Stay Productive — Without Losing Your Mind
For many of us, there’s an innate tension between productivity and mental health. We want to get things done, but we also want to maintain some balance and some sanity. We want to stay productive without feeling constantly stressed over everything on our to-do list.
That tension is real, but it’s not insurmountable. Let me offer a few insights into how you can be an efficient, creative person without feeling like you’re losing your mind.
Stay Productive (Without Being Stressed)
Schedule some time for voicemails and emails. Something I find is that it’s easy to get caught up in emails, missed phone calls, and social media notifications; these little distractions can eat into your day and make you stress about all the work you should be doing! A simple solution: Schedule two blocks of time into each work day — maybe one in the morning, one before you leave the office — to catch up on correspondence. And otherwise, don’t worry about it!
Start your day with uninterrupted creative time. I also think it’s helpful to start your day by getting some good, substantial work done on a big project. Schedule an hour or two where you can work without interruption; close your office door, turn off your phone, silence notifications, and just take a big bite out of your current project.
Use lists. To-do lists are valuable, but let me also stress the value of not-to-do lists — basically, lists of all the far-off tasks you don’t have to get done today. Write them on the list, then give yourself permission not to worry about them!
Think in threes. Finally, let me commend to you the rule of threes to help you stay productive. Basically, this means starting each day with a list of three essentials — the big-ticket items you’d like to accomplish before the day is done. It sounds simple, but giving this kind of structure and focus to your work day can really help you stay on-point, without feeling like you have a million things to do.
Those are just a few of my tips, but if you’d like to learn more about achieving true balance in your life, give me a call! Connect with Dr. Rick at www.rickgoodman.com or call 888–267–6098.
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Originally published at www.rickgoodman.com on February 11, 2019.
