Everything starts with a weekly plan and setting an intention for a high performing week ahead. Setting up time aside every Sunday to go through your weekly activities and mapping them by priorities will give you clarity and focus. Sundays may also be a reflection and review time on the past week on your accomplishment and improvements so you can continue building your strengths and eliminating things that don’t serve you.
As a very active volunteer and philanthropist, a No Excuse Mom leader and Consul for InterNations in the Stockholm region, a Mom of 3 girls under 11, multi-passionate serial entrepreneur, I need to be very conscious about time and that is why my mission, vision, and goals, my priorities and my values are always on the top of my mind.
My ultimate goal is work-life balance and freedom to do and to be with whom I want and when I want. Designing a life on my own terms is having a tunnel vision and laser focus on my goals.
My nine best tips to stress-free productivity and setting boundaries are:
1 CLARITY ON YOUR MISSION AND VISION
Be really clear on your life purpose and what you want to achieve. Having a big dream that drives to inspired action and creating your productivity plan effortlessly, without overwhelm, stress, or guilt. Being clear on what you want, desire, intend and what you are passionate about fills your daily planner with enthusiasm. With clarity comes the focus and excitement about getting things done which means being productive and not busy.
2 THREE TASKS ONLY
Set up three priorities each day. These three activities should be Income producing activities connected with your yearly income goal and your mission and vision. Setting up only three priorities creates a workflow and gives you a push to get things done. After completing these three activities focus on things that are fun but still connected with your mission.
3 BATCHING OR CHUNKING SIMILAR ACTIVITIES
Batching similar activities together also creates flow and higher productivity. You can batch things on a daily or weekly basis. Blocking activities and scheduling create a routine and discipline to follow a schedule.
4 TRACKING TIME
You can use different apps like Goodtime that track time using Pomodoro technique. Taking a break between activities is equally important for raising productivity and avoiding brain fatigue.
5 DELEGATING
Delegating or outsourcing things that are not in your zone of genius. Knowing who is responsible for each task when it comes to professional or personal life leads to inspired action and feeling of fulfilment. Be brave to take this step and admit you can’t do everything on your own because that makes us human.
6 MULTITASKING
Avoid multitasking at any cost, with an awareness that we humans are incapable to be focused on two or more things at a time and when multitasking we are overwhelming our brain and reducing productivity for 40% and even risking burn out and other health problems. According to Stanford University study, you are paying a mental price and damaging your brain when multitasking.
7 SLEEPING HABIT
For better quality sleep time avoid screening one hour before sleep and one hour after you wake up. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. I have a routine of getting in bed with nines (9:59 PM) and up with sixes (6 AM). Ditch the guilt of not having it done. If you haven’t done the job you should do after following all the steps above, please don’t feel guilty and allow yourself to go to bed earlier.
Dr Oz: “Getting a good night’s sleep is an effortless technique to create longevity and health.”
8 PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOLS
Use project management and productivity tools like Asana, Evernote, Acuity and Slack to structure, plan and organize your time.
9 SAY NO
Saying NO to anything and anyone who is not in alignment with your mission. Sounds hard? It shouldn’t actually because you should allow yourself to say no and accept no as a way of saying yes to yourself. I know what you’re might thinking but you need to trust me on this one. Go through your projects and kindly recall all things that are not bringing you joy and are not in alignment with your mission and vision.
If you want to create more successful habits through simple steps and actionable tools to start mastering your mindset and transforming your business, then I invite you to check out my Free Success Library http://bit.ly/dijanallugollicoaching
Wish you all success.
Love + gratitude
Dijana