6 Quick Tips For Productivity

After several weeks straight of living in the anxious mindset, "I just wish there were more hours in the day!" I finally said to myself, Priya, you don't need more hours in the day, you just need to be better at managing your time. For the last couple weeks, I have really made a conscious effort to pay attention to my time management, both at work and home (though mostly at work.) And boy, do I waste a lot of time!

I just wanted to share a few quick and easy things that I've already found have made a huge difference in my day, and overall productivity!

1.  Do this first! | I find that my most unproductive time of the day is when I get to work in the morning. There I am, easing into the day, drinking coffee, catching up with co-workers, when all of a sudden- it's 9:30am and I've barely done a thing! To combat this, I've started leaving a post-it on my desk of the first task I should do right when I get to the office. It can be any size, but the point is, you hit the ground running by knocking something off your list, first! 
2. Put your phone away | Hand your phone to a friend, lock it in a drawer, turn on "Do Not Disturb" mode, whatever you need to do to make it a little harder to get to. We all know that "checking one thing on your phone real quick" can easily turn into 30 minutes of scrolling (I am so guilty of this!) Simply having your phone out of arms reach will make you think twice (Wait, where is my phone? Oh yeah, productivity.) when you're looking for it. 
3. Know your workflow | If I ever get into something tedious, I like to put my hair up (with one of these), pop my headphones in, and alert my team that "I'm flowin." That's just what works for me. My point is to know your own workflow. Whether you're blogging, working, or doing your taxes, find what works for you and stick to it! 
4. Reward yourself | This is so important, guys! Remember that at a certain point of pushing yourself all day, your quality of work is likely going down. In college I used to study in 20 minute increments (yeah, I have a very short attention span) and then paint my nails or watch a music video. Nowadays, it's a little more task-oriented (and I don't paint my nails in the office...) but I do have a good system of checks & balances. The irony is not lost on me that I'm telling you to waste time to be productive, but when used appropriately, it can motivate you to do some great work! 
5. Scenery / stand | The literal quickest fix for when you're staring at something that you just can't get through: find a place to stand and work. And give yourself a change of scenery. Fresh air and natural light can do wonders for your brain (this is like, science.) 
6. And in the words of Nike...| Laila has aptly named this "the Tove rule": sometimes you just have to DO IT. In the past few weeks, I've honestly transcribed "call the dentist" onto several different to-do lists instead of just picking up the phone and doing it. This is really dumb. Tasks that are that quick don't even need to be written (unless it's just to cross them off your list!)

I am not a life-coach (ahahaha), and many of these may seem like no-brainers, but, I figure some of you know exactly where I'm coming from, and maybe struggle with similar things!

What are your tried & true tips for being productive?
And what's your favorite way to chill out, when you feel like you just don't have enough hours in the day?

I would love to hear your tips as well, share below! And Happy Monday :)