Marc's Blog

Content Writing and Marketing Services

how to be more productive

10 Productivity Hacks That You Did Not Expect

by 4 Comments

In order to get more goals accomplished, we need to be productive for as much time as we can. There are many things that prevent us from being productive such as television, surfing the web, and other forms of procrastination. However, there are several productivity hacks that can boost your productivity. While some of these productivity hacks are obvious such as setting goals and fulfilling deadlines, there are other productivity hacks that are not as obvious. These are the 10 productivity hacks that are not as obvious.

  1. Exercise. Exercising has been proven as a great way to boost productivity. Exercising requires determination, and after you are done lifting the weights or running around your neighborhood, you will be able to take that same determination to your work. In addition, exercising allows you to clear the mind and do something that does not require you to sit behind a desk.
  2. Have a chain of accomplishments and keep that chain going. If you want to boost your productivity, get a calendar and put a red “X” on each day that you accomplish your goal. Having this visible chain will make you want to keep that streak going for as long as possible. Once you have a good streak, you will never want that streak to end. In order to keep the streak going, you will have to boost your productivity.
  3. Meditate. Meditating clears the mind and empowers the soul. Once you are finished meditating, you will feel empowered as you continue your work. Instead of stopping and encountering writer’s block, meditation gives you the imagination you need to finish writing blog posts and books.
  4. Uninterrupted work. Social media has a big impact on our productivity. A big mistake people make is to check their social networks while working “for a few minutes.” Those few minutes turn into 30 minutes that you lost. If you are working on a goal, the work you do needs to be uninterrupted. Make sure your phone is out of sight and that you will not do anything else to procrastinate.
  5. Start work earlier and work fewer hours. You do not need to work for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days every year to get your goals accomplished. The secret is waking up earlier. We are at our peak of productivity when we wake up in the morning. As a result, you will be able to get more done in the morning. Then, you will not have to work as long throughout the day.
  6. Get a second monitor for your computer. A common reason why many people are not productive is because they have too many things up on their computer. If you are one of these people, then you need a second monitor. One monitor can contain all of the clutter while the other monitor only contains your work. If you want to be even more productive, get two monitors.
  7. Don’t think about how much time your goal will take. Many people overthink the situation. I was a big overthinker with my Twitter following. When I was gaining 100 followers every day, I calculated too often how long it would take for me to reach 100,000 followers. Now, I no longer do any of those calculations. In the end, performing a calculation does not get me any closer to my goal. Instead of thinking about how much time your goal will take, start thinking of some ways to make your goal happen faster.
  8. Achieve three goals per day. Three is the magic number. If you are just starting to be more productive, giving yourself 10 goals to accomplish in 1 day will overwhelm you. However, only giving yourself 1 goal will make that day too easy. Three is the magic number that will make your day not too overwhelming but not too easy either.
  9. Declutter your working space. If you are the type of person with a lot of papers on their desk, sticky notes all over the place, plants, and other things on your desk, then you need to clean that desk. Clutter encourages distraction. If you lift your head from your computer screen and stare at the clutter, you will be wasting valuable time. What you need to do is declutter your working space so you are able to be more productive. Another benefit is that by having nothing on your desk, you will pay more attention to the sticky notes that you place on your desk.
  10. Learn to say no. Not everything is worth doing. If you say yes to everything, then some of your time will be wasted on doing things that are not important. Do not be afraid to say no. Saying no will save you a lot of time in the long run.

Those are the 10 productivity hacks. By implementing these tactics, you will be able to increase your productivity. What are your thoughts on the list? Do you use any other productivity hacks? Please share your thoughts and productivity hacks below.

 

Do The Work Right From The Start To Accomplish Goals Within Their Deadlines

by Leave a Comment

Last Minute Stress

When we give ourselves a deadline, many people make the mistake of doing the work as the deadline approaches. Some authors give themselves a month to write a book they were supposed to write within a year. As the deadline approaches, we put in more work than we have ever put in before.

Instead of living the crunch time lifestyle as the deadline approaches, why not do the work in the beginning. I was recently listening to one of Seth Godin’s lectures, and he explained what happens when people work in the beginning and when people start working as the deadline gets dangerously close.

The people who work in the beginning are able to get their goals accomplished before the deadline. Working in the beginning and finishing before the deadline will give you the overdelivering effect which is always good to have.

The people who start working towards the deadline create an overwhelming schedule that is virtually impossible to implement unless sacrifices are made for that period of time. Some bloggers who try to write a book sacrifice updating their blog to add content to their books as the deadline approaches.

Working in the beginning will save you a lot of time and stress. Starting to work towards the end will result in deadlines that are not reached. The reason most people do not get their New Year’s resolutions accomplished is because they start working to accomplish their resolutions with 6 weeks to go before the New Year.

There are two choices that you have. You can either start early or rush in a desperate attempt to get some goals accomplished as the deadlines approach. Your best bet is to start early so you aren’t cramming everything in later.

 

How Urgency At TJ Maxx Increased My Productivity

by 1 Comment

 

It was getting obvious that my wardrobe needed to be revamped. I was wearing two of the same shirts every week, and I was getting tired of it. The solution was to buy clothing at TJ Maxx because of the low prices and good quality. The only problem is that we arrived at TJ Maxx at 8:30 pm, and the store closes at 9:30 pm.

It took me 30 minutes to find everything I wanted which means I had 30 minutes to try on 24 articles of clothing. I was going at a relatively slow pace until I heard that there were only 15 minutes left until closing time. That was when I kicked it in. I went through three articles of clothing a minute, and it was a close one. In the end, I was able to go on line with five minutes to spare.

The urgency of thinking I would leave with no clothing after spending an hour of the store resulted in me speeding up. Because of this urgency and increased speed, I know have a giant wardrobe and definitely won’t be wearing the same shirt every week.

When we get pushed, we become more productive. Getting pushed forces us out of the shell of stagnancy.

 

Why Everyone Needs To Dream Big

by 14 Comments

As the saying goes, “Go big or go home.” There is no longer a life of the in between. You can either be a leader of your niche or not the leader of your niche. That’s the only way there is. The in between option was taken out years ago because the need to become #1 dramatically increased with the introduction and rise of social networks and blogs.

The only way to become the best of your niche is to dream big. As you keep on dreaming big, you will give yourself a giant goal to chase after. Some goals may take weeks to complete while others may take more than a year. However, by dreaming big, you are increasing your standards. Dreaming big results in more productivity.

Dreaming small results in lower standards. An example of dreaming small would be wanting to have 1,000 followers in 2 years. You would only have to gain 1-2 followers a day in order to make that dream become a reality. However, dreaming bigger, let’s say getting 100,000 followers in that same period of time, will result in you being more productive and getting more done. Whether you reach the 100,000 milestone or not within the 2 year period, you are going to be well above the 1,000 follower milestone.

Dreaming big gives us a boost in confidence. Dreaming also allows us to plan our futures. After we dream big, all we need to do is act accordingly. By dreaming big, you will know what you want to accomplish. All you would have to do after that is accomplish the dream.

 

How Sticky Notes Have Become A Big Part Of My Success

by 9 Comments

sticky notes

The scenario I am about to describe happens to everyone. The scenario happens to some people more than others, but it happens to everyone. The scenario is the “I forgot” scenerio where something was important, needed to get done by the end of the day, and did not get completed.

Some people encounter the scenario too many times. I used to encounter the scenario frequently as well. The goal of writing 4 blog posts in 1 day turned into a day where no blog posts were written simply because I forgot about the goal. Other goals took its place and I used my time doing different things.

That problem stopped happening once I decided to use more sticky notes. I have all of my sticky notes next to my computer. While I am typing, I quickly look over the sticky notes to remind me of everything that I need to do for the day. Sometimes I use 3 sticky notes in 1 day. Other times, I use 10 sticky notes in 1 day. The amount of sticky notes I use primarily depend on how many things I need to do before the end of the day.

Although I did not start doing this in the New Year, I am going to start saving all of the sticky notes. At the end of 2014, I am going to look at all of the sticky notes that I wrote for the first half of January, and all of the 11 months of the year. Then, I’ll lay them all out on a table to see all of the goals I gave myself to accomplish in the year. We will all be able to figure out if all of the sticky notes will take up the entire table or if I need a second table to put my sticky notes on.

Sticky notes allow me to remember what needs to be done so I have less “I forgot” scenarios. After I write something on a sticky note, the only thing left to do is implement. Sticky notes have become a big part of my success, and when you use sticky notes, they will become a part of your success as well.

How To Implement Strategic Blocks Of Time Into Your Day

by Leave a Comment

When you think of taking a break, what do you think of? Do you think of family time, watching television, relaxing, or something similar? Those breaks are necessary in order to wind down from doing a lot of work. However, it is possible to utilize some of those breaks in a strategic manner.

I wanted to find a way to learn more about my niche while taking a break at the same time. Watching television didn’t do me any good towards that goal, but I came up with the solution when I was on Amazon. I saw business books on sale, and I decided to get the ones that I believed I would learn the most from.

That is why I have been able to do reviews on The Pumpkin Plan, Purple Cow, and The 12 Week Year. Reading books written by the experts of my niche is how I take some of my breaks, and what I learn during those breaks is incredible.

How are you taking your breaks? I challenge you to take a strategic break (I call them strategic blocks) once a day in order to learn more about your niche so you can be more successful. You will be amazed with what you learn.