Hey folks! How is your January going? If you followed our tips from this post, your year should have started pretty well. I hope that’s the case.
Just before the holidays, we shared our team’s and members’ favorite apps for task and project management, scheduling and productivity. But let’s be honest, good apps only get you so far. You still need a good amount of self-discipline and good work hygiene in order to be productive and get rid of procrastination, when there is no boss breathing down your neck and watching over your shoulder.
So let’s turn back to the infinite wisdom of the Impact Hub Geneva’s community. They know how it’s done!
Step 1: Meditate in the morning
When asked how they improved their productivity, the number one answer was meditation. Either in the morning, either in the middle of the day (on Wednesdays at lunchtime we offer Mindful Mercredi guided meditation at Impact Hub!), it doesn’t matter. Like our Prix-Iddea winning start-up entrepreneur Anne-Julie Beroud put it: “If I manage to meditate in the morning, my whole day is more efficient.”
Step 2: Automate and outsource
If you decide to invest your time and energy on the apps we recommended, bear this in mind: you will probably need a few weeks in order to see how a certain programme, app or service suits your needs. It will take at least 21 days to form a habit. If you don’t like your new system the first or even the second day, give it time. Many apps and services offer a free trial. In two weeks or one month you will be able to see if the paid version is worth your while or if the free plan is more than enough for you.
Step 3: Plan & timeblock
Every morning, take 5-10 minutes, sit down with your oat milk latte or herbal tea and decide which are the most important priorities of the day. List them and block a certain amount of time for every task. You may be surprised by how well your tasks fall within the timeframe you give them. And if it really does not work, at the end of your timeblock, move the rest of the tasks to next day’s to do list.
Have daily urgencies that are hard to schedule? Block one or several moments throughout the day to deal with them.
Step 4: Turn off notifications
On the same note: block a few moments in your day to deal with emails, instant messages, social media feed and all other small notifications that pop up to your screen every 3-5 minutes. And once you’ve dedicated a certain moment to deal with them, turn the notifications off.
What do you think about these tips? Completely useless or ready to try them out? Let us know in the Community App. And give a chance to Mindful Mercredi, maybe next Wednesday?