In today’s face-paced world, it is so easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of your busy schedule. Sometimes, it feels like there is just not enough time in the day to work, run errands, tidy your home, pay your bills, and have any sort of social life. This is where some time-management could really come in handy!
Mismanaging your time can make you feel disorganized, stressed, and super unproductive. But the good news is, there are plenty of ways you can organize your day to be more productive!
Organizing and structuring your day to help you maximize your time and focus can totally help you get back on the right track for achieving each and every one of your goals. And, let’s be honest, a little more time-management, productivity, and efficiency never hurt anyone!
So, let’s go over some key tips that will help you organize your day, limit distractions, and improve your overall productivity at work and at home! And for additional information about time-management, be sure to check out these 30 time-management tips for work-life balance!
How To Organize Your Day To Be More Productive
Go screen-free in the morning
The best morning routine for success starts with going screen-free in the morning! Research shows that checking emails, taking phone calls, and scrolling on social media first thing in the morning can make you feel more stressed and anxious throughout the day, thus reducing your productivity. Instead of screen-time, start your day by making your bed, making a list for the day, enjoying time with your family, eating a hearty breakfast, or any other task that better prepares you for the day ahead.
Creating time blocks
An absolutely fantastic way of planning your day and staying on track is to create time blocks. ‘Time blocking’ is a process in which you divide your day up into ‘blocks’ of allotted time to complete tasks. This way, you divide up your day to handle various tasks, rather than focusing on everything all at once. We recommend utilizing Google Calendar for time blocking because each day is already divided into 30 minute blocks for you to fill in. Just as an example, your time block may look a little something like:
- 7:00 am – 8:00 am: Wake up, drink water, make bed, brush teeth
- 8:00 am – 9:00 am: Eat breakfast and journal
- 10:00 am – 12:00 pm: Complete work task #1
- 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
- 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Complete work task #2
- And so on!
Set small, realistic goals
Instead of tackling whole issues or goals all at once, break down each goal into several smaller and more easily achievable goals. This will help you better organize your to-do list and make all those larger goals seem way less daunting, stressful, and overwhelming.
Keep a running to-do list
Keeping a running to-do list is not only beneficial when it comes to keeping track of your goals, but also for keeping track of your accomplishments. Completing items off your to-do list and physically crossing them off can be a huge motivating factor. Trust us, physically crossing goals off your list will only motivate you to accomplish even more! Be sure to keep your running to-do list somewhere you will see it often so that it can remind you of your upcoming to-do’s as well as all of your recent accomplishments.
Keep a tidy workspace
In a study conducted in 2017 on the impact of cleanliness on the productivity of employees, research proved that a clean and tidy workspace not only increases productivity and efficiency of employees, but also improves overall employee happiness, satisfaction, and self-motivation. To learn about how to design your workspace for max efficiency and organization, check out The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast: Top Celebrity & Professional Home Organizer Ria Safford on Setting A Zen Space, Organization, Minimizing Clutter, & How To Make Something Out of Nothing.
Find the routine that works best for you
When it comes to your daily schedule, it’s important to find the daily routine that works best for you! Recognizing the times of the day when you are more or less productive or when you have more or less energy will help you formulate the daily schedule that is the most efficient and productive for you. For tips on how to create the routine and develop the good habits that are the most beneficial to your life, take some time to listen to ILYSM: Routines, Habits & How to Become Who You Want to Be and Life with Marianna: My Daily Habits + Wellness Routine.
Take small breaks often
When you’ve got a lot on your plate, a great way to stay productive without losing focus is to take breaks often. Taking several, small, 5 to 15 minute breaks throughout your day will allow you to gain clarity, avoid confusion, and clear your mind, all of which will help you achieve your final goals. This is one of many great stress management techniques you can use at work and at home.
Identify distractions
In order to organize your day with the utmost productivity in mind, you should try to identify and remove distractions before they take place. Luckily, there are many ways to do this! Let’s take a look at some quick tips for avoiding distractions:
- Plan ahead for meetings/virtual conferences
- Mute your phone during important tasks
- Place a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on your office door
- Have water & snacks on hand
- Block out noise with headphones or earplugs
- Fight the urge to multitask
Reduce multitasking
Don’t get us wrong, multitasking is an awesome skill! But, when multitasking turns into toxic productivity, you may actually find yourself being less efficient instead of more. Instead of focusing on many tasks at once, focus on accomplishing one item at a time. This will reduce errors and forgetfulness, make you feel much more confident about your work, and greatly improve efficiency of completing your goals.
Automate tasks where you can
To give yourself more time to focus on what really matters throughout the day, try to automate and delegate tasks where you can. As the old cliche states, teamwork makes the dreamwork. If your workload is causing you extra stress and reducing your productivity, try bringing someone else into the picture for assistance. For tips on delegation, be sure to check out With Whit: Siffat Haider on Delegating Work and Her 6am Routine.
Tackling tasks in order of importance
When you have a lot to accomplish, a great way to stay organized is to make a list of your goals and organize them by importance from top to bottom. This way, you know which tasks have priority over others and you can accomplish tasks in order of true importance. This will relieve a plethora of stress and anxiety as well as allow your mind to focus on actually accomplishing goals, rather than trying to remember everything in your head. To learn how to recognize the symptoms of stress and reduce them, be sure to check out The Blonde Files: Wellness Check! Health Updates, Life Hacks, Combatting Stress & More with Brian.
Go easy on yourself
And finally, always go easy on yourself! Each day is a new opportunity to achieve your goals and not every single day must be a fabulously ultra-productive day. Some days, you will need to relax and focus on self-care, and it’s important to allow yourself this time to rest. Otherwise, you may begin to feel burnt-out, stressed, and unhappy. For more information on burn-out and how to avoid it, take a quick listen to WorkParty: From Burnout to Boom: How to Make the Leap From Corporate to Creative with Sonja Rasula.
How will you switch up your routine to be more focused, efficient, and productive?
The most important thing to remember about organizing your day to be more productive is that everyone’s definition of ‘a productive day’ is different. Someone’s definition of a productive day may look way more or less productive than your definition. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you were as productive as you needed to be. Comparing your productivity to someone else’s will only serve as means of distraction, rather than motivation.
So, with all that being said, we wish you the best of luck as you organize your days for increased efficiency and focus. We hope that these tips will help guide you through the creation of your new, exciting, and productive daily routine. Plus, that you begin to see improvements in your overall life as soon as possible! For any questions or comments about daily routines and productivity, be sure to leave us a comment below! And for more blogs like this one, head on over to the Dear Media Blog!
