Hey there incredible human! Welcome to One Infinite Life.

My name is Chloe and I'm an award-winning Certified Life Coach and writer with a background in psychology.

My mission (the quick version) to to help you get the most out of your one infinite life.

I hope you find something here that makes your day (or life) better than it was before!

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I acknowledge the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nations where One Infinite Life is operated from. I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging and also to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in my community and wider network.

Here are my best tips and tricks on how to be more productive, including a game-changing productivity technique, and also my favourite productivity tools and books.

My best tips for increasing your productivity:

 

DO WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU

Firstly (and most importantly) it’s essential that if you want to be more productive you do what works best for you.

It doesn’t matter what other people do to be more productive if it doesn’t help you.

Experiment with different ways of doing things to discover how you work best and you will become so much more productive.

This might mean that you discover work better in the morning or you might be more productive in the late afternoons.

It’s important that if you want to be more productive you honour how you work best.

SET INTENTIONS

I’ve probably mentioned that intentions are powerful so many times before, but that’s because it’s so true.

Get clear on why you are doing something. What is it you hope to get out of doing it? What is your aim? What do you want to achieve?

For example before I wrote this post I wrote down my intention on a sticky note which was to: help people to be more productive.

I find setting intentions to be super motivating for me to get started on an actual task and also useful for keeping me on track when during the task.

 

PRIORITISE

This is pretty simple but effective.

Get clear on what is most important for you to do, and then do the most important things before the not-as-important things.

I love doing my most important tasks as soon as I start working.

I find this gives me motivation and momentum to power on through the rest of my to do list and also because sometimes life just happens if something comes up during the day I have already completed the most crucial things.

BEFRIEND YOUR TO DO LIST

I find to do lists to be super useful at keeping me organised and helping me to work out what my priorities are.

This is what works for me:

•  
• ∞  At the end of the week (either on a Friday or Sunday afternoon) I write down every single thing that I need to do the coming week on a big sticky note.

 

• ∞  Then if there are specific days that things need to be done on I write them into my diary. I also write down all my classes and any other appointments I have on that week.

 

• ∞  Using the big sticky note (which is like a master to do list for the whole week) I write my to do list for the Monday (or first working day of the week).

 

• ∞  At the end of each working day I write anything I didn’t get done onto the following day and refer to the master to do list (the big sticky note) to see what else could be done that day.

 

• ∞  I find that by writing my to do list the day before to be really useful. This means when I sit down to work in the morning I dive straight into what I need to do instead of spending time working out what is most important to do, which can sometimes turn into procrastination.

 

• ∞  My diary has a page for each day which I absolutely love so I can use it to write things that are going on that day and its big enough to fit my to do list for that day as well.

 

You don’t need to be a slave to you to do list and it can actually be really beneficial in keeping you organised and therefore more productive. My best advice is to make your to do list serve you.

ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS

When I first started uni I used to work from a table in the living area, but when I set up a designated work space I became so much more productive.

I’m lucky enough to have a whole spare room which I use as an office and I try to keep this space really simple and decluttered at all times, which helps with eliminating distractions.

 

Some other things I do to help eliminate distractions:

 

• ∞  I often turn my phone onto silent or airplane mode so I don’t get distracted by it.

 

• ∞  If I’m not using the internet for a task I will turn off my wireless modem which makes it easier to not get distracted and waste time on the Internet.

 

• ∞ I frequently declutter my desk, my desk drawer and my computer desktop and files. I find that I am so much more productive when things are tidy and organised.

 

• ∞ I also use the game-changing Self-Control app which I will talk about a little later…

MONO-TASKING

Mono-tasking (or single-tasking) involves doing only ONE thing at one time.

I used to be a chronic multi-tasker and was always focusing on many things at once.

However I have found that avoiding multi-tasking has helped make me less anxious and overwhelmed, and committing myself to mono-tasking has made me so much more productive.

I think that focus on on just one with at one time is effective and way more productive.

SET YOURSELF DEADLINES

Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the time that it needs to be completed by.

This means that if you try to get something done the day before it’s due, you probably will (however I really don’t recommend this!)

You can use this law to your advantage and set yourself deadlines to complete things.

I usually set myself deadlines for having things done before they actually need to be done.

For example I may set a deadline to have a first draft of an essay done a certain amount of time before the actual due date, so then I can rework and continue to draft it up until it’s due (this is also great for time management, and for avoiding stress and overwhelm!)

Self imposed deadlines help to make your more accountable and therefore more productive.

CHANGE YOUR STATE

If you are struggling with the motivation to get something done or find yourself procrastinating I highly recommend changing your internal state by moving your body.

Go for a walk around the block, do some star jumps, have a one person dance party in your lounge room (my personal favourite), it doesn’t matter what it is just move.

This will help shift your state and then you can get it done!

Also if I find myself stuck I find that changing my physical work location can be really helpful.

I mostly work at my desk but sometimes when I am struggling I will move to the kitchen bench, the couch, outside or sometimes go over to my university library.

BECOME THE MASTER OF THE QUICK DRAFT

When writing anything I find it super beneficial to just get the words down as quick as possible. Then I come back to it and rewrite, edit, tweak and draft.

This has made me way more productive and I find that I don’t stay stuck on the first paragraph for way longer than I should.

Oh and speaking of first paragraphs, just because they come first doesn’t mean you need to write them first – for some reason it just does not work for me, so I often write the introduction to everything last. Like I mention above do what works for you.

 

“Get your idea down on paper. You can always tweak it later.” – Steven Pressfield

USE TEMPLATES

Do you find yourself doing the same things over and over again? Perhaps writing the same responses to emails? Writing the same title pages for assignments?

Then I highly recommend creating and storing templates to streamline those things you do over and over again.

For example a couple of years ago I found myself having to write a title page and set up all my documents in APA formatting every time I went to do a uni assignment. So instead of having to do this every single time I had an assignment I created a template that I use has it already done, and I can open it and get working straight away.

Simple but super effective.

 

BATCHING

This is something I have only started doing recently but I love and highly recommend it.

Batching is where you group the same tasks together and do them at once.

I find this to be super effective for productivity (and for stress!)

For example you might reply to your emails only once per day. Or you might write all your blog posts for the week on a certain day. Or schedule all your social media for your blog posts at one time.

 

LOOK AFTER YOURSELF

This is so simple but if you eat well, drink lots of water, and get enough sleep you will be way more productive than if you don’t.

Exercising at least once daily is a non-negioable for me and I notice a huge difference in my productivity when I don’t do this.

By looking after yourself you are setting yourself up to be way more productive.

 

REWARD YOURSELF

As humans we are innately reward seekers. We are driven by and rewards – and we can use this to our advantage.

Reward yourself for completing tasks, or sets of tasks (and of course your achievements!)

I find that setting myself rewards to be super motivating.

And if I’m really struggling and feeling unmotivated about a task I will write my reward on a sticky note and stick it on my computer or desk to act as a little reminder and encouragement to do the work.

Your rewards don’t have to be extravagant it’s all about the intention behind it. Watching the latest episode of your favourite tv show can be a reward, if you want it to be.

THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE

This is my biggest and best tip on how to be more productive.

This technique it a total and complete game-changer. It actually changed my life.

The Pomodoro technique involves using a timer to work in intervals. They are usually intervals of 25 minutes which are spend solely working on a task without distractions. These working intervals are broken up by short breaks of 5 minutes where you do something unrelated to your task. After several working intervals you take a longer break (of like 15 – 30 minutes).

You can get apps to help you with the intervals but I just user the timer function on my iPhone and set the intervals myself.

I work everyday using the Pomodoro technique and I find it is the more effective way for me to get work done and it helps me to concentrate until later on in the day.

It’s also a lot less overwhelming and much easier to actually sit down and work when you know that you only have to work for 25 minutes.

This technique is simple, doable, but most important super effective for productivity!

Extra tips for The Pomodoro Technique:

• ∞  I recommend coming up with ideas for your breaks ahead of time, so you don’t waste your five minute break thinking of what you should do. I keep a sticky note with things I like to do for these breaks handy so when the timer goes off I can just do it.

 

• ∞  Some of the things I like to do during the 5 minute breaks are: make some herbal tea, go outside, stretch/do yoga, sit with my legs up the wall (super rejuvenating), meditate, walk down to my mailbox or to the post box, have a dance party in my lounge room.

 

• ∞  I change the length of the pomodoro intervals to suit how I’m feeling. As my concentration is better in the morning I usually make the working intervals longer to about 40-45 minutes and shorten them as I go about the day until I’m doing 25 minute work intervals. Like I keep saying do what works for you.

TOOLS I LOVE FOR PRODUCTIVITY

Self-control app. This app is incredible for helping you be your most productive self. It is an app for Macs (but I do believe there is a Windows version too). The self-control app allows you to block your own access to any particular sites on the internet for a certain amount of time. You can set the Self Control app to block you from certain sites (a blacklist) or to block you from everything on the internet besides certain sites you want to be able to access (a whitelist). Ever since I started using this app I became SO much more productive.

Evernote. I love Evernote and I store pretty much everything in there. I use it to store my blog post ideas, write my blog posts, create lists, store templates and back ups of things I need, and so much more. I love that it syncs between your devices so if I’m out and about I can be writing on my iPhone or iPad and it will sync directly with my laptop.

Hootsuite. This is super useful for anyone who uses social media a lot. Hootsuite allows you to schedule your social media posts, which I absolutely love doing. I will often sit down and schedule all my social media updates for my blog posts at the start of the week. It’s super useful for batching, time management and using social media in a more effective way as you can schedule your posts for a particular optimal time and don’t have to be on the actual computer when you want the post to go live.

Rescue Time. This is really eye opening to see where you are spending your time when you are on the computer. Honestly when I first started using Rescue Time I was shocked about how the time I was really wasting. This really motivated me to make better use of my time and become more productive.

BOOKS ON PRODUCTIVITY THAT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING:

Steven Pressfield – The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Steven Pressfield – Do the Work

To be honest in order to be more productive you just have sit down and do the work.

There really is no magic formula to getting stuff done but there are so many things you can do that can help you be more productive.

Like I’ve mentioned throughout this post the most important thing is about finding out what works best for you, and actually doing it.

 

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” – Steven Pressfield

Now over to you, what is your best tips (or tools, or books) to help you be more productive? Let me know in the comments below.

I hope you have an awesome (and productive) day!

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