8 Small Changes I Made to Increase my Productivity

2019 has been a busy year for me. Not only am I still working in Finance full time, but my social career has taken off in ways I couldn’t imagine. From working to big brand such as NARS and Abercrombie to going on influencer getaways, I prayed for the success and am walking in my prayers.With all the success, I realized that in order to continue my career and pursue my social pursuits, I needed to get more productive. I found myself forgetting to complete things or having to cancel date night with bae to get things done before deadlines. I knew if I didn’t make some changes soon, one of these passions were going to suffer and I wasn’t (nor still am) in a position to choose one career over the other.  After scouring all the blog posts and reading several books on being productive and efficient, I began to incorporate these 8 changes into my lifestyle and noticed it has made a tremendous difference. Feel free to take/adjust/throw away items that may not fit into your lifestyle but I can guarantee you need at least half of them.

1. Make a realistic to do list

On Sunday afternoons, I write out everything that needs to get done for the week. From laundry to grocery list prep to actual grocery shopping, nothing is too small to be added to the list. Each morning, I take items from that list and that’s my daily to do list. I am realistic in that if a day in the office is going to be longer than usual, that to do list is smaller than other days. I try to get everything done from that list but if not, those items are the first things I do the next day.Sample of my lists*I make my to do lists in the 'Unfold' app

2. Value Your Time

I was that person that yes to everything and everyone. I would double book myself and run around in circles trying to get to every event and every birthday and every happy hour. No more of that. If the invite didn’t come a week before the event, count me out. If I’m going to feel uncomfortable or forced into conversations, count me out. This is how I see it: I’ve lived 30 years saying yes and being in uncomfortable situations, I will live the next 30 years being comfortable and saying No when the situation calls for it without having to give an explanation. No is a sentence all its own

3. Use Commercials to Your Advantage

I know what you’re thinking … how are you productive watching TV? I’m not that blogger that doesn’t have TV or doesn’t watch TV in the bed. I can give you 15 shows I’m watching right now and not feel an ounce of guilt. However, one thing I do make sure is that during commercials, I’m the most productive person on the planet – water the plants, unload the dishwasher, apply a face mask, change out the plug ins. Commercials are anywhere between 3-5 mins long. Find something productive to do during that time and see how fast it gets done to avoid missing out on Chicago PD or the other 14 shows in your lineup.

4. Get some ‘Me Time’ As Soon As You Wake Up

I’m busy, your busy, we’re all busy but it’s important to get some me time as soon as you wake up. It doesn’t have to be a full on 30 mins yoga routine but a quick 5 minutes to yourself makes a difference. I spend the first 5-7 mins of my day jotting down thoughts and things I’m grateful for. It’s like waking up on the right side of the bed.

5. Break Up Larger Tasks

My rule is if it requires more than 3 steps, it gets brown down into smaller steps. I use the weekends to shoot looks for my Instagram page and record videos for my Youtube channel. I can’t simply put ‘Shoot looks’ on my Saturday to do list. Why you ask? Because I need to pull outfits, try on those outfits, scout shooting location, ask owner (if applicable) if it’s okay if I shoot in that location, confirm details with bae (photographer), schedule a time that works for us, load clothes in car…all these things have to happen before I ‘Shoot looks’. It’s these situations where these smaller tasks are broken down throughout the week so when the weekend arrives, I’m ready to ‘Shoot looks’

6. Turn off notifications

Part of my income is based on social media. It’s important that I’m responding to comments and DM’s and emails. However, I had to setup a ‘dead zone’ where I wouldn’t be succumbed to the temptation that is social media. When I’m editing a YouTube video, I put my phone on do not disturb. I also put it on DND about 1-2 hours before bed so I’m not tempted by a notification. It took some trial and error but it’s help with me being able to put my phone down and keep it down when needed.

7. Stay Hydrated

No long explanation here. De-hydrated = sluggish, lazy, unfocused. Drink water, be happy

8. Hire Help

It took me a while to add this one to my list. Working basically 2 full time jobs and coming home to be a wife, housekeeper and chef had me wearing more hats than I could handle. I’ve always been a clean person (okay somewhat OCD but I’m not the only person that can’t sleep if there’s dishes in the sink. Right?) but I couldn’t find enough hours in the day to do the deep cleaning tasks – clean oven/stove, sweep and mop hardwood floors, dust baseboards. Who has time to dust baseboards!! I broke down and decided to give care.com a try and hire a cleaning service --- BEST INVESTMENT EVER! She comes every month and does the cleaning I don’t have time to do or just don’t feel like it. I thought I would feel guilty but it’s freed up so much more of my time that I could spend doing other things. Not all days are productive. There are some days when I get in a rabbit hole of Netflix and before you know it, its 1 am and I have to be up in 6 hours for work (Raising Dion on Netflix, You’re Welcome) but I never let those days get me down. I remind myself that I’m human and it’s okay to just have a lazy day every once in a while. How are you staying productive? How do you get yourself out of a funk/lazy day?