(Credit: iStock/Getty Images Plus/DragonImages)
It's Monday. You've been sitting at your desk for two hours and haven't done anything other than revise an email to a friend asking them to watch your dog when you go on vacation. Hey, it happens. Suddenly, it's Tuesday afternoon, and you still haven't accomplished anything notable. Where did the time go? We all have workweeks like this. Can you turn it around?
Having a few tips and tricks to pull out of your productivity bag for just such occasions can be the secret to salvaging your week. These five suggestions for improving your focus and being productive can help you get back on track, regardless of whether you work remotely or in a shared workspace.
1. Make a Morning Routine That Guides You
"Do your hardest task first." You've heard that advice before, right? It isn't helpful at all. It might as well be, "Muster up all your willpower and force yourself to do something you don't want to do." Gee, thanks.
Instead, create a morning routine that guides you to the task you know you should do. It doesn't have to be your hardest task, but set your intention on something. Here's an example:
Make a cup of coffee
Sit down at your desk
Open your to-do list app and set your intention by deciding which task to focus on first (maybe even tell your colleagues what you plan to do to create some accountability)
Mark that task as high priority
Gather the tools you need to start the task
Those steps are just an example. Notice that not a single action is difficult and yet they collectively set you up to do the task you want to be doing. It's much better than relying on willpower alone.
Though opening a to-do list app is a popular way to start, some swear by looking over their calendars and agendas first thing instead. Reviewing a calendar can be extremely helpful to people who spend much of their time in meetings.
The most important part, however, is making your steps into a routine, meaning something you do habitually. Kick it off with something easy and enjoyable—that's why I opened with making coffee. You might prefer to put on music or adjust your lighting. If you look forward to starting the routine, it makes everything that comes after a bit easier.
Saving up seemingly unproductive tasks and doing them at the right time is a highly productive time-management strategy
2. Save Up Your Busywork
Filing expense reports, cleaning out your inbox, wiping down your desk, scanning documents—these are all chores that must get done. Has someone convinced you that you shouldn't do these kinds of tasks because they "aren't productive" or have little value? Have you been telling yourself that these tasks only make you feel productive? Hogwash.
First of all, these tasks do have value. In the grand scheme of things, their value might be lower than that of your most difficult tasks, but it's not zero. You are obliged to your boss and colleagues in accounting to complete expense reports on time. Emptying your inbox today makes for a smoother experience triaging email tomorrow. If you clean up a pile of papers nearby, you cannot be distracted by them.
Second, saving up seemingly unproductive tasks and doing them at the right time is a highly productive time-management strategy. We all have phases during the workweek when we are able to concentrate and others when we are not. Filing an expense report doesn't take a lot of concentration. So save that task for a time when your ability to concentrate is low. For nine-to-fivers, Friday afternoon is often the best time to water the plants, file paperwork, and do whatever other busywork you have saved up.
3. Lean on a Tomato for Motivation
What do you do when you know it's time to tackle a certain task, but you just can't seem to get started? When I'm at my lowest point of motivation, I turn to tomatoes.
The Pomodoro Technique is a method of working that helps people push through a lack of motivation. It's named after old kitchen timers that were shaped like tomatoes; pomodoro is Italian for tomato. Author Francesco Cirillo came up with the method as a university student and later described it (and trademarked it) in his book of the same name. You set a timer for 25 minutes and work on the task at hand until the timer rings. Then you reset the timer for five minutes and take a short break. You repeat the cycle a few times and eventually take a longer break.
The next time you can't seem to get started on a task, see if committing to it for just 25 minutes gets you over the hump. Then set a timer and get cracking. You don't need a tomato timer, as you can use an app or browser extension designed for the technique. I like one called Strict Workflow.
Browser extensions inspired by the Pomodoro Technique also usually come with URL blockers that prevent you from going to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, ESPN, or other guilty pleasure websites while you're trying to work. Windows 11's Focus Sessions similarly give you the same thing systemwide.
If you respond better to external motivators, try Caveday. It's a collective of people who do work–break sprints together, usually online though they have been in person in the past. Having that gentle pressure from other people may make it easier for you to get the job done.
4. Take Meetings During Your Slump Time
The worst way to schedule meetings is to pick any old time when you're free.
The hours of the day are not created equal. Some of those hours are the times you're able to focus on hard tasks and feel motivated to do them. You need to protect those hours so you can tackle the hardest work then. Do not give those hours over to people who want to have meetings.
Instead, have a default time of day you're free for meetings. What time of day do you tend to slump? Your slump hours should be your default meeting time. In some fairly rare cases, having meetings is the hardest work that someone does. In that case, schedule meetings for your highly productive hours and save your slump time for processing emails and doing other work.
Few people have total control over when meetings take place. If your boss's boss invites you to a meeting, you go at the time they pick. When you are in control of the meeting time, however, such as when someone asks you when you're free, give them options that line up with your slumps. That way, you preserve your high-focus hours for work that requires high focus.
This tip is not dissimilar from one you may have heard before: Block off several hours on your calendar each day for deep-focus work. Here's the difference. Few people block off time, whereas scheduling meetings during your slumps is something you might actually do.
5. Dump Any Productivity Tip That Doesn't Serve You
Human beings contain multitudes. No one can know how alike or different they are from another person. Where we find motivation, what helps us stay focused, what makes us feel demoralized, and how we recharge is unique to each of us. We can look to science to figure out what kind of productivity advice or tips work for most people, but we can never know what works for us until we try them.
Monique Valcour, an executive coach and contributor to Harvard Business Review, wrote an insightful article with tips for people who hate productivity tips. It's for people who find motivation by looking inward at their intentions rather than outward at their to-do list. It's for people who don't jibe with tomato timers and feel better about themselves for making good progress on a task rather than finishing it by an arbitrary deadline.
With that in mind, throw out any productivity tips that don't work for you. Give them a try, but toss them aside if they don't mesh with your personality. There's no shortage of productivity tips and strategies. Don't feel like you've failed if some don't work for you. Focus on the ones that do.
Get Our Best Stories!
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
