A month of intentional productivity tips | Days 1 to 7

Day 1: Take responsibility

As I announced recently, I will be sharing a productivity tip each day this month. But before we start exploring tactics like how to structure our day or run meetings, we need to start with the basics.

The first thing we need to do is take responsibility over how we spend our time.

We can blame our organisation, our boss or the market, but the truth is that we chose to apply for that job, take the promotion or start our business. There is always something else we could be doing but we chose this one thing. And I am not referring to extreme situations here, although even in these cases we can choose how we react to them.

So, the first tip for this month is to take responsibility for the choices you’ve made. On the flip side, this also means you have the power to change and improve things.

Just knowing that you have a choice will make you feel stronger. Take your power back.

Day 2: Set an intention

Yesterday’s tip was about taking responsibility over how we spend our time. Now that we are armed with the knowledge that we have the power to improve our situation, we can set some parameters that will guide our future choices.

Instead of diving into the detail and developing a spreadsheet with a range of criteria, make this a very easy exercise for yourself.

Think about a time when you were kicking goals at work, feeling good both physically and mentally, and able to maintain good relationships with your family, friends and colleagues.

Now think about a time when you were exhausted but not feeling accomplished, when there were too many weeks when you ignored your loved ones to stay on top of work, or when half a bottle of wine (or more) was the only way you could relax.

Consider how differently these situations made you feel and how each impacted your wellbeing. Then decide to live a life that aligns more with the first one and not the second.

That’s all you need to do for now. We will be exploring how to get closer to the first situation throughout this month.

Day 3: Prioritise sleep

The number one thing you need to do to be more productive is get enough sleep. No productivity hack will help you if you are regularly burning the midnight oil and starting most workdays feeling tired.

If you don’t have enough rest and time away from work stresses, you are constantly tired and this impacts your day-time productivity even further. The result is that you are often getting colds and headaches…and then you’re catching up after being on sick leave. Not fun.

There is plenty of expert information available online about the number of hours of sleep most people need. But we’re all adults here - we already know what works for us and the amount of sleep we need to feel energised the next day. We just need to make sleep a priority.

Limiting the number of hours you can work so that you get enough sleep will also make you rethink the way you are working, what you are taking on and what your true priorities are. Wins all around.

Day 4: Aim for a healthier diet

I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist but I know that if I eat crap I will feel like crap, which won’t make me very productive. And I’m pretty sure you’re the same.

However, I’m not saying that you need to go ‘all in’ either. I’ve found that food is a source of pleasure and reward for me. Actually, completely depriving myself of ‘sometimes food’, as my son used to say when he was little, can make me grumpy and unproductive. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to live a life without pizza and ice cream!

So, if you’re like me, start by taking small steps that will give you significant results over time. For example, stop taking sugar with your coffee, cut out soft drinks, meal prep on the weekend, eat healthier on weekdays so that you can enjoy a treat or two on the weekend. I am currently following the 5:2 diet and loving it because it’s effective and something I can actually stick to.

And I am circling back to sleep here. No matter what your current diet is like, make sure you address your sleep first. If you don’t sleep enough, you will end up making poor food choices.

I was at my heaviest in my 30s when I was sleeping only four hours per night on a regular basis. Guess what I wanted to eat the next day? I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t celery and lettuce.

Day 5: Build exercise into your week

OK, after talking about sleep and diet the past few days, you knew this one was coming. Pardon the lack of originality.

I don’t need to convince you of the benefits and importance of exercise in the context of productivity. There is plenty of research available online. I will just use this opportunity to encourage you to build some kind of physical activity into your week, even if you’re like me and not really into working out.

The best place to start is by knowing yourself. Allow me to explain.

Here’s what I know about myself:

  • Sadly, I am not one of those superhumans that participates in triathlons. I am a city kid that grew up in apartment buildings, without a passion for the great outdoors.

  • Exercise helps me better manage stress, boosts my confidence and creativity. It’s really good for me.

  • Walking is my favourite type of exercise and the only one I have been able to stick to.

  • I get bored easily.

  • If I don’t exercise in the morning I probably won’t get to it later in the day. However, my preferred morning routine is watching YouTube while drinking my morning coffee – I somehow always make time for this and not squats and crunches.

With all of the above in mind, this is how I’ve built exercise into my life:

  • I take 30-minute walks around my suburb (the built up, more urbanised area where I feel more at home).

  • I walk on weekday mornings only, leaving weekend mornings relaxed and unstructured. My aim is to walk at least four mornings per week.

  • I listen to podcasts while I walk, which makes it much more entertaining. Sometimes I keep going because I want to hear the end of the podcast.

  • I walk after I’ve watched a few motivational YouTube videos with my coffee, so I don’t feel like working out gets in the way of what I really enjoy. This also makes me use my evenings more wisely so that I have enough time in the morning for both YouTube and walking.

And now I’m hooked on this walking thing and have started to look forward to my walks. Go figure.

Day 6: Figure out what matters

All right, we’ve spent the last five days covering the basics that will set us up for better productivity. However, we’re still not ready for tactics because we first need to figure out what matters to us. There is no point being productive and spending time on the things that aren’t important.

Before you dive into your work-related KPIs, consider being selfish first. Think about what really matters to you.

What are your long-term goals? What does success look like to you?

In my case, after two decades of corporate jobs (each of which I’ve treasured), I have realised that I want to have a portfolio career. This means that in addition to being a consultant, I want to be an author, speaker and productivity coach. (Side note: I am a little nervous admitting this online but this is really what I want – it’s my 7-year goal.)

I know my dream will take time and effort. But being clear on what I want to achieve helps me navigate difficult times, stay motivated and make good choices.

Do you have something you are working towards that gives you inspiration, clarity and focus?

Day 7: Do a life stocktake

Yesterday we spent some time figuring out what we want to achieve and what really matters to us. Now it’s time to be honest with ourselves and assess whether we are living in line with our values, goals and dreams.

In 2011, I was going through multiple personal challenges and felt like I was spending my time on the wrong things. I’ll save the details for my memoirs (LOL!) but after being miserable for a few months, I decided to turn things around.

I took a piece of paper and drew a mind map. In the middle I wrote ‘my life’ and then added sub-components like career, family, health, finances, etc. I quickly wrote what was going well and what needed to improve in each.

This helped me realise that not everything was going poorly. There were plenty of things to be happy about and feel grateful for. It gave me perspective. It also gave me a list of things to work on.

I picked a few improvements to tackle right away. I prioritised them, put them in my diary and protected that time. Having focus and taking action helped me feel better and my situation quickly improved.

If you’re already aware that you're not spending enough time on what really matters to you but feel like you don’t need to do a life stocktake, you can start your journey by blocking out 30 minutes each day to work on your dream, whether it’s figuring out how to get there or already taking steps towards achieving it. It might seem small but that’s already 3.5 hours more than you’re investing now.

The tips can also be viewed on LinkedIn.