Tag Archives: productivity

Day 3267 – What About The Days When You Spill A Whole Cup Of Coffee…On Everything? – World Productivity Day Followup

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Yesterday, I had a nice post about productivity. How I created new lists and got things done.

But then, a few things happened. First, I stayed up wayyyyyyy too late finishing a book, and then couldn’t sleep because I had two cups of coffee around 3 pm. I still go up on my first alarm (one of the current habits I’m building), but for a number of reasons (read that as a long conversation with Bret) I was way behind where I wanted to be. I was just about to journal about some things that were on my mind and in the process of moving things around my desk, I knocked over an entire cup of coffee….behind my desk, on my computer, all over several of my work folders. Everywhere.

My initial reaction was ‘are you freakin’ kidding me?!’ Then it was get this cleaned up fast. Then it was a little bit of humor ‘at least my desk isn’t as dusty now.’

It would have been easy to just toss my morning routine and follow things I’ve set up for myself. I even started to move on and not do the things I planned to do. But part way through the next thing, I decided, no, I’m going to follow my routine. These little decisions add up. My later commitments are after I finish my morning things. It’s going to be ok self.

So when you spill an entire cup of coffee all over your morning, clean it up, readjust, and keep going.

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Day 2979 – Fight Procrastination Day! – A Few Tips How On How I Fight It!

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As I was thinking about my tips, I realized that a pretty big shift in my thinking happened because of the book, Dream Big, Think Small: Living an Extraordinary Life One Day at a Time* by Jeff Manion. I just finished it this morning, so I can heartily approve it. I’m very picky about what items I share affiliates link to, and I wait until I’ve finished a book before I link to it.

This book had a big impact on me in that it showed me that little steps every day add up to really big things. So when I am tempted to look at an item on my to do list and think “ah, that’s not that big of a deal, and it won’t take long, I can put that off until tomorrow” I remember, well, if I do this little thing now, I won’t have two little things tomorrow.

Another recent change that has helped me fight procrastination is getting up early and working on a big project first thing. Working for several clients and working through my own projects, there is always something to work on. There is always something to do. Sometimes those things are projects that can take a chunk of time. I’ve found if I give them priority, especially early in the morning, I can knock them out so much quicker and easier.

This might fall more under distraction, but I keep my work email notifications turned off between the hours of about 5 p.m. and 8:30/10 a.m. That way I’m not worrying about an email that came in that I won’t be able to do anything about until later. It is also a mental shift. It’s a way to tell my brain, ok, you’re done work for today.

I try to organize my to do list in a way that follows my physical limits. While I’d love to do easy things in the morning like typing notes or doing the dishes, I know my best work time is in the morning between about 6 and 10:30/11 and I make sure to do the most important things then.

What are you doing today to fight procrastination? Let me know in the comments!

I mean, how can you not feel like you’re fighting procrastination when you’re Batman?

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* Amazon affiliate link
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Day 2926 – A Week Of Less Social Media – How Is It Going?

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It has been a little over a week of only checking social media twice a day, so, how’s it going? To be frank, it has been absolutely amazing. I have experienced more productivity in the last week than I have in ages. I know part of that is because of reading Deep Work*, but it is also a mental thing.

Here’s how I practically carry this out:
In the morning, before I log on to Facebook, I make a list of the things I need to do while I’m on there. From posting in my Facebook Group about planning a road trip, to checking On This Day, to posting on different accounts (ha ha, I have a lot). Once I finish that list, I log off. I don’t get back on until the afternoon, where I repeat the process. There have been a few exceptions to this, but they have been work related, and not “hmmmm, I wonder what’s going on…..did anyone post anything new?…..I’m bored….” I think just the act of making the list has started to train my brain – you don’t need this obsessive checking in your life. It’s ok. I will confess that yesterday was a little harder, and I checked a few more times. But that was mostly because I was exhausted and bored. lol, not a good combo for me!

I’ve found myself filling the time with reading. In the last week, I finished Deep Work, Keep Moving* by Dick Van Dyke (this is a FUN audiobook! I’m adding it to my recommends!), Matched (#1 in a YA dystopian novel), Jenny Colgan’s new book, and early this morning, Crossed (#2 in the YA dystopian novel series). I also knocked out a big project for Bret with pivotables and summaries. I truly feel like my mindset towards work has changed.

Have you cut out social or limited how much you get on?

* Affiliate link
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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
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Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
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Day 2901 – Happy World Productivity Day!

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Woo! I love days like today! I’m all about productivity and learning ways to better myself.

Here’s my top productivity tip for today, write out your to do list the night before. This has multiple benefits for me. It allows me to mentally let go of the things I couldn’t accomplish that day, knowing that I can try to complete them tomorrow. When I first hop into my day, I’m still a little fuzzy, and not in a place to say, ok, what should I do next? I need past Jennilyn to tell me what to do.

I’m trying something new with today’s list – I’m chunking my tasks by goals – feeding my soul (devos, journaling, reading), building community (social posts/blogging/etc), organizing my life/other’s lives (most of my to do list, lol).

What do you do to stay productive?

p.s. This is where we were one year ago today. Ahhhhh, I miss the road!

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Did you like what you read? Here’s some ways you can support us and this blog!
Join our Facebook group, Planning an Epic Road Trip on Any Budget
Join the Journey With The G’s email list (bonus – you get my Epic Road Trip Budget spreadsheet)
Buy my book, Planning an Epic Road Trip on any Budget
Buy my book, Trusting God With 2 Cents: 22 Days To Becoming A Successful Christian Business Owner.
Shop on Amazon (no additional cost to you, this gives us a percentage of what you order).
Check out our resources page.
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Day 2435 – My New Secret To Productivity – Habitica!

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You may remember that I’m a sucker for new productivity ideas. I shared in that post that I learned that I have finally accepted that my secret to productivity will change. What will motivate me today will most likely not motivate me in a week or next year.

I am a list person. I am a spreadsheet person. I LOVE that feeling of crossing something off the list. I love seeing progress based on records I’ve kept. I’m a huge nerd in this regard. I geek out over Pivot Tables in Excel (go look it up, trust me). Give me a chart to fill out and I’ll most likely get it done.

Or, at least, I’ll plan and plan and plan to get it done. As I’m reading Die Empty, I’m finding I’m a Mapper (planning my objectives) and a Mesher (education, doing things that challenge me, cultivating curiosity). But I’m a terrible Maker (actually doing the work). Doing all three is the goal. This goal of actually doing the work to meet my goals and use the education I’m getting has been fresh in my mind.

I also realize that I’m a big game nerd. I can spend hours a day playing Farmville (oh baby, my farm is awesome) or a Lego game (100%er right here!) I found myself thinking a few years back – “why am I so jazzed about Farmville?” (Yes, I’ve been playing for YEARS). So I read a book Zynga: From Outcast to $9 Billion Social-Game Powerhouse, hoping I would find an answer to my question. I wanted to harness this urge to craft things and get experience and level up in my life and maybe into a business.

I found a book at the library, Gamify. While on my first read/skim, I thought, well, duh, of course this is a good thing! How can I apply it? I didn’t finish the book because of that. lol, I’m very harsh on my current readings. If I’m not feeling a book, it’s gone. Which is why my Goodreads “read” shelf is filled with 4 and 5 star books. I won’t waste my time on anything less.

Yesterday, I got Gamify out of the library again. I spent time reading and thought, ok, I need to make this an actionable thing. I need a game.

A while back, my sister told me about a to do list/gamified app. I downloaded it and barely looked at it. I deleted it a few days later. I thought, I’m too busy to have ANOTHER place to track things and annoy me with the “hey Jen, here’s the million things you’re NOT doing.” But after the perfect storm above, I downloaded it again.

Friends, I am floored at how well it’s worked in the last 16 hours or so. I’ve added in habits to make (drink more water, brush my teeth before nine – if you work from home, I’m sure you can feel me on this one) and to break (I won’t play video games before 3…this is a new bad habit…I won’t pick my nails…etc). After hitting the negative sign almost 3 times in a row…within 15 minutes…and taking so much life away from my little avatar…I felt a new resolve. When I went to pick, I thought, no, don’t take the health away! It has made doing my to-dos fun. I have already done more this morning than I have in weeks…nay….months. I am excited to tackle my work day because I know I will gain points. I even wrote a chapter in my book.

Who knows how long this will keep me motivated, but I have a suspicion it might be a while. 🙂

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