Intimidated by a deadline? Swamped with meetings? Ordering too much take-out? Whatever is making you feel less productive, tackling it might require looking outside the boundaries of your workday. It can be easy to focus solely on work when we think of productivity, but applying a more holistic approach to your routine can increase your efficiency at the office, and also make other day to day tasks easier to manage.
Success breeds success whether it’s completing work, saving money, getting healthy or any other goal-oriented tasks. Setting yourself up for a productive day at work and in your personal life is key to achieving positive outcomes in both areas. The stress of having several unfinished projects or chores makes it harder to accomplish anything. If you’re worrying that you need to go grocery shopping while trying to get a spreadsheet submitted, it will affect your ability in both areas.
If you’re a morning person, try waking up a little early and emptying the dishwasher, walking the dog or prepping dinner to get a task out of the way. Not only will this get a chore out of the way for when you finish work for the day, but it can also start the wheels turning for both your brain and body and set you up to be in work mode before you even log in.
If you’re more of a night owl, consider doing your meal prep for the next day along with making dinner that night. Make your wardrobe decisions the night before so that you aren’t stressed to do so in the morning. For those who have a hard time getting out of bed, the more things you can get out of the way ahead of time, the less you’ll have weighing on your mind when the alarm goes off.
Be honest with yourself. If you know that you hate laundry, find a way to incorporate it into your routine so that you aren’t even thinking about it, the same way you brush your teeth twice a day or take the garbage out once a week, develop a system that has you doing laundry on a manageable schedule so that you aren’t facing a mountain of dirty clothes by the time you get around to it.
Remember that you aren’t alone either. Whether it’s a partner, a coworker, a friend or a hired professional, there are people in your life that can help fill in some voids if you are feeling overwhelmed by all of life’s responsibilities. Delegating assignments among the people in your life can be symbiotic—perhaps you can help a housemate with a task you’re good at in exchange for them helping you with something they are better at. This applies at work as well. If you work in a team, divide the workload based on strengths and weaknesses everyone can strive towards a common goal.
Lastly, don’t forget that if there is something you simply cannot fit into your day, there are many avenues to get help, websites like TaskRabbit and Fiverr can offer professional solutions to a vast array of needs on a relatively small budget. Even things such as having your groceries delivered or using the app of your favourite coffee spot to order ahead are tiny changes you can make that save more time than they may cost in money.