Top Productivity Tricks and Tools for a Successful Work Day

| Productivity is a deliberate action.

I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered an accidentally productive day. It is rather, a deliberate action and mindset that creates an environment that breeds completed tasks. And as often as I think that I have all of the motivation and determination to accomplish everything on my to-do lists, there are certain and specific tools that I lean on every time to aid in those accomplishments and make my day that much more successful. So in today’s post, I want to share what my current, go-to tools are for a highly productive day.

Use A Simple To-Do List | Where oh where in the world would I be without my trusty to-do lists!? I make my daily to-do list at the beginning of every day with my cup of coffee or tea in hand. It’s one of my favorite time’s of the day because it sets the tone for what lay ahead. Personally, I prefer to have a written, paper list because I’m a stationary junkie and writing it down commits it a bit better to my memory. However, my only real requirement, even if digital, is that isn’t clean and simple. I love these clean and simple pads from Amazon as well as making my daily lists BuJo style in my Leuchttrum dotted notebook. For a digital form and concept, I absolutely LOVE Evernote.

Drink Plenty of Water | If there was ever any advice that you get tired of hearing, it is to drink plenty of water. It’s the secret to beautiful skin, getting through a cold, and you guessed it…having a productive work day. Keep your body in optimal shape by ensuring you stay hydrated. My personal favorite way to ensure I get enough is to have a cute water bottle sitting on my desk or in may bag. With the same concept as picking up a new pair of leggings to motivate yourself to get to the gym, the gear is just as motivating as the satisfaction of completing the task. And I don’t care what anyone says, there is no such thing as too many! My personal favorites include those that I can physically SEE the progress through them, but with so many options, there are never enough to

Manage Your Time | Everything in my to-do list gets assigned a ballpark amount of time and I do my absolute best to stick to it. For example, if give a specific spreadsheet 45 minutes to complete, I set a timer (or use a fun tool like this) and keep an eye on my time to see if I can get it done. There is something about the slight pressure of working against a clock that puts a bit of a pep in my step. It’s like a personal challenge. But don’t fret if you exceed that time. Simply put the tasks to the side, move on to what’s next and come back to it with the time you undoubtedly made up during your other tasks.

Limit Your Distractions | This one seems like a no brainer, but it was not until the Apple iOS 12 update that added the “Screen Time” feature that I realized just how much time I spent (read: wasted") one my phone during the day. A tip and a tool all in one (if you have an iPhone) is the utilize the Screen Time app to add limits to the amount of time your phone allows you to spend using certain apps on a daily basis. It’s much harder than you think, but the productivity I have gained from monitoring my phone screen time has been significant and game changing!

There are so many other ways to ensure you have a productive day, and we’ll do a deep dive into some of those in a later post. But in the meantime, what are you top tips to get all of it done in a day?! Leave me a comment and let me know!

Work Loudly. Love Loudly. Live Loudly.

Jenn