Productivity- 5 tools to conquer distractions at work!

Productivity can be measured as the rate of output per unit of input. Put simply how would you measure the result against the energy used to deliver it? In the age of distraction, it has become increasingly difficult to stay productive at work. There is a booming industry that seeks to help individuals stay focused- late nights and burnouts are becoming synonymous with work life- and there is no denying the fact that we need help.

How can we measure productivity?

• Projects undertaken are finished on time
• Do not exceed work time to finish tasks (or kept to a minimum)
• Number of hours spent on unproductive sites/activities are kept to minimum

#01: Trello for task management as individuals or teams

Trello has been my go-to tool for task management for years. The dashboard can be customised based on the way you go about project management. Do you work in Agile? Trello can manage it! Are you freelancer who works on multiple projects with clients and want to break down tasks for each project separately and still need to know what deadlines are looming per project? Trello to the rescue!

pic credit: trello

Trello has beautifully shared on how to get started here. You can make it as simple or complicated as you need it to be.

How I use it to manage my projects-

• Set up: Start a project & break it down it big components
• Chunk each component into the smallest unit of work
  • Use checklist
  • Set deadlines so it shows up on your cal
  • Tag team mates who are involved in delivery
• Once I have the entire project set up, I update it daily. I like to check on it once in morning & once in evening.

#02: Bullet Journalling for gratification

Search #BulletJournal on instagram and you will be bombarded with pages and pages worth of images of carefully curated calendars that are hand drawn & stylised to perfection. While beautiful, they defeat the purpose of being productive. If we go back to the source, this form of journalling was created for rapid logging & to see how you carried over projects from one day to the next.

I have a weekly log that I create from my tasks on Trello.

Each day I review my tasks based on the icons, and if I need to carry over a project, I change the icon for the next day. Watch video to get started here

By the end of the week, it gives me a good indication which project I have been procrastinating on & how many times I have shifted it. (Refer to “to do”icon vs “migrated”icon on gif)

#03: Reality check on how much time you spend on your mobile

Sometimes I catch myself on instagram or facebook! I tell myself it’s a few seconds of relaxation. But really, it is an addiction. When you start to use apps to measure how much time you spend on your mobile, it can be an eyeopener. The data doesn’t lie!

It can help you decide which times of the day are you online the most, which apps you use the most…and this can help you design ways to break away from mobile using habits and spend more time actually working.

Apps for iOS: Moment
Apps for Android: Antisocial 

#04: Pomodoro to get things done

The days are long but years are short

Before you know it, the year is spent and you will be left wondering why you haven’t achieved your KPIs even if it seemed like you were at work all the time. A good way of ensuring that you finish the tasks you have set out to do for the day is to use Pomodoro. The concept is simple.

Select a task. Start your time for 25mins. Focus on that task alone. Complete 25mins, take a 5 mins break. Repeat.

The beauty of this is that it trains your focus. Focus is like any other muscle in your body. The more you use it, the better it gets.

If you are easily distracted, it can be difficult to immediately start focusing for 50mins stretches. With pomodoro, you easily work your way up to the number of chunks of focused time in a day. Should you stick to this way of working, you might even find yourself in the coveted deep-flow state of working!

#05: Mindful practices so you are more aware of how you feel & act through the day

It’s also the best app of 2017!

The tools are only as good as the hands wielding them. You have access to all the solutions mentioned earlier, but if your mind isn’t ready to settle down and focus on the task at hand, your productivity level would still not reach its potential.

Mindfulness is NOT yoga. It is NOT just breathing exercises.

Mindfulness is about being aware of your thoughts and your body. It is about being connected to yourself so you understand why you are doing what you are doing.

I have been using Calm for over 2 months now to help take my mindfulness training to the next level. I like to start my day by listening to the “Focus at work” breathing exercises. I find that by being more aware of the noise in my head, I can guide my attention back to the task at hand.

It is inevitable to be distracted while at work. But we can equip ourselves with the tools and mindsets to train our focus so that we are able to accomplish more in the finite time we have.

After all, we have a life outside of work that we want to enjoy too!

I quit social media for 7 days (and the 2 times I cheated)

I am addicted to social media like Facebook and Instagram. If I am not working or reading a book, then I am probably on social media. I scroll through my feed as I travel to and fro from work, while I am in the loo, when I am bored or feel stressed and need a distraction. Basically, I am on it almost all the time.

Capturing moments on instastory had become second habit. I saw it as a way to share with the world instants that made me happy, sad, angry, and maybe to connect with whomever happened to be at the other end watching it.

But I hadn’t considered the negative impact it could have in my life.

TIME BLACK HOLE 

I downloaded an app (RelizD) to track how much time I spent on my mobile. Turns out I unlocked my phone more than 350 times a day, and on average I used my phone for at least 4 hours a day.

I was angry with myself. How much more could I have done in my life if I had channelled that time into an action?

PANGS OF JEALOUSY 

Instagram was a source of a lot of jealous moments in my life. She’s thinner. She’s pulling off the cute style that I could never in my life cos she has a flatter chest. I wish I was travelling and diving into the ocean instead of being on a train. 

Moments filled with thoughts of being an other. Not celebrating what I already had in my life and instead letting myself get ensnared by the want for things that I didn’t have but didn’t really need either!

STRAINED FRIENDSHIPS

Friendships are fragile. Like a plant, they need to be showered with love, care, and patience. When you start to take the health of it for granted, it can die. 3 friends (including my own sister) mentioned to me that they felt that I had time for others in my life, but I didn’t seem to be spending much time with them or that I had prioritised others over them.

I was sad about this. One of my values that I try to adhere closely to is,”people first, everything else second.”

Although that hadn’t been my intention, my sharing certain moments on instagram had led them to feel that way.

THE PURGE

17 Jan 2018, 1130pm.

It took me less than 3 seconds to delete Facebook & Instagram. Almost immediately I felt a kind of loss.

What if someone posted something important? What if I missed out on news that will change my life? What if? What if?

Day 1

This was probably the day I missed Instagram the most. I didn’t realise how much I relied on Instagram to entertain me! I was always unlocking my phone, only to be disappointed I didn’t have the app anymore.

Day 2- Day 7

I started to read medium again! I would only spend 20 mins on it while I was in transit. I started to miss Instagram & Facebook less.

Instead of being on Social Media, What I did Instead!

I took walks

After work instead of taking the MRT from the basement of the building, I would walk for 20 mins to a MRT stop. During this period of time, I would be unplugged. No earphones in my ear.

I would be more mindful as I walked. Observe the people around me. Look at the clouds up above. Listen to the sounds of the passing cars. There is a lot that we miss when we are always plugged in.

I learned more

In the past week I have learned about a father-daughter duo who spent 4 years solving a murder mystery, a woman whose job is to make juries sympathetic towards those who are being considered for death penalty, colour theory, better morning rituals, nuances of sexual assault, powerful women through the ages who have been largely erased from history, and many many more stories about things I had no idea existed!

I took less photos

I didn’t whip out my phone to snap the shot of the meal and then spend some time thinking of what filters to slap on it and then do the whole tagging thing. Now when I had food in front of me. I.ATE.IT.WITHOUT.TAKING.A.PHOTO.

(I cheated twice! Once when I was having brunch with my friends and we were belatedly celebrating her birthday and another time when I had the most amazing vegetarian salad.)

I focused better

I ended up doing more work while I am at the office. I went through longer periods of time without looking at my phone. It’s amazing how much of difference that can make to your productivity!

Would I do this again?

I have only downloaded Instagram and I spent less than 5 mins on it! I definitely will be spending way less time on it now. I am going to allocate 15mins/day to Instagram.

There is a certain freedom that comes from not being bothered about missing out on your friends important milestones by passively watching them on social media. If I really wanted to know what was going on with a friend, I should just give them the good old ring and say, “so what’s been happening in your life and when are we hanging out?”

 

1 simple way to live a gratitude filled, content life

Why am I so ungrateful?

A friend sent me this message earlier today and at first I wasn’t sure how to reply to it. I spent the day thinking about why I loved my life and what I tried to do to remind myself to be grateful for everything that I had – the good, the bad, and the ugly- and this is what I sent to her on our whatsapp chat.

“Honey, that’s something I am not in a position to answer. Perhaps, what I can offer instead is how to cultivate a gratitude-filled life.

It can be easy to look at things and constantly seek something better or pick at things and say, that’s not how its supposed to be. But doing this, solves nothing.

When I go to bed every night, I think of 3 things that I’m grateful for that day. It can vary from me thanking my legs for carrying me through my run to being grateful for being able to have a good laugh with my sister. No matter how tired I feel, I never miss doing this.

During the day when things seem to go bat shit crazy, I go to a quiet spot and think of one thing in that moment I am happy about. Is it that I have an insane problem to solve and I love solving challenges? Is it that I have good teammates with whom I have great rapport so the problem can get solved?

All thoughts in our head are simply muscles of habits. They can be rewired. But doing so,at first, would be hard because changing any behavior is hard.

Try finding joy in small things. Like the colour of the clouds. The way the breeze hits your hair. Feel the air in your lungs and revel in the fact that you are alive. Because to be alive itself is a miracle in itself.

I know, this sounds cliche. But this worked for me. It’s really about trying to see the bigger picture than yourself, and connecting to the universe.

For me, I marvel at the fact that I am alive at this point in time. That I am able to cross paths with so many people with whom I share love with. I am constantly in love with the world. And I cannot wait for the next moment, be it good or bad. I am alive and I want to live. So I am happy about it. I don’t care about positions. Or where I am. I care about the connections I forge, and the feelings I get.”

I have been practicing the simple technique of recalling 3 things I am grateful for each night before I drift off to sleep, and this has made a tremendous difference in my life.

Every night I end my night on a positive note! Even on the gloomiest of days, I make it a point to look out for 3 things that I am grateful for, and it gives me something to remember the day by. The next day always begins on a positive note. No matter how tired the body, the soul sings.

It’s okay not feel okay

2017 was brilliant on so many fronts. I got a new job, and I loved what I got to do. I spent time with my loved ones. Visited paris for the first time in my life. I built my community around conscious living and another around embracing failure. This has also meant that I was constantly doing something. 

For the past 3 weeks, things have come to a halt. I decided not to take on any projects while I was waiting to transition to my new role in the company.

Suddenly, I find myself a little lost and not feeling okay. It got me down for a few days. I am used to the life where I am on the move and getting shit done. Slowly down the pace of my life has unsettled me for some reason.

I find myself beating myself up for this in my head.

” Why are being so lazy? Why can’t you seem to do your reading?” 

Something changed today though. I remembered a quote from a book I had read last year. It said that your actions are not defined by your emotions. Emotions are like the dark clouds that will eventually pass by. Also, it mentioned that asking yourself questions like “why am I so miserable?” etc can actually cause to spiral deeper into negativity.

I identified that I wasn’t okay. I accepted today that it is okay not to okay! We won’t always be happy or excited or energetic.

That is why I decided to post my first blog today. I had been procrastinating this for 2 weeks now. Pushing it down on my to-do list had been weighing on my mind. And while this post will never be my best post, at least it is done now. This simple of act of completing a task has made me feel a tad better.