,

I didn’t Shave for a Week, and My Productivity Quadrupled.

It’s possible to procrastinate constructively

Sky-high productivity levels in Singapore (2020, Author’s own)

Not shaving your facial hair really has no implications in improving one’s productivity, no. They’re two independent statements — the former is a short update of my life, the latter the topic of this piece. Now that I’ve gotten your attention, let’s talk productivity.

To provide some context, this week I’ve completed four LinkedIn Courses, and am undergoing four other courses simultaneously — two COVID-19 related courses conducted by Saint Petersburg State University and Stanford University, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) course by Google, and a Data Science course by Professor Barton Poulson. I’m doing all these whilst also writing a research paper. Aside from improving my knowledge in the different fields, I’m also churning out more articles on Medium within shorter periods of time.

In the same day, I could still go on my morning/ evening walks; I could still gym; I could still binge watch Netflix (Just started on Selling Sunsets, that’s going to be fun); I could still make time to catch up with my mates. Life is moving at a frenetic pace, yet it’s very much enjoyable.

Changing habits is the key to Personal Productivity

In order to maximise personal productivity and stretch your day, you’ve got to first recognise that a change in your working habits is essential. The current system has to be broken up. Don’t expect it to be easy, change never is. When you start reaping the rewards however, it’ll all be worth it.

In modern work culture, a strong emphasis is being misplaced on the notion of being busy. It’s the mentality whereby you check off everything on your to-do list, then go on to think “Oh, that was too easy. Where can I find more work?” When would this mentality end?

It won’t.

Productivity is about rhythm instead of perpetual motion.

I love and prize my sleep and personal time. It’s never about 90 hour work weeks, or the ‘You’ll sleep when you’re dead’ notion. I’ll sleep when I want to, thank you. You simply have to be deliberate with your time. Otherwise, you’re at a high risk of a burnout.

Let me break down the ten best productivity hacks that I’ve been putting to great use, allowing me to squeeze my days dry.

Wake up early

I’m a bit of a living paradox- I am a late sleeper and an early riser…

Anyhow, I absolutely champion the idea of waking up early. Every morning after rising and washing up, I will gulp down half a bottle of water. This serves as a morning booster for me, particularly so because I do intermittent fasting. Think of this as your morning caffeine shot. I will then head downstairs to say my good mornings. After which, I dive straight into work.

Waking up early means you have more hours awake, and that means more newfound time to utilise productively.

Starting your day early improves your concentration drastically, meaning you can accomplish the tasks and goals you’ve set out for yourself the night prior. Your brain is the most alert in the morning, and you often make better decisions with clarity of thought, as compared to other times of the day. It improves your day acclimatisation, allowing you to keep alert and be on your toes during the peak hours.

Early waking also comes with many other health benefits — be it healthier looking skin, stress reduction coupled with a more positive outlook, and higher energy levels.

Most importantly, getting up early instills a certain discipline in you. It’s about getting into a routine. The toughest part is convincing your mind and body to do it, but once you start implementing early rising into your lifestyle, it just gets easier. Your natural body clock eventually adapts and you’ll start waking up even before your alarm goes off. You can then go on to take advantage of all the extra time you have in the day!

Pondering productively in Sydney (2017, Author’s own)

Set short-term & long-term goals

Setting goals inherently improves performance and productivity.

Personally, I always have a long-term goal in mind, be it in my studies, projects or investments. Daily and weekly goals are the keys to getting your consistency going, and this consistency is in turn the key to achieving your biggest and loftiest ambitions. Accomplishments and success don’t get handed down to you — Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can be more flexible and cut some slack on the short-term goals, but you must always meet your long-term objectives.

“Goals move us forward in life, giving oxygen to our dreams.”

Elon Musk

I stand by the Non-zero Day Principle. It is a principle that ensures you have to do at least one thing a day, no matter how small, that can help you in the pursuit of a particular goal. The motivation to pursue your goals is easy to find but difficult to maintain. Discipline is what sustains you in the quest of your goals and ambitions. There is power in taking action on a daily basis, because you are making progress everyday — no matter how tiny the steps are. One should never underestimate the might of consistent and small progress, because it is a compounded effort.

Allocate an organised workspace

The importance of finding a conducive environment to work in is so understated. It can be the Starbucks cafe just down the road, the long table on your patio or the desk in your bedroom.

The amount of natural light your workspace receives has the biggest and most immediate impact on your health and work. Numerous studies have found that workers in offices that get plenty of natural light are healthier, happier at work, and much more focused and productive. Keeping plants in your workspace also exerts a calming effect and can act as a productivity booster by up to 15%, increasing one’s overall work satisfaction as well.

Keeping your workplace tidy is key to staying productive. Messy workspaces are more likely to create problems rather than new ideas. Make a sustained effort everyday to maintain a clutter-free and organised desk or office.

Work in short bursts (Pomodoro technique)

Break up your work time with mental rest periods. Taking breaks increases productivity. The Pomodoro technique is a time management strategy that increases personal productivity by dividing your workdays into highly focused time periods separated by short breaks. It’s a four-pronged work method that puts your distractions at bay, allows for work accountability, and supercharges your body and mind.

1. Create a to-do list
At the start of your day, pen down the work you want to complete.

2. Begin the first timed session
Embark on your first task by starting with a 30-minute work session (one Pomodoro) consisting of 25 minutes of uninterrupted work and a 5-minute break. When the time is up, it means you’ve come to the end of that specific task, which you can then go on to check off your list.

3. Take a breather
Engage in a 5-minute break to detach yourself from your workload — be it taking a short walk or looking into the distant greenery.

4. Repeat
Check your tasks off after each Pomodoro. After every four Pomodoros, take a longer break of around 15 to 30 minutes.

I don’t specifically employ the Pomodoro technique, but found myself utilising a derivative of it anyways. However, I find myself working better with longer time periods. I work in 2-hour blocks — 1.5 hours of work and 0.5 hours of rest. There is no hard and fast rule about this, simply find what works best for you.

Batch tasks together

Batching is an efficient multi-tasking strategy that enables one to work on a group of tasks together without compromising on work quality. Usually, multi-tasking is less efficient than single-tasking because your brain requires more time to engage in task switching. This makes the process slow and unproductive.

However, if you batch tasks that require similar mindsets together, you can then work on multiple tasks without losing your rhythm and workflow. In that sense, your brain is focused on a few tasks, but only one type of task at any time.

A few examples would include:

Listen to music that induce productiveness

Music optimises the boring.

In a noisy workplace, music can serve as a form of escape.

The right music allows you to plod on even if its monotonous and repetitive work you’re doing. You want ambient background noise, not distracting music with lyrics. My go to work jam is instrumental music.

Listening music through proper cans are highly essential as well. I recommend using headphones or earphones with in-built noise cancellation. Personally, I use the SONY WH-1000XM3 headphones and Apple AirPods Pro earphones, both of which work wonderfully well.

Have a writing pad at the ready

This is a small but really useful hack you can use to rid yourself of any distracting thoughts. Oftentimes I find myself having loads of internal interruptions, and so I jot them down to get them out of my head. Once I’m done with the task at hand will I then revisit whatever great thoughts I’d written down. Charles Darwin and Mark Twain did this too, it’s tested and proven throughout history!

Move your body, it’s more than Medicine

I’m a huge proponent of exercise, one might even call me a fitness fanatic.

Body, Mind, Soul — all working in tandem.

That’s one of my mantras. Engage your body and brain, and provide respite for your soul.

It can be a short and easy walk just outside your home, connecting with nature as you recharge your body — time spent with nature drastically improves our ability to think expansively and enhances our decision-making.

Or you could implement an exercise regime. Working out raises energy levels, battles fatigue and improves general well-being, all of which contribute greatly to personal productivity. There will be a notable increase in productivity just weeks after implementing an exercise regime!

Procrastinate Productively

It’s about seizing your downtime.

Procrastination is something we know we shouldn’t be doing, yet are all guilty of. So what if I told you that you could use this supposed ‘wasted time’ to boost productivity? This oxymoronic concept, is the art of transforming the bad trait of procrastinating into something useful. Procrastination can actually be a really powerful productivity tool, if done right.

More often than not, people feel shameful about deferring things. As a result, they tend to fixate on these negative emotions rather than the tasks they need to complete. With the build-up of negative emotions, you’ll then feel like you’ve got to distract yourself from them, and that leads to more severe forms of procrastination.

“It’s about assessing how realistic is that habitual negative self talk we tend to engage in, and then coming up with alternatives that might be more realistic or just more flexible,” clinical psychologist Nick Wignall says.

During your consistent work breaks, focus on things that are productive:

You’ll know the difference between taking breaks that will recharge you and offer you fresh perspectives, and breaks that simply derail your progress. Self-awareness is the underlying factor of procrastination.

Enable a Growth Mindset

Think bigger. Adopting a growth mindset is highly critical. Developing a growth mindset is about your commitment and willingness to adopt positive change in work culture. It’s about embracing failures and imperfections — don’t ever hide from your weaknesses. Acknowledge them and work to improve upon them.

It’s all about challenging yourself, continually pushing yourself towards the next level. This self-taught tenacity will allow you to advance towards your goals as you’re fuelled by such challenges.

Find the passion and love in whatever you’re doing. This way, your motivation levels can be sustained, leading to organic growth.

With a growth mindset, you will focus on improving yourself rather than worrying about how smart you are or aren’t. You will start to acquire knowledge and intelligence through your renewed experiences. You’ll start thriving on challenges and recognise failure to be part and parcel of the path to growth and success.

Productivity hacks serve as fantastic tools to get more done using the same amount of resources, allowing us to better utilise our time. Do remember that they are but tools to help us achieve something larger. Use these secret weapons, and I assure you that productivity will come knocking at your door. Oh, and you still get to enjoy the cakes and ale of life.

Let’s get cracking folks.

Alexander SR Pang

Leave a comment