as it is being automatically done.

What productivity hacks do you use to make your day flow better?

Mastering your writing style: 5 foolproof hacks to being a better writer

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but part of my IRL job is to write quite complex analysis and assessment reports. Often, the subject matter is quite specific or involved, and I need to be able to present the facts to decision makers who may or may not have knowledge of the subject. So for that, I’ve perfected my communication technique to write relatively succinct reports that allow my stakeholders to make an informed decision.

Blog writing however, which I do as my creative outlet, occurs at a different level. I try to write how I speak and often, even in emails, my friends tell me they can almost hear my voice as they read my emails. Whether or not that’s a good thing, I don’t know, but I know I find it easy to write this way. Many struggle with writing in alternate styles because they fear just being themselves. Too often, people are judgmental of their method of communication, wanting to write eloquent prose that isn’t in their voice. When you blog, especially when you’re giving your opinion or wanting to come from a place of authority about something near and dear to you, your writing style needs to reflect the voice you’re trying to convey. Think of it this way, if you were saying what you were writing, how would you say it?

Mastering your writing style is therefore, paramount to successful communication. Writing helps you convey your message, regardless of what the subject matter is. Whether you are writing a university paper, a journal entry, a blog post or an opinion piece – your writing is your voice, so it needs to be you.

There are a few useful hacks (or tips) that I have used to really delve into my style of writing and develop it to where it is today, and I offer them to you today so that your writing can improve and so that you can develop confidence in the way you communicate, especially online.

1. Write frequently. Whether you have a word file or journal with your ideas, write naturally. Don’t worry about constructive sentences or being overly creative – just write. Spend some time writing creatively, or writing instinctively. A way I managed this was to write down dreams I remembered or a scenario that played out during the day. For example, if you see something interesting, like a street performance or an interesting looking person, describe it/them in as much detail as possible. Practising this will allow your creative juices to bubble as you start thinking of more interesting ways to describe things. As an after effect, it could also be a blog post you launch in the future!
2. Write in different formats to determine which style you prefer. Editorial style or advice column or investigative journalism – all of these styles have a different purpose, to provide more or less information, or to provide a specific message in a specific space/for specific impact. Write sample articles in each style to find which you prefer, and which you are naturally better at.
3. Find a writer/blogger you enjoy reading. What is it about their writing style you enjoy? Write down a list of positives and compare your skills against them. It gives you the opportunity to see if there is a way you can emulate this for yourself, or whether there is a recurring theme within their writing style that resonates with you.
4. Consequently, read often. The more you read, and the wider you read fiction and non-fiction, the more your own writing style will naturally develop.
5. Seek feedback on existing work. Find a trusted person and write something. Ask them to critique your post/writing style with specific questions on whether it was easy to read, enjoyable, gave enough information, was digestible, suited your personality etc.

The reason I know these work is because I do these myself, and have done this in order to better my own writing. The way I sought feedback was by posting on my blog and actually sharing my blog with close friends and family. Whilst scary, it was awesome to hear them say that they could hear me through my writing, which meant that I’d achieved my goal of finding an appropriate way to communicate. I trust that if you utilised even one of these tips, your confidence in writing and your personal betterment in your writing style will improve.

What other tips and tricks have you got that you’ve been able to use to develop your writing skill?