Getting Things Done: 3 Productivity Secrets You Can Use Today

We’re in February of 2020. Are you keeping your New Year’s resolutions and getting things done? It’s OK if you’ve let your resolutions slip. I have, sadly. If you’re one of those magical beings who hasn’t, kudos!

My writing buddy and I were commiserating on how wretchedly we were doing writing-wise this year. How would we get back on track?

Getting things done: make sure that they’re the right things

“I’ve been so busy,” my buddy said.

Me too. How could be I so busy, and get so little done?

We decided to think back to times when we’d been most productive. Perhaps if we remembered how we’d managed to get things done in the past, despite having little time, it would help us today.

We also did a little research. Here are three productivity secrets we’ve decided to try.

1. Focus on results rather than activity

Excellent advice from 3 Reasons I Am Ultra Productive:

I measure my success each day in finished products, not actionable work. Busyness gets me nowhere.

…You have to stop some of your busyness in order to get an end result, which means you have to know where you’re going.

It’s a real challenge to work on the right things when you’ve got dozens of items on your task lists. (Sigh.)

In the past, I’ve used Steven Covey’s “big rocks” system with great success:

The Big Rocks are the major things you want to get done this week. A report, launching a new website, going to the gym, spending time with your spouse and kids, achieving your dreams.

I’ve scheduled time for two big rocks this week.

2. Give yourself time to think

Scheduling my big rocks forced me to realized that I haven’t included thinking time in my schedule.

Are you over-scheduling too? You need thinking time:

“Be honest about what you need time-wise to stay balanced, energized, and creative and then make it a priority,” she observes. “For me, this meant staying committed to my creative headspace time.”

My buddy and I chatted about thinking time. We decided that we’d schedule half an hour of thinking time at the start of each day.

3. Get your blood moving

Are you exercising? From Inc.com’s best productivity tips:

… studies have shown that exercise can improve your mood for up to 12 hours following your workout. Less stress, more efficiency–it’s definitely worth setting that alarm 30 minutes earlier.

When you get busy, it’s easy to decide that you don’t have time to exercise. Thinking back however, I’ve realized that exercising each day definitely helps you to get more done. With more energy, you’re more relaxed, and accomplish more in less time.

Getting things done: what works for you?

I made a list of what I did at the times I was most productive. Journaling was high on the list.

Just like exercising, journaling enhances your productivity. Although I bullet journal every day, my BuJo has devolved into a task/ reminders list since Christmas.

Going forward, I’ll be using ten minutes of my 30 minutes thinking time each day to journal.

Any thoughts on productivity? What helps you to be more productive?