TFL No. 50: HOW TO HAVE A PRODUCTIVE DAY

Very often, i’ve been asked how i make it through being a freelancer and managing my own schedule. Even more often i hear a response like: “I would be intimidated to stay all day in bed” or “I would be distracted all the time”. Well honestly, it has it’s ups and downs. Bad organisation leads me to work for up to 12 hours in a day, and still feeling that my day was not productive at all.

Being your own boss is the best and.. a stressful thing. From one side, you think you can do anything you want to – and when you master your organisation skills you can -. But on the other side, you’re running your own business, there are more responsibilities, more pressure and stress than being just an employee. As a result, you can get trapped into your own schedule, become an employee to yourself.

This summer, felt more like that to me. It took Theo to calm me down and bring me back to my senses. It still is tough, some days more, others less. I might be working on just two projects all day and have time for nothing else. There are a few tricks that boost me and by the end of the day i feel like i’m the boss. I did everything i wanted, and got some rest at the very end of it. The hard part is, to stay committed to them.

1. START EARLY

No one, and trust me when i say, no one loves sleep more than i do. I could be sleeping all day if i didn’t feel guilty for doing so. Waking up early, the earliest you can obviously makes your day longer. Not only that, but the action itself motivates you to have a nice productive day. It gets easier by time and all you need to do is to kick yourself in the butt and just do it. Just get up.

– Although unhealthy, i grab my phone and open Pinterest. I wish i could make my mind work in a more romantic and poetic way, like “i hear the birds sing”, but it does the trick and that’s good enough for me. I allow myself to stay in bed for one minute and then i’m up.

– Another thing that helped me, was finding the perfect alarm. I monitor my sleep with Sleep Better, which also happens to have the most and best alarm tones ever. I remember the first time the alarm went off, i felt like the happiest person ever. And that’s kinda a big deal for me as i always make up angry.

2. CREATE A QUICK ROUTINE

By creating a morning routine, you ensure that even though you’re sleepy, you have a set of things that you will be able to do without thinking. For me, it goes like: Bathroom first, cleaning myself up and feeling fresh. At this point a nice warm (not hot) shower is the best thing to wake you up. I will either have a quick shower in the morning, or after i finish work in the evening. Feed the cats, tidy up the living room, make the bed, wash the dishes, have breakfast and head over to the office. When focused, my morning routine takes about 30 minutes.

3. PRIOROTIZE

This one is a challenge for me on a daily basis. Normally i want to start with what inspires me most and when i do, i end up working on it for half of the rest day. Prioritising for me means starting with what’s more urgent in the schedule. A project that should be complete yesterday? Start with that one. You’ll thank yourself later. Leave the best for last, as you don’t want to get stuck and feel uninspired by the end of the day when you will already tired.

– Set a timer to reply to your emails. It sounds stressful but when you have a limit, you become more productive. I bet i’m not the only one who can spend 3 hours a day only replying to emails, so what works for me, is to allow one hour per day (mostly at the end of it) and spend no more than 2 minutes writing one.

4. KNOW YOUR LIMITS & WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

Don’t burn yourself up for the sake of having a productive day. That is not the point. The point is to do more with less. So make sure you tick the right checklists, make the right moves and take care of yourself along the way.

– Listen to some sweet tunes. Originally i started listening to music because it calmed me down and made me inspired. Along the way i realised that music also created a nice background for my mind to stay focused. It basically shuts down all the noises and distractions. Since last week, i started listening to audiobooks that’s just as good, even if not better. I become so absorbed by the story that even if there was an earthquake i wouldn’t notice it. Hope God won’t test me for what i just said. Imagine what a good effect that has on my productivity though! Plus, you get to hear all these amazing stories, and you always feel eager to go back to the office and hear the rest of it.

– Discover what helps you stay focused. For me, i don’t answer if my phone rings, stay away from Facebook and any kind of messages (although cheat on Twitter sometimes). Unless of course i’ve wrapped up a project and give myself 5-10 minutes to slack off.

– Make time for the things that inspire you. A productive day shouldn’t be all work and no play. If you feel like taking a walk in the middle of the day, then you should do it. There’s nothing best than take a break to gather inspiration, rest your mind and reboot. I highly advice treating yourself something nice while you work. Wether that’s a yummy snack or a healthy smoothie. Make your day at work fun and exciting.

– Once you finish work, close your computer or mac. Like literally, shut that thing down. The fact that you make the end of your working day official, it will make it less appealing to check something and get stuck in work once again. Once you’re done, do other stuff. Take a walk, spend time with your friends / pets, anything that will relax you and put your mind away.

What do you guys think? Would these tips help you to have a productive day? What makes you stay sane and make it through your day?