think boost your productivity_handout
TRANSCRIPT
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BoostYourProductivityFocus&TimeManagement
Focus
1.MeditationPick an amount of time you can commit to meditating daily. Its important that youre consistent and
disciplined inyourpractice.Committostickingwithyourschedulefor30days. Ifyouslipup,startcounting
againatday1.After those30daysyoucanassesswhether ithashelped increaseyour focusorotherwise
addedvaluetoyourlife.Ifithasnt,itmakessensetostop.Ifithas,continuewithit;itshouldbemucheasier
tocontinueonceyouvealreadydoneitfor30days.This30dayruleisagoodtrickfortryingtogetyourself
intohabitsyouwanttoadopt.
Meditationpractice(515minforbeginners)
o Sitinanypositionthatsstableandcomfortablewithoutexertingmucheffort.Ifpossible,avoidleaningonanything(thatwayifyoustartdriftingofftosleep,yourbodywillstarttoslumpandyouaremorelikely
tojerkbackawake).
o Breatheinandoutafewtimesandletyourbodyrelax.o Donottrytocontrolyourrateorstrengthofbreathing,justbreathenaturallyandobserveastheairfills
yourlungsandthenstreamsbackout.
o Closeyoureyesorfocusyourgazeonsomestablepointinfrontofyouandstartbycountingeveryoutbreathupto21.
o Ifyoueverget lost inthought,becomeuncertainofwhichnumberyoureonorcountover21withoutintendingto,bringyourfocusbacktoyourbreathandstartoverfrom1.
o Ifyouhavegreatdifficultmaintainingthecount,trycountingboththeinbreathandoutbreath.o Donottrytoblockoutexternalsensations(suchassounds)orstopbackgroundthoughts.Donotworryif
thoughtssometimescometobemoreprominentinyourawarenessthanthebreathsensations.Youronly
taskistomaintainanawarenessofthebreaththatisascontinuousaspossible.
o It is important to rememberyouareworkinga focusandwillpowermusclehere.Dontberateyourselfwhen yourmindwanders. Instead, you shouldgently let go of the line of thought and redirect your
attention to the breath. Cultivate happiness at the fact that younoticedyour mind wandering and
appreciationforthementalfacultythatallowedyoutodoso.Attemptingtopunishyourselfforallowing
yourmindtowanderwillnotmakeyourmindlesslikelytowanderinthefutureandwillmakeyourmind
moreagitated.Performthesameprocedureifyoufindyourselffrustrated/annoyed/irritatedorbored.
Therearemanymeditationtechniquesoutthere;experimentandfindwhatworksbestforyou.Andworkto
sticktothemeditationscheduleyousetforyourself.
2.Specifygoalsandbreakthemintoactionablesubgoals
Itshardtofocus ifyoudontknowwhattofocuson.Specifyinggoalsandchunkingthem intosubgoals isa
goodway to avoid this problem. Get explicit about your goals:write them down. Then figure out what
steps/subgoals
you
need
to
accomplish
in
order
to
achieve
your
larger
goal.
Sounds
simple,
but
its
an
importantstepmostdonttake.
Nowlookattheitematthetopofyourlist.Doyoufeelmotivatedtoworkonthattask,andcanyouvisualize
yourselfworkingonit?Ifnot,breakitdownintosmallertasksuntilyoudo.
o Sojo is a great resource for helping you get through different hurdles at different points in yourplanningandexecutionprocess:http://www.thesojo.net/
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3.Createadistractionfreetimeandspace.
Identifywhatmightbedistractingyouandfigureoutwhatcanbeeliminatedeitherpermanentlyorduring
the hours you most need to stay focused. Disable instant alarms, put your phone on silent and even
temporarily disable your internet connection for a set amount of timewhile youwork on activities that
demand focus likewritingorediting.Carveouta timeyouplan toworkon thesehighfocussteps,write it
downandthendoyourbesttoeliminatedigitalandrealworlddistractionswhileyouworkonit.
4.Exercise&diet
Regularexerciseaids focus. Inthemediumlongterm itkeepsyourenergyup, improves focusandcanhelp
alleviatefeelingsofbeingoverwhelmedandfrazzled,whichcanbedebilitatingtoproductivity.Gettingaerobic
exercisefor3060minutes34daysaweeksgivesyouahugefocusadvantage.Eventakinga510minutewalk
outsidebeforesettlingdownandenteringyournodistractionzonecanbehelpfulinkeepingyoufocusedand
ontask;theboostfromexerciseshouldmorethanpayforthetimeittakesup.
Diet isalso important formanagingenergyand focus.Theearlieryouget intogooddiethabits, thebetter.
Herearesomegoodtipsonhealthyeatinghabits:http://www.helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_diet.htm
TimeManagement
1.Timelogging
Mostofusthinkwehaveafairlyaccuratesenseofhowwespendourtime/ourdays.Asitturnsout,manyof
usdont.
Time
logging
gives
us
alittle
reality
check
on
how
were
spending
our
time.
The
idea
is
simple.
o Startaspreadsheetwhereyourecordhowyourespendingyourtimeforaweekorevenbetter,foramonth.Thereareanumberoftoolsthatcanhelpyoudothis(seelinkbelow). Simplywritingdown
whatyouredoingforcesyoutothinkaboutwhetheryouredoingthemostproductivething.
o Lookbackathowyouspendyourtimeandsee ifhowyouspendyourtime isconsistentwithyourpriority list.Areyouspendingminimaltimeonsomethingyouvepeggedasahighpriority?Makea
concertedefforttospendmoretimeonit.Timebox it.Areyouspending lotsoftimeonsomething
thatgivesyoulittletonovalue?AddittoyourtoNotdolist(comingup),cutitoutorscaleitback.
Here are a few options for timetracking applications to check out:
http://lifehacker.com/5362829/five besttime+trackingapplications
2.ToNOTdolists
Wereallfamiliarwithtodolists,buttoNOTdolistsarearguablyasimportant.Mostpeoplehavethingsthey
spendalot
of
time
on
that
theyre
not
getting
alot
back
from.
Watching
the
Real
Housewives,
surfing
the
internet,orplayingvideogamesforhoursonend.Inordertomaketimetoimproveyourselfandaccomplish
yourgoals, youneed to cutout the things you spend timeon thatarentadding value to your life.Time
loggingcanbeavaluabletoolforfiguringoutwhatshouldbeonyourtostoplist.Youcaneithereliminatea
habit entirely or restrict it to certain times, making it more of an enjoyable treat that you engage in
deliberately.
3.Buildingaprioritylist&settingdeadlines
Youneedtoknowwhichgoalsaremostimportantsoyoucanfocusonthemfirst.Ifyouhavetimeleftoverfor
therest,evenbetterbutput firstthings first.Explicitlystatingyourpriorities iscrucial.Getting itdownon
paper forces you to turn fuzzy ideas into an actionable concrete form. And its always there for future
reference.
First
prioritize
your
big
goals
list.
Its
sometimes
hard
to
rank
goals
relative
to
each
other
but
force
yourself
to
do it.Lookatyourtopprioritygoal.Ifyoudontyethavesubgoalsforthatgoal,makethem.Ifyoualready
havesubgoals:goldstar!Nowprioritizethem.Thenstartmakingtimetoknocksomeofthosesubgoalsout.
Settingdeadlinescanbehelpful.
4.Timeboxing&thePomodorotechnique
Setatimeranddontstopworkingonataskuntilitsfinishedorthetimergoesoff.Settingthetimerfor3090
minutes isagoodruleofthumb.This isagoodstrategytouseonceyouhavea listofactionablesubgoals
youretryingtoachieve.Pickahighprioritysubgoalandtimeboxaway.
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ThePomodorotechnique isaspecialformoftimeboxing.Youpickatasktoworkon,workonyourchosen
taskfor25minutes,thengiveyourselfa35minutebreak.Repeatthisprocess4timesandthenallowyourself
alongerbreak.http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3freepomodoroproductivityapps/
5.FreeYourBrain
Does itoccurtoyouthatsomethingneedsdoing?Write itdown.If itneedstobedoneataparticulartime,
writeitinyourcalendar.Therearefarmoreusefulthingsyourbraincouldbedoingthantryingtokeeptrack
oflistsofstufftodo.Useyourextendedbraininstead.
Youneedasystemyoucantrust.Putalltheinformationinoneplaceitcanbeonpaperoroncomputer, but it should be kept very easy to find. The list of taskswill need reviewing and
organizing,perhapsonceaweek.
AdditionalTools&Tips:
1. SpeedReadingTheresa lot to learnandkeepupwith. Ifyoucan read faster,youcan learn faster,whichmeansyoucan
eitherlearnmoreorspendlesstimelearningwhatyouwanttolearnandmoretimegettingthingsdone.
http://www.spreeder.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_reading
2. ToLearnListA lotofbig ideashavemanycomponents.Andsometimes inorder tomakebig ideashappen,youneedto
understandthecomponentsfirst.Writingdownallthethingsyouwanttolearnwhenyouthinkofthemisa
greathabittogetinto.
3. Hangoutwithpeoplewhohavequalitiesthatyouwanttohave.Neverunderestimatethepowerofsocialnorms.Studiesshowwebecomelikethepeoplewehangaround.So
ifyouwanttobefocusedandefficient,makeanefforttospendtimewithpeopleyouthinkarefocusedand
efficient.
4. WorkononethingatatimeMultitaskingdoesntwork.Stayfocusedononethingatatime.
5.
Batching
Findtasksthataresimilar,suchasansweringabunchofemails,anddothematthesametime.
6. TimeYourWorkSetalistofthingstodoeachday,andanumberofhoursyouintendtowork.Thenworkuntilthelistoftasks
iscompletedoryoureachyourtimelimit.Whicheverissooner.Youwillgiveyourselfanincentivetocomplete
tasksquickly.
ActionPoints
Learnmore:o LearnaboutGettingThingsDone,apopularmethodforkeepingtrackoftasksandpreventingthem
fromcluttering
your
mind:
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/GTD
cognition.pdf
Domore:o TryEatThatFrog.EatThatFrog isasimpletechniqueforavoidingprocrastinationonyourmost
importanttasks.Tryitout:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W7GB5Fh2XM
o ExperimentwithHabits.Commit to ahabit youwant to adopt for30days. If you fail, startover.Especiallywhenbeginning,itsadvisabletochooseonehabitatatimetofocusonsoyoullhaveto
prioritizethehabitsyouwant.Onceyouvehit30days,youcandecidewhetherthehabit isworth
keeping.