Improve your productivity with 4 resolutions to try out this year
As we enter Spring, and the frenzy of quick fix resolutions has died down, it’s a good time to think about changes that feel good and work long term. Indeed, March and April are the perfect months to try new resolutions, build better habits and improve your productivity. As it gets warmer and lighter, we naturally have more motivation to try new things. Some of these productivity resolutions may seem counterintuitive, but we invite you to try them for 6 weeks and assess! You can keep a note of how they impact both your productivity and how you’re feeling to see whether they work for you.
1. Take More Breaks
Often when we’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed we respond by ploughing ahead, shovelling food into our mouths whilst glued to our screens and barely looking up. This is actually completely counterproductive. We can only concentrate deeply for 1h30 – 2 hours at a time, and our bodies aren’t built for sitting for prolonged periods of time, as this TED video eloquently explains. Try to schedule a 5 minute break every 2 hours to move around or do some breathwork. It’s important to regularly give your eyes a break and hydrate. It’s also a great idea to allow at least 20 minutes in the middle of the day to eat calmly. Your energy levels and focus will improve, you’ll become much more productive overall and your stress levels will drop.
2. Prioritise rest.
Similar to the above, rest is the cornerstone of a well-functioning brain! If you want to boost your focus and efficiency, proper rest is the best thing you can do for yourself. This might mean forsaking late night scrolling or TV. You may even need to let go of a couple of morning workouts. If you’re struggling to sleep (for example if you have a small child), there are a few ways to optimise your rest that take much less time. If you struggle to get to sleep because you feel wired, taking breaks throughout the day will help.
3. Switch your phone off for deep work
When you know you have a chunk of work to do that requires proper concentration (as opposed to admin), you ideally want to get into a state of deep work. We can stay in this state for up to 2 hours, but any distraction will bring us out of it. Our phones are the number one source of distraction in our lives. We highly recommend switching off your phone or putting it in another room if you want to effectively engage in deep work.
4. Drink warm fluids to wake up
Our body temperature is intrinsically linked to our body clock and therefore our energy levels. Whilst a lot of people swear by cold showers to wake up, there are gentler ways to use temperature to our advantage. Next time you feel your energy drop, get up and make yourself a warm drink (ideally non-caffeinated). Moving around will boost your energy, but a warm drink will give you a longer term lift as it raises your core temperature.
Our mission is to cultivate healthy productivity. We believe in changes that help you get the most out of your time whilst still feeling good in yourself. Try some of the above and let us know how you get on!
