THE 2 SIDES OF PRODUCTIVITY

The Mindset

I think when we think of time management, we initially go to wanting to overhaul our calendar or have a better project management system. And this can be effective, and we will talk about that. But also, this can be extremely detrimental if what’s holding you back from getting more done, or what’s actually slowing you down is the mindset side of things. 

I think we don’t prioritize working on the things that are actually causing self-sabotage. And quite often, this is where we are actually wasting our time. 

The Strategy

And then the other side of it is the strategy. And we’re going to talk about four different concepts that you can learn that again, will help you to do what you’re already doing in less time so that you can enjoy more thing or just enjoy doing nothing if that’s what you want to do as well. 

THE MINDSET

Overcome Self-Sabotage

The first mindset that you need to focus on in order to be able to get more done in less time is overcoming self-sabotage. Self-sabotage and self-sabotaging behaviours are the biggest detriments to our time management and efficiency. The root of most procrastination is some type of self-sabotage. 

So if you find that you are just spending way too long on things, whether that be the desire to start a business or a YouTube channel or even get yourself to go to the gym, whatever it is that you are procrastinating on there, generally, will be some type of psychological reason behind it. 

What we want to do is find or learn about our own specific reasons why we are procrastinating. 

I definitely recommend the book, The Mountain is You by Brianna West.

Honestly, this book is mind-blowing when it comes to learning about all the different ways in which we procrastinate and all the different ways in which we self-sabotage. For each person, it will be different. 

Maybe it’s because of fear, or maybe it’s because of your own self-perception. But you need to get to the root of what is actually holding you back from taking the action and then work on that core thing. Not just try to find another system or strategy to get things done. 

Overcome Perfectionism And Pressure

We put so much pressure on ourselves to make things perfect. And the reason why we do this is that we’re trying to avoid the feeling of shame or embarrassment. And quite often, it’s because we don’t have a good relationship with ourselves. 

The beliefs that you have about yourself will dictate the way that you see the quality of what you’re putting out into the world. If you don’t have strong self-esteem or relationship with yourself, you will get a lot of your validation from outside sources. And therefore, when you’re producing things, whether it be content or things in your business, you will put a lot more pressure than necessary to make those things perfect because you are craving and desiring validation from people. 

When it comes to putting things out there, you will be much more efficient when you know and trust within yourself that regardless of whether it’s perfect, you are still going to have worth in yourself. 

Trying to make things perfect is slowing you down, so you must build a better relationship with yourself. 

When you build a better sense of self-esteem, you will move faster in the things that you’re doing because you won’t get so caught up in perfectionist him in comparison and all that kind of stuff.

Live Without Expectation

Another thing that you need to learn when it comes to developing the mindset of efficiency is that you need to learn to live without expectation. 

Now, of course, when I say this, you don’t necessarily need to just give up all of your goals and dreams and just go with the flow. Of course, you still want to have visions of where you want to go, you still want to have intention behind things that you want to manifest or that you want to work on. But when we put extremely high expectations on ourselves of things happening in a specific amount of time, that causes a lot of unnecessary stress, which will ultimately lead us to derail our progress. 

When you reestablish your relationship with time, and you start to work at a more achievable pace that is going to help you actually stay more consistent, in the long run, will get you there faster. 

If you just drop all the expectations of something happening in a specific amount of time and just continue to show up at a consistent pace, you will get there faster. Unmet expectations will always derail us, they will make us feel bad about ourselves, they make us feel incapable, which then adds to all of the self-doubts and limiting beliefs we were having in the first place. 

Instead, say, “I know it’s going to happen. When? I don’t know. And I don’t care, because I’m having fun along the process. And I’m dropping the expectations about when I need to achieve this outcome.” 

Learn To Focus (Or At Least Not Be Distracted)

For so many of us, the reason why we are not as efficient as we possibly can be is that we get distracted, and I am absolutely throwing my hands up and saying this is me. These social media apps are extremely addictive, we need to ensure that we are trying to counteract that by training our focus.

There are a few things that you can do. 

1. Reading 

2. Meditation 

3. Sport 

4. Social Media Breaks

Spending time away from fast-moving digital activity that is causing us to want to seek new stimulation every couple of seconds will help you be more efficient with your time and therefore have more time to spend on other things. So something that you can do is schedule your scrolling time versus just scrolling randomly throughout the day. 

Try to train your focus through working on things reading, sport, meditation, whatever it may be, and then actually give yourself like an allotted time th
roughout the day, maybe it’s three times a day that you can sit down and like totally passively scroll. And then, if you need to set app limits, whatever you need to do to discipline yourself not to give in to the things that are causing you to not be able to be so focused. 

It’s not your fault. These apps are designed to be so addictive that they get more of our attention. But it’s our responsibility to make sure that we are trying to counteract that with training our focus because then we’ll be able to get more done in less time than if half the time we’re actually just focusing on Instagram.

THE STRATEGY

Finding a Time Management System That Works For You

The first thing that you need to think about really is finding a time management system that works for you. The reason why I say this is because it’s really easy to jump on YouTube and have someone tell you exactly how to manage your time. But, quite often, this can be more detrimental than it is helpful because you’re trying to apply what works for somebody else to your circumstances. 

You’ve got to think about how you can manage your time based on your life and what’s going on for you. 

Now, this is going to include your own personal energy fluctuations. 

When are you the most energetic, and how can you actually try to plan to be productive around those times? 

How does your day structure currently look? 

How do you actually like to plan things? 

Do you like to be so organized that you have every day organized down to the second? A month? in advance? 

Or are you someone who likes to maybe organize yourself a little bit more on the fly? 

Do you like physical planning? Do you like digital planning? 

There are so many different things that come into this. And it all starts with self-awareness. So what I would recommend that you do is that you go out there and look at all of the different options that are available you and instead of just taking them as gospel and being like, I need to try this and then feeling disappointed when it doesn’t work, I want you to take a second and ask yourself really honestly, how will fit into my life? And can I actually see myself implementing this long-term? 

If you’re really honest with yourself and if you know yourself, then you’ll be able to come up with a yes or no answer. And if the answer is no, reject that and look for something else. 

There are so many different options out there. Learn a formula that works for you in the season of life that you’re in now, rather than just trying to adopt somebody else’s strategy, because that can actually hold you back more. 

Cultivate More Physical Energy

Most of the time, we are inefficient because we are so tired. And let me tell you, it is not natural for humans to be so tired. The reason for that is probably something more physical. 

So maybe you’re not managing stress well, maybe your nervous system is out of whack. Maybe there’s a problem with your hormones, maybe your body’s not digesting the things that it needs to actually produce natural energy.

Your physical energy has a lot to do with your time management. Because also, when you’re strung out and stressed out and overwhelmed and your nervous system is freaking out, you’re not going to be able to think as efficiently and effectively either. So you will get brain fog, and how are you supposed to be productive when you can’t even think straight? 

The bare basic minimum things that you can do is hydrate, sleep and move your body. But ultimately figuring out an energy management plan specific to you is going to be the best course of action. 

Learn How To Prioritize

I work with a lot of entrepreneurs. And the number one thing that I see them doing, which is slowing them down, is spending all of their time on things that just don’t matter. 

So another book that I recommend is Essentialism by Greg McKeown. 

Are you really focusing on what matters? Or are you just trying to busy yourself with all the little individual tasks?

Learning what the priority tasks with the specific arena of your life that you’re focusing on are and then getting rid of all the things that aren’t essential to your progress or your happiness.

Learn How To Simplify

So many of us are just overcomplicating things. And the reason for this is quite often because we’re putting pressure on ourselves or we have self-doubt. A lot of times, it’s because we feel guilty. We want things to be harder to feel more worthy of the outcome. We need to actually, just for a moment, slow down and ask ourselves: 

How would this look if it were easy? How would this look if it were simple? How am I overcomplicating things?