The 4 keys to having a productive week: Well hello and happy new year! I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe. 2020 was a hard year for most people as Covid hit the world, resulting in most of us entering lockdowns, self-isolation and having to make the best of a bad situation. During that time many of us learned new receipes, picked up new hobbies (I became a plant mum), new exercise routines and even starting new busisnesses.
During the year of 2020 I picked up a new routine on how to manage my time effectively in order to be more productive during the week. I’m not going to lie, it’s not been a perfect routine as I’ve had days where I felt unwell, unmotivated and extremely stressed, however towards the end of the year I feel I finished off on a high note.
So I want to share with you my 4 keys to having a productive week especially if you’re freelance, a blogger/content creator or work in a day job.
Make a checklist everyday to help you stay productive
I do this everyday first thing in the morning after my daily affirmations while I have new ideas and tasks at the top of my mind so I don’t forget to execute any tasks before the end of the day. This helps me a lot especially when I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed. By making a checklist on my phone and journal, I’m able to see the things I need to complete. I don’t complete my tasks in the order I write them in but rather in the order that makes sense for me.
Find that next little thing to keep you motivated
Whether it’s a steaming cup of tea, a warm shower or a phone call with a friend you should always have things to look forward to. All work and no play makes Illy a dull blogger, make sure you work hard but always have your eye on the next small thing to keep you going.
Keep the end goal in sight but remember that every journey is a combination of many steps, some difficult, some easy, some uphill, some downhill but all moving in the same direction to achieve your goals.
Approach things at your own pace but don’t procrastinate
It can be extremely stressful when working on a deadline or when you have people chasing you for work. So when I’m working on a deadline I like to allocate as much time as I can to prioritise it.
What I’m trying to say here is, please make some time for yourself to complete your work but don’t procrastinate until the last minute or hour before the deadline to complete the task because trust me it won’t be as great as it could have been.
As a blogger I have to dedicate lots of time to content creation for brands and sometimes the turnaround time is literally a few days from the time a brand gets in touch with you to when you have to submit the content. When situations like these occur, I like to leave myself with plenty of time to complete the work to the highest quality.
Set a timer to help you tackle your tasks so you don’t fall behind
I like this system because it’s a great way to keep track of your time management and how long it takes you to complete certain tasks. This technique will also help you concentrate on your work and keep you away from distructions such a as your phone, TV or other things you like to do when you’re not busy.
It’s also important to have a set time for when your working day starts and ends. My working day starts at 9am and ends at 6pm. During my working hours I have a checklist with 5-10 tasks (big or small) and I try to complete them before 4pm as this gives me the time to engage with my followers and search for hashtags before going live with my post at 5.15pm. It’s important to have a finish time, when your work, no matter how enjoyable, intrudes on your free time it can become a downwards spiral and affect your mental health.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post, I would love to hear some of your techniques for a productive week that work for you so I can try them out.
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