Finally productivity hacks that work!

At times, the situation around us results in a mood shift that we are unable to combat. Excessive stress, an emotionally difficult time, sudden events that disrupt your cycle, etc. can be triggers for a slump that might result in withdrawal from activities you otherwise enjoyed. The pandemic has been one such thing and has had a profound impact on the mental well-being of people around the globe. It is not surprising that a number of people find their daily routines disrupted because of COVID-19. Often in such situations, people resort to activities that do not require active indulgence - TV, sleeping beyond your regular hours, irregular meals, staying in bed, etc. Once the cycle of such passive activities is established, it is difficult to break it. Although you are smart enough to know that the cycle needs to be broken, that productivity hacks that you know off need to be acted upon you still just can't seem to shake it off! 

Here’s why

When the human mind is trained to follow an established routine and has been doing it for a significant amount of time, it is difficult to consciously break that cycle - especially if one tries to do that immediately, without phasing out the old routine. This cycle-breaking has proven to be more difficult for negatively impacting routines than positively impacting ones.

This is why once you have fallen into a passive schedule, it is a hefty task to start indulging in activities that you enjoy or that result in a productive outcome. During this pandemic, interaction with the outer world has reduced to a bare minimum. This also means that social activities that require physical interaction are out of the question until the situation improves. That could be another reason why the ‘mood’ to get up and work towards a goal just doesn’t seem to come naturally.

What is the solution?

First, understand and accept the fact that you have fallen into a slump. Most people dismiss this by saying that they can work whenever they want to, they just choose not to. There are a number of effective ways to come out of low moods, and unproductive behavior - but ultimately they are useless if you are unwilling to implement them. So if you are here, and ready to change it, here are some productivity hacks.

Make a schedule that follows you

This is one of the most long-standing pieces of advice that you hear when it comes to bringing about a lifestyle change. But ‘schedule yourself’ does not mean that you draw up a routine to follow. It means that you follow and note down the things you have already been doing. Add a mood column. With each activity, write down how you felt.

It is completely up to you, whether you want to rank your moods by higher or lower; or with specific emotions; or on the 10-point scale. The goal is to realize the activities that make you feel better and identify the ones that leave you with an unproductive feeling. 

It is like writing a journal, only in a systematic manner - with all the activities you have done all day. When you look back at your day, you will be looking at exactly how you spent the last 24 hours. It will help you realize the nature of the activities you spend your day doing. You can follow this for about 1-2 weeks.

Now make a new schedule that you will follow

Now that you have identified the activities that leave you feeling unsatisfied, you can make a new schedule - this time, a schedule that you will follow. This again has been one of the productivity hacks that has come down generations. Weed out the activities that bring about a mood that is undesirable to you. Activities, like sleeping in the middle of the day, even though you had adequate sleep at night, that leave you tired and unwilling to do anything but engage in more unproductive behavior.

In following these two steps, you are identifying what is important to you. You can also add a new column to your schedule:

Now, don’t mistake scheduling yourself with overworking. You don’t have to fill every slot of your day with something. Just some things that you genuinely enjoy - hobbies such as painting, writing, exercise, etc. These activities don’t have to be set in stone. They could vary every day, depending on what you feel. The goal - or final product as the hustle culture likes to call it - of a particular activity could also be resting your mind (like meditation)!

Find a balance where all the tasks are contributing to something - your happiness, a work goal, a routine. For example, you wouldn’t skip food because that is a routine necessity, the same way, sometimes a work thing could cut into your pleasure time, and that is okay as long as it doesn’t become an everyday thing.

Avoid inactivity

Things in your schedule that always have a different activity in a ‘What would I rather be doing?’ column, can be safely cut out. This does not involve that work meeting you did not want to attend. It refers to unnecessary scrolling, social media, or looking through your phone with no meaningful goal. And once you chart out your day, you will realize the significant amount of time you spend in doing this!

Instead of spending an hour on social media, you can talk to a friend, or watch a documentary or a movie that you have been meaning to watch. Screen time in today’s world has increased tenfold, and if it is productive even 20% of the time, you have made a difference.

Why the stress on cutting out these activities?

When you fall into an unproductive cycle, you tend to follow each activity with something that requires just as much, or even less effort than the previous one. Humans have a tendency to follow and adapt to negative patterns faster than positive ones. Even though it might sound like you will be pushing yourself too much, the beginning of breaking the cycle can happen only once you start to tell yourself ‘doing this will make me feel better’. Productivity hacks often don’t revolve around what you must do, but what you should avoid doing.

Actions and emotions don’t always match

You might feel too drained to do tasks at times. Especially at the beginning, because the adaption to a low-effort routine can be difficult to shake off. But you should encourage yourself to stick to the plan you have made.

If it helps, give yourself incentives, allow yourself a favorite movie before bed if you were successful in sticking to your schedule that day, or treat yourself to a special meal. If it seems like you just can’t do it, then do a part of that activity - do not leave it completely undone. For example, if a 10-page report is to be written and you just don’t feel like it, start it anyway and write two to three pages and take a break. Sometimes, you will want to just pick it up later but it is possible that beginning a task leads you to complete it at the scheduled time too! Either way, doing an activity with a desirable end result will lift your mood.

Don’t drop the mood column

Even when you finally start following a pre-made schedule, keep recording how you feel doing each activity. Some things will leave you with a sense of achievement, some will leave you satisfied but also feeling ‘thank god that’s over’. You will benefit from this. It will help you plan what you want to do in the coming weeks or months.

Sometimes when an activity keeps getting postponed you can draw up a timeline to complete it piece by piece, working on it a little bit every day instead of doing it in one go. With solutions like these, you can make difficult activities manageable too.

Finally, be patient

An instant change in your mood might not occur. If you begin today, you won’t feel on the ninth cloud tomorrow. Experiment with yourself, and do not give up. You might relapse into behavior patterns that leave you feeling the same negative emotions, but you must motivate yourself to start again.

The idea is to ease yourself into doing things that bring you joy, satisfaction, and help you achieve your goals!

Looking for some more inspiration for a lifestyle change? Here are some things that might help you!

• The pandemic has sent out an important message to all. Have we received it?
• Don't just manage your time own it with Pomodoro Technique
• The 10/10/10 rule for becoming better at decision making
• Learn how to de-stress from Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Mark Cuban