The new year is fast approaching and many people are gearing up to become more productive in 2022. Making a New Year's Resolution is the easy part, though — and to follow through, you'll need a rock-solid plan that you can stick to.
By using techniques like the traditional to-do list, Pomodoro timer, and the bullet journal, you can stop procrastination in its tracks.
You might be one of the many people who felt bummed out your lack of productivity in 2021 and thought “I’ll do better next year!”. With these tips, you can make it happen.
What Is Productivity?
When you say you’ll be productive, what exactly are you hoping to achieve?
Most people think productivity is defined as doing as many tasks as possible in one day. Society has taught us that the more we can cram into one day, the better we are. This is a terrible idea, though. Not only will the tasks be poorly done, but you’ll also be feeling extremely stressed out as you're stuck on a task treadmill that never stops spinning. Productivity is nice, but it’s just as important, if not more, to take care of your mental health — and downtime is an integral part of that.
To figure out how to be most productive, you first have to decide out what productivity means for you. If that means doing as many tasks as possible in a minimum amount of time, while feeling generally overwhelmed, then you should probably rethink what productivity means. Productivity could mean checking three tasks off your to-do list, keeping up with your studies, tidying up everyday, or something else entirely. It could even mean finishing all your work within a few hours, so you've got the rest of the day to relax.
Now that you’ve figured out how you want to be productive, let’s dive into some of the best techniques to keep you productive this new year!
1. The Good Old-Fashioned To-Do List
You’ve almost certainly made a to-do list before, and you’ve probably given up on it too. It’s one of the most common productivity tools, because it’s simple and easy to understand and you make one right now, with no additional supplies.
You can choose to make your to-do list in a variety of ways but the general concept is writing down everything you want — and need — to do in one day and then hopefully ticking every item off after finishing each task. You can make your to-do list anywhere you want:
- In a designated notebook
- A note on the fridge
- In your digital workspace.
Some people even come up with their own symbols and color-code specific tasks.
Let’s be honest, though — it’s incredibly easy to write down your tasks, but not so much to do them. You may already feel more productive just by writing your list, but if you don’t actually do the tasks that defeats the whole purpose. So, how can you actually do the tasks on your to-do list?
One of the most common problems with the to-do list is how overwhelming all the tasks you keep adding to your list may look. In the morning, you were confident you could do those 15 tasks, but now it’s night and you haven’t ticked a single one off. What’s the solution? Try limiting yourself to just three important tasks you absolutely have to get done. You can still add more tasks, of course, but make those three important tasks your priority.
This is all completely pointless if you can’t even find your to-do list during the day. Make sure your list is in a spot where you can easily check in with it.
2. Give Yourself Breaks With The Pomodoro Timer
If you’re constantly working, you’re bound to get so tired and stressed that you're ultimately less productive — so you need regular breaks. On the other hand, you don’t want to have so many breaks that you end up doing nothing at all.
That’s where the Pomodoro technique comes in. It’s perfect for staying focused for a set amount of time, while also giving yourself short breaks. How does it work? Set a timer for 25 minutes and focus on your task completely until the timer goes off. It’s break time! Go take your well-deserved 5 minute break. After four pomodoros (25 minute periods) you get a longer break for 30 minutes.
3. The Bullet Journal: A Productivity Enthusiast’s Best Friend
The bullet journal — or bujo — might just be the best productivity tool out there. What makes the bullet journal so popular is that it doesn’t have to be one thing in particular; you can customize to fit your lifestyle. Every bullet journal looks different with unique spreads, notebooks, and ideas.
While you decide how to set your bullet journal up, there a few pages that are pretty much essential to include:
- Adding an index at the beginning of your bujo will help you find important pages.
- Adding a key for all your special symbols and color codes is another good idea.
- The “Year at a Glance” page will keep all your important dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries, easily accesible.
- Then there’s the monthly pages where you can fill out tasks you need to complete that month.
Don’t let these ideas stop you though, there’s a vast amount of bullet journal spread ideas out there, and you can even come up with some on your own.
We only gave you a small sample from the world of productivity tips, there are so many out there! What’s most important is that you use just the techniques that work for you! If any of these aren’t helping you out right away, that’s okay! It takes time to adjust to a new system, and maybe techniques you chose don’t even apply to you. Just keep experimenting with different tools and you’ll get there eventually!