Have you ever noticed that sometimes the tasks that are supposed to take 10 minutes to complete, might take you 30 minutes to complete, and after that, you feel exhausted? 

You get distracted by the little things, and then do much less during the day than you intended to.

That’s because you are not being as productive as you’re meant to be. You should go through your day productively, and by the end of the day, realize that you have done a lot, and sleep waiting for the next day so you can accomplish more.

But why is it that some people are more productive than others, and they do more in their day than others, even if they don’t spend so much time as you did on the same task?

The answer is simple. They have figured out ways to do more in less time, produce more in less time, and become super productive. 

These 10 simple productivity hacks are easy to use, easy to master and they make your work (even if it’s a boring piece) easier and more exciting.

Take each of these hacks one after the other, and implement them one by one into your daily life, whether it’s your personal or your professional life.

We hope this piece provides the value you are looking for, and if it does, share this article with anyone you know needs this, and help them become much more productive people.

With that said, here are 10 super simple productivity hacks that you can use to achieve more and do more in a short amount of time.

1. Use the Promodoro Technique

This is a very simple productivity hack that will allow you to accomplish more, become more focused, and have a high output in such a short time.

The Pomodoro technique is simple. 

You put your focus on one thing, one single thing for 25 minutes. Whether is writing a page of a book, reading a book, creating graphics, or whatever it is,

Focus your mind on that one thing for 25 minutes, and when the 25 minutes is done, rest for 5 minutes. 

Rest doesn’t include scrolling through social media, because you can get lost in the process. You rest by taking a small walk around your working space, doing a few stretches, or anything that gets your body moving. This rest period is important, so don’t skip it.

To make this process easier, have a timer near you, and set the timer to 25 minutes on, and 5 minutes off.

Even better, go to Google play store, or apple store, and download the app, Pomodoro. This app is a valuable tool that understands this technique, and allows for higher output and increased productivity.

(P.S. I’m using the app right now)

2. Stop multitasking

There is this huge myth (and I say myth because it is untrue) that a person can achieve more by multitasking.

This is not true. 

Multitasking will make you achieve less and less, instead of doing more and more. Your hands might be moving from one thing to another at a rapid pace, but your brain will have a hard time comprehending which one is which.

When you do a task, your brain focuses on that particular task, and once you move out of it, it will take a while for your brain to comprehend what you are doing.

That is why when it comes to exercise, experts usually say,

“Workout early, before your brain realizes what you are doing.”

In increasing your productivity, use this simple productivity hack and focus on one specific task at a time. 

No multitasking, no switching from one thing to the other. Start a single task, finish it, before mobbing to the next one.

3. Create a clean workspace for yourself

Your area of work greatly influences how productive you will be. 

Take some time to look around the area of your work. Is it tidy? Is it inviting? Do you have papers littered around? Are your chair in a separate area and your work drawers all open?

When you answer these questions, you realize how much of an impact, such a little thing, like your space has on your productivity level.

Arrange your corner, clean your space. Get rid of the littered paper, and let some fresh air in. when you sit to work, and everything is properly arranged, you feel fulfilled, and ready to crush the day and become better than you were yesterday

4. Break your tasks into small pieces

Breaking your tasks into tiny achievable pieces makes it easier for you to get more done, and achieve more in a day.

Here is how you can do this. 

Let’s say you have a blog, and since you work on it alone, there seems to be so much to do. In a day, you could break up your tasks like this:

  • Get three new keywords to write about
  • Create 1 new graphic template for a new post
  • Outreach to 3 bloggers for a backlink
  • Answer emails for 20 minutes

And so on.

When you do this, you making your tasks visible, breaking them up into smaller and achievable bits. 

This way it gets easier to know which task will be done when and during what time. 

5. Create a to-do list

As an extension of the previous hack, creating a to-do list makes your work a lot easier to see and visualize.

Don’t create a list on your phone. Get a pen and paper, and do it the old fashion way of writing it down, and putting it where you can see it.

Arrange your work from the most important to the least important. The ones at the top should include things that will directly improve and impact whatever it is you are working on.

  • Writing a new article
  • Creating a new Pinterest pin
  • Doing some outreach to bloggers for backlinks, and so on.

The ones at the bottom of the least should be things of least importance. They might be important, but they add little to no value to you or your goals.

  • Washing the dishes.
  • Ordering food
  • Sending that text message, and so on.

Make it a priority to but your most important tasks first, complete those, before moving on to the next.

6. Make use of noise-cancelling headphones

Noise is one of the most distractive things, and a task that would usually take 10 minutes, would take 30 just because of the noise.

Imagine living close to someone who puts on their extremely loud generator all the time, which can be super annoying (speaking from experience),

So how do you get rid of this noise, and produce more? Besides being angry at the neighbor or the person making the noise, get some noise-canceling headphones.

This is one of those investments that will serve you well. 

Noise-canceling headphones block out the noise, allowing you to be productive and do more in less time.

To make it more soothing, add some focus binaural beats to the mix. This helps your brain relax and focus on one task until you are done with it. 

These simple productivity hacks will help you increase output, and have more free time for yourself, and your family as well.

7. Mute your phone, email notifications, etc

Except you are expecting a call, an important one especially, mute your phone and put it away from you.

I don’t mean put it near you. Keep it in another room so you will not get distracted. With the rise of so many social media channels,

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, clubhouse, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc, it is so easy to get distracted.

You may say, it’s just one picture you want to check out, but you check out the next, and the next, and the next until you realize you have spent 2 hours scrolling through social media and leaving your work unfinished. 

Then you rush your work and feel so stressed that you couldn’t get anything done in time. 

The same goes for your emails. If you check your emails, every time you get a ding, you won’t be very productive. 

Create a time in your day to answer your emails, and put them out so you can focus on other important things. 

During your work, if anything pops into your head, an idea, or something you needed to do, put a pen and paper beside you, so you can write it down, and get back to work.

Use this hack to your advantage, and get rid of any distraction that will hinder you from doing more.

8. Know your optimal focus time

Your optimal focus time is that time of the day, where you are the most productive and get more done. 

Truth be told, if you work a 9-5 job, you are pretty much not going to be doing much at a point, and then you are productive at some other point.

Your optimal focus time can be between 11 am and 4 pm. For some, it might be between 10 am and 3 pm. That’s the time when you are the most productive.

Find your optimal focus time, and do your most important tasks between that times.

Have your to-do list, and set it to fit the time when you do more and more. 

9. Use the 1-Minute Rule

This rule goes like this;

“If it takes 1 minute to do it, just do it.”

Don’t think about it. If that specific task takes some time to accomplish, and you feel you can’t get it done, use the 1-minute rule.

For one minute, focus your brain and mind on that task and get started, just do it for one minute.

That one minute will turn to 2 minutes, 10 minutes, and 30 minutes until you eventually finish the task.

Follow this rule when you feel demotivated to complete a small task.

10. Make use of the right productivity tools

Tools help make your job a lot easier. 

Get the right tools that help you increase productivity. Some of the best well-known tools that can help in this process are:

  • Evernote (a place where you can write down your ideas and store them)
  • Pomodoro (a free app that helps to maximize focus)
  • Grammarly (a software that helps you edit your work)
  • Hemingway Editor (This helps your articles become readable good for the reader)
  • Prompted Journal (a journaling app that helps you unwind, and release any negative feeling inside of you)

And so much more.

There are many apps and software that help you increase your productivity and output, and reduce any stress you may feel.

CONCLUSION

There are so many simple productivity hacks that could be included here, but I made sure to give you ten of the best and most practical ones.

These hacks won’t work unless you do, and you must take them one at a time. Use one hack to improve yourself and your work every day.

We hope you found value in this article, and if you did, be sure to share it with others who you know will benefit so much from this article.

Leave a comment on which hack you use and how any of them has helped you increase your productivity and do more in less time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emmanuella Ndukwe-Obiukwu is a former Tennis player turned content marketer with a mission to educate and provide value to the world through her storytelling tactics in areas of Fitness, Personal Growth, and Lifestyle. You can find her on her website and more of her work on Medium.