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If you know me a bit, you must know by now that I am "kind of" a productivity nerd. I think that productivity is one of the best things ever invented. Do more in less time, with less sacrifice? I'm in! On my last blog post, I spoke about the base of productivity. If you haven't read it, I advise you to click here https://www.thepersonaldeveloper.com/post/5-things-no-one-told-you-about-productivity to read the 5 Things no one told you about productivity. Today, we continue the conversation on how to be productive, with advice on tools to help you hack productivity.
If I had to recommend only one tool, I'd have to say: Bujo! I love bullet journals, plus I use mine religiously. I enjoy the process and appreciate the fact that I can adapt it to my life. Even though the bullet journal may seem something very complicated at first, or give the impression that you need to have major designing skills, that's not what the bujo is all about. Bullet journaling is one of the simplest organization methods I have ever encountered. In a bujo, you will usually find (or draw) a yearly calendar, then another calendar for each month and a weekly diary where you get to write down what you want to do during the week or day. Before each task, you draw a symbol, usually a dot (a bullet point) and then mark it as complete, cancelled or rescheduled. You can go back to your tasks at the end of the week or month to see what is pending and transfer it to the new task list. Simple, isn't it? You can also use your bujo to track progress and habits. I absolutely love its versatility!
Even though you can go crazy with your bujo, the important thing is that you stick to it and look at it every day. Define what you are doing this month, then every week and every day. Take notes of your to do's for the week and place them on specific days. If you wish, you can also write down the time of the day you intend to perform the task. When starting a bullet journal (or a diary), try not to get caught up on the need to make it look good. If productivity is what you are looking for, go for functional. If you are a creative person and it makes you happy, go ahead! If it stresses you out, let it be. For more information on the bullet journal method, check out the official webpage here https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn and have fun!
If bullet journaling is too much for you - which I totally get - you can simply keep a notebook where you write down your tasks and then mark them as complete when they are. Just make sure you write them down the day before and go through it in the morning. It will save you some time and suffering, trust me. Another option would be a daily diary. Nowadays, there are all sorts of already made journals that could be a good fit for you.
Now, if a pen on paper is not your thing, I have got good news for you! There are tons of apps online that you can use to organize and manage your to-do lists and track everything. I used google calendar on my 9 to 5 job and I have to say that it works great, but I know of some apps that can work better or as well as google's calendar app. Just type 'productivity tools' on a search engine. I bet you will find plenty of options.
Having a productivity tool to assist you in managing, organizing and tracking your tasks and progress is very important, but in reality, it is not about the tool. It is about using it regularly. Do you need a tool? Yeah, absolutely. But it does not matter what tool you use. The best tool is the one you use, period. So pick one and start using it religiously. Don't forget to let me know how it went!
In the meantime, I will be working on a blog post with more tips to help you hack productivity.
I hope this one helped!
Namaste,
Erika.