Have you ever had a day where you felt as if you were getting work done but you really weren’t? The reason for this post today is because I think there are many people who are concerned with how to manage time in a way that makes them feel satisfied with ending the day with what they have done.
There are a lot of people who like to spend their time interacting with people in forums, tweeting on Tweeter, volleying emails back and forth, and reading or commenting on different blogs. Many experts like Gary Vaynerchuk say this is vital to growing a business and we should spend hours and hours doing this. But what happens when we spend most of our time searching for different threads to comment or reading material that ends up taking more time than usually. Hours may have passed by without us even realizing it. Here are some quick things I thought of and I think will help you out.
Priorities First
Do you ever get those days where you not in a state of flow, so you start making up things to do and pretend that you are working? I get these from time to time because I hate the feeling of having 2 hours pass by without me really “activity doing anything”. So sometimes I will spend my time in forums or reading blogs then lead to another subject, and before I know it, 2 hours will have really gone by and I haven’t really done anything productive. I’ve learned that there is a difference between being productive and being active.
Being active can mean just doing something but it doesn’t really mean that you are producing results. Don’t fall in the trap of trying to make up tasks in order to avoid the tasks that really matter. Before you go to sleep, write down what is the most important things you need to get done tomorrow. If you’re not sure what they are, usually the answer to this question will help you figure them out. If you have only 2 hours to work on something tomorrow, what would they be?
Psychological Tips
Everybody works better under different conditions. Some people focus better at night when everybody is sleeping. Other people work better in the day. For me, I have always found it more difficult to produce content during the day. There’s something about the day that represents time moving faster causing me to rush my mind. When it’s a cloudy day for me, the atmosphere is depressing and time moves slowly. I know these are psychological things that only pertain to me.
I usually feel more alert and focused when I look out the window and it’s completely dark (only the lamp next to me is the lighting the room). To me, this silence feels as if time has stopped. I don’t feel so much in a rush and can produce better content around midnight. So figure out when is the best atmosphere works for you and work on it. You might have to adjust your sleeping schedule, but doing so may help you become more productive in the long run.
Unclutter
Unclutter everything (including your workspace on your desk!). Recently I realized that there were too many icons on my desktop (about 20 to 30) and half of them were ebooks or documents I never even read. So I put all unnecessary icons in a folder. I’m now left with 6 icons that include my main file folder, my broswers, and something to write on (I switch between MS Word and DarkRoom).
As for my inbox, about 50% of the mail happened to be old mail, so I just delete some and put the rest in “past mail”. The desktop and inbox looked a lot cleaner now. Finally, I realized that I needed to unclutter my room. I rearranged the room to make as much clear space possible and for the last 2 days, donated my old clothes (1/4 of my closet is clothes) to the salvation army. It felt good getting rid of that for a good cause.
These were just some productivity tips in my mind today that I thought I’d toss around with you guys. I know everyone is different and works best in different atmosphere. I may need it to be pin-drop quiet, but I know a guy who works the best when reruns of King of the Hill are playing in his background. But back to the main point: don’t do work just for the sake of doing work. Make sure you get the most out of your day by being productive!
What about you? Do you work best in sunny, cloudy, dark, or light conditions? Do you have any personal ways of working productively that you want to also share?
Photo Credit: i.m.indraneel
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
that’s a very important point you just made hulbert , sometimes we fall in the trap of keeping ourselves busy and pretending to be working while in fact we aren’t doing anything important
I agree Farouk. It’s just a matter of separating being productive versus being active.
That, my man, is the main problem with the world.
People are doing what they have to and can, not what they want to.
Very few people every keep their dreams alive. Its such a shame.
I believe us cyberpeople are nightwatchmen by nature.
Its always been that way I think.
A trick that always works is to close your browser and even better turn of the wifi. Productivity flies up the roof.
Haha, I like how you described cyber people as night watchmen. I haven’t heard those terms in a while. Closing the browser definitely helps productivity when your doing something like trying to produce content. I basically wrote this article with my computer turned off.
Thanks for sharing your reflection .Your article will be inspired to others. First priority is most important for a success full man. We should always make plan what do or not do in next day whether it’s our business life or personnel life.
No problem Chris. Yeah, anybody who has a desire to be successful – man or woman – should practice getting their priorities done first. Like you say, this should require a list of the important things to do the next day.
Ii think a lot of things in life teach us that looking busy is as important as doing work. School has this effect were busy work is rewarded as much as the actual education. Don’t get me wrong homework has its place but that place is to foster education. but when this busy work is work mentality invades our lives it can destroy our flow and focus as we become more dependent on doing then achieving.
I couldn’t agree anymore Quinn. This might add to what you’re talking about. For example, some people who go through school can get their homework done in 30 minutes with actual focus. Others will get their homework done in 3 or 4 hours, but learn less while thinking that by spending more time on their homework, they are learning more from it.
Hey Hulbert, great post. I think the key for me is to realize that productivity isn’t constant. Some days its ok to get almost nothing done, because my brain probably needs a break. On other days, I’ll balance the slow times out by getting alot of work done, because my mind is clearer and my energy is through the roof. As long as it balances out, I don’t force it. Not saying that what you’re suggesting is forcing one’s self to be productive, just responding to your questions =)
Those were good answers Anilia. Some days I feel the same day too.
Yeah I agree with the post. I have found the best way for me to handle this is like you mentioned putting the first priorties first. This reminds me of the 80/20 rule in time management are you familar with it?
Yes I have. Isn’t that the rule where 20% of your input creates 80% of your output?
Great tips here Hulbert, and nice to find your blog through Armen at TimeLessInformation.com
Productivity is largely about an attitude to produce, if you have that attitude, it can feed your actions much more easily than simply having to remember it. Developing a belief about yourself that you are very productive is enough to create that attitude and then you can rely on it to infect your behavior. I use the word infect as that is what you really want, something that happens and spreads without you meaning it to, but in a way that results in better productivity, so its a good thing. Once you have attitude, higher productivity becomes more automatic and all the things in your list are things you will want to do, feel natural at and not have to convince yourself everytime to practice.
Change your beliefs, change your life!
Hey Mike, welcome.
I agree that productivity has a lot to do with our attitude, and attitude has a lot to do with our beliefs. I like what you’re also saying here because you’re talking about starting from the core and then working from inside out. If we believe that we’re a productive person than we will be productive and it won’t feel so much as if we’re forcing stuff to happen.
Gotta say, this is why I don’t check any of my personal e-mail accounts or Twitter from 7:30am to about 7pm during the weekdays. WAY too much distraction. Twitter and blogging is addicting, and I don’t want it to affect my day job.
Hope to see you around FS one day.
Best, Sam
Yes they do cause a lot of distraction! To not even touch my email or Twitter account for 11 and 1/2 hours is really hard for me to do. I’m admire your discipline Sam. I’m going to check out your blog right now.
I find that when I am stuck or in a state of where I am unable to get anything accomplished, it is best to do something completely different. I’ll either go to the beach for 30 minutes, exercise or just read a book. Then whenever my mind is ready, and it usually lets me know on its own, I get back to work and make the most of my time. Working just to appear busy accomplishes nothing, especially for those of us who spend a lot of time on the computer…a little time away doesn’t hurt when we are having trouble focusing.
I liked how you responded to that and I totally agree with what you’re saying. It can be pointless to work we’re just filling in time or working just to feel productive. But when we take a break and get away from the computer, we can refresh our minds when we get back and be able to produce better stuff!
l totally agree with you!
Sweet post dude!
I find a lot of people fall into this trap of busying themselves during work hours. I know employers that expect you to be busy from 9 – 5 and if you’re not then you’re clearly not working hard enough.
If you’re efficient and work well you can easily crack out a days work in a few hours. We need to get out of the “I need to work for 8hrs today before I can stop.” Some day’s you may work for 12 hours where as at other times you may only need to do 2 hours.
We should measure the amount we work by the result we get rather than the time spent.
Nice reply Ben. I think it’s ridiculous that employers think that other employers “need” to stay busy for 8 hours or they’re not working hard enough. Like you say, it’s not about the time that’s spent on working; it’s about the results that one gets from working, and this can take a long amount of time or a short amount of time. It depends on each person.
Right now, in this age of multi tasking, I too believe – Prioritizing is really important…… we need to be focused to prioritize, and it really helps us channelize our energy to complete the important stuff.
Twitter and blogging are really addicting, Even I prefer working on it after coming back home from office
Haha yes, I agree that Twitter and blogging are really addicting. Just make sure you get the most important tasks done during the day.
“There is a difference between being productive and being active”=so true.
Sometimes there’s an overlap, where we might be doing something that’s ultimately productive, but we’re throwing way more activity towards the goal than it deserves.
For example, say you spend 30 minutes fussing over which bullet point style to use in a document that people are going to glance at once. Sure, details matter, but sometimes getting caught up in low-impact details fools us into thinking we’re being more productive than we really are.
I agree with your example Antonia. We have to be aware of what we are doing and not spend most of our time fussing over the little things that don’t make a big difference or don’t really help bring us closer to our goals.