So the other week I talked about how I structure my days to be most productive. Now this post falls into that same category, but today I’m sharing five things you can do (no matter how you structure your day) so you can get more done during the time you’re centering around work.

1. Start with proactive tasks vs reactive. Proactive tasks are things that are aligned with your longer-term goals and are actually moving the needle forward. These are things that you are (proactively) going out of your way to do because you know that they are an important step toward getting you to where you want to be. Reactive tasks are things that tend to pop up in your day-to-day that need to be completed but you’re just reacting to them in the moment – they aren’t necessarily the things that are working towards the bigger picture. Emails are a great example of reactive tasks (really anything that is admin-related). Now if your job is to answer emails, disregard this lol. But overall, if you start your day with admin it can very easily become a time-suck, can drain your creative energy, and while they need to be answered eventually they probably arent the most important or urgent thing that you need to do for your business and/or future goals.
2. Use a productivity and/or time tracker app. Apps like this can help you better concentrate and put a designated amount of time towards a task without getting distracted. I use the app “Forest” – the premise behind this app is I start the timer when I’m starting a task and the longer the timer runs, the bigger my tree (for my forest lol) will grow. If I get out of the app at any point during my task, my tree dies. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t lol) how easy it is to pick up your phone during a task and how easily you can then get sucked down a rabbit hole of doing god knows what on your phone. You may be innocently just checking one thing and then before you know it, you’re five emails deep or you’ve been scrolling on Tiktok for 20 minutes.
3. Know what time of day you are most energized/focused and batch tasks around then. This was one of the main things I talked about in how I structure my days to be most productive. You can find the full blog on this here.
4. Be honest with how you work best. Look, I know it’s tempting to listen to music and/or podcasts while you’re working. But be honest with yourself – are you really able to focus and get as much done if you have anything playing in the background? I know it’s more “fun” to have a podcast or music playing but ask yourself if it ends up affecting your concentration. I know for me, as much as I’d love to play something in the background while I work, it takes me longer to finish tasks because I’m not 100% focused on the task at hand. By knowing this and using a little self-control, I get a lot more done during the day and then have actual free time afterward to listen to a podcast, etc.
5. Have a tidy & comfortable workspace. Comfortable goes for your clothes too! If you don’t have a proper setup, it’s going to be hard to stay concentrated – so get everything in place before you sit down to work. Get a fresh cup of coffee, and your water, go to the bathroom, arrange your workspace so it’s clean and functional, be wearing something you feel good working in, etc.

All of these little tips/adjustments can help set you up for a successful day. Trust me when I say a few changes can really alter your productivity and help free up more time in the day vs. feeling like you’re always rushing against the clock. I hope these help and comment below if you can add anything! Ps. I also shared these in a reel if you want to save the reel for easier access in the future for reminders 🙂