You’ve probably developed a few productivity-ruining habits over the quarantine. Over time, it feels less like living and more like a cycle to wake up in the morning, do your tasks, eat, and then fall asleep.
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It’s easy to fall into the same routine every day. After all, what else is there left to do when you’re in quarantine? At the beginning of the lockdown, you may have tried all these different ways to spice up your usual routines. Such as trying dalgona coffee, a new workout routine, and more. But as the months pass, the motivation to stay productive gets more difficult to keep up with. Work and leisure get skewed in between, new shows are just waiting to be watched. Distraction is everywhere.
Manage your distracting ways by creating a system.
Schedule your email-checking
This is for those of you who check your emails compulsively. The habit of checking your mail can easily get you distracted from the current work you are doing, so you should plan a morning, afternoon, and evening time slot to manage your inbox. Otherwise, you’ll just get distracted from accomplishing more important goals throughout the day.
Start a journal
Did you abandon your planner mid-March because there wasn’t much to plan anyway during the start of the lockdown? Try going back to using your journals again to keep track of everything you need to do and the goals you want to achieve. There’s a different sense of accomplishment crossing out the to-do-list that you have written yourself.
Since there are two months left into the new year (time flies!), you should also check out new journals to determine what fits your lifestyle habits best. Viviamo, known for creating the most exciting and creative planners in the country, have already released their 2021 planners. From the famous Belle De Jour power planner to the Navi 2021 planner for the travelers-at-heart, there are plenty of journals to choose from. And trust that you will never get bored of filling in each page.
Re-arrange your workplace from time to time
Nothing gets you going than a refreshing ambiance. By now, your home and work life may be skewed in between, but if you have a work desk or station that you actually want to stay at, the easier it is to get your work done. So liven up your work desk by moving it closer to the window or clearing up your desk.
Stop using your phone
Put your mobile phone far away from you to keep yourself distract from scrolling through Instagram, or replying to messages. The temporary phone ban doesn’t have to be all day, just at least an hour, preferably when you’re at the peak of your deep work. Having little to no distraction can work wonders for your productivity.
Keep a distraction list
I was searching for productivity tips as well at one point. When I realized I haven’t been productive, I looked for the simplest but effective techniques to help with my productivity. One technique that proved effective is making a distraction list, whether on your journal, your notes app or google doc. This technique, which is one of the secrets to the Pomodoro Technique, is powerful because a lot of the time your distractions legitimately require attention.
If I’m doing deep work and suddenly remember a mail that needs to be followed up, or have an idea for a new article, those are thoughts that deserve my attention. But they just don’t deserve it right now. So, make it a habit to list them down, every single one, and once you aren’t busy anymore, go back to the list and either do it when you’re free or place them to your bigger to-do-list.
