Productivity is one of my downfalls, especially when it comes to blogging & writing. Every year I say “I’m going to be more productive this year”, but it never happens. We don’t need a new year to start a resolution do we? If we put our mind to it, it can be achievable at any point in time.

One of the reasons my productivity hasn’t been great this year, and I’ve not blogged as much as I’ve wanted to, is because I’ve been fighting. Fighting my mental health, fighting my physical health, and fighting for Jacob. Put those three together and I’ve been absolutely exhausted. Only recently have I started to feel like I can do a bit more again, so I’ve decided I need to focus more on blogging & writing again.

I know how I want, and need, to be more productive; it’s just putting it all into practice.

The Pomodoro method

My lovely friend Rachel has blogged about this and every time someone speaks about it I always say I need to try it. The Pomodoro method is basically time management; you do a task continuously for 25 minutes then have a five minute break. During the break you can do anything you like; make a cuppa, read a few pages of a book, check your social media! I remember trying it, maybe once or twice. And it must have been a long time ago. I think if I used this regularly it would just become habit, and I would get a lot more done.

Use a paper trail

This is one area I really lack in, even though I own copious amounts of notebooks and have just invested in a new printer. I’m always saying to myself that I need to physically write things down, but I never do. Everything is based on my laptop – from blogmin spreadsheets to blog post ideas on virtual sticky notes. The only thing I do keep a paper copy of is my incomings & outgoings, in a diary which I don’t actually use for anything else… I’m sure some executive office furniture cabinets in my little work corner would encourage me to be a bit more paper-y!

Do not disturb (on my phone)

This is where I really struggle and ties in a bit with using the Pomodoro method. When my phone is on and I’m sat down, I seem to check it every five minutes or when a new notification pops up. It’s very counter-productive though and I seem to take twice as long doing what I set out to do. The one time I did use the Pomodoro method I actually did put my phone on do not disturb and lasted the whole 25 minutes; I think I actually wrote a whole blog post in that time! I’d need to add an exception of phone calls just in case school rings, of course.

I won’t get chance to put this into practice over the school holidays, but when the boys go back to school in September I will definitely get my derrière into gear and start being a bit more productive.

How do you manage your productivity?

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