How to become more productive in your studies. Always remember that the key to time management is self-management

Many people face the problem of professional (emotional) burnout. Emotional burnout is a psychological condition caused by prolonged exposure to stress. As a rule, stress in this case is caused by constant concentration on some work.

It seems to us that if we take on everything at once, then after a while the problems will be solved. But the reserves of the human body are not enough to work in this mode, it is simply dangerous! How to properly organize your work process in order to quickly solve your problems and work more efficiently, without being subjected to constant stress, using your experience with the magazine Reconomica shared a young teacher who managed to overcome burnout syndrome.

Good afternoon, friends! My name is Maya, I have been working in the field of education for six years, and every year I am more and more interested in all kinds of techniques for increasing the effectiveness of the learning process (both self-learning and teaching someone something).

I remember with horror the first year of my work on courses preparing schoolchildren for Unified State Exam and State Examination : at that time I was still studying at the university, working on weekends and consistently staying up all night before every working Saturday. I was preparing for three groups then, I had knowledge on the subject, but every Friday was a nightmare for me - a night ahead without sleep, then a whole day of work without lunch and a pile of essays to be checked for the next meeting with students.

Excellent student syndrome and what to do about it

I understood that such a regime (and on weekdays I myself am a laboratory assistant at the department of Russian literature) drives me into a dead end, my productivity drops, I become like a zombie, it becomes more and more difficult to study and teach, and I don’t see a way out. But I want to be the best, to do everything with an A plus, I want... but I don’t have enough strength for anything. Excellent student syndrome is very common in adult women.

Probably, then for the first time I thought that there must be some methods, some techniques that will help me improve my life, gain time for lunch and sleep, increase the productivity of my work, the quality of which will not decrease, but, on the contrary, will become even higher.

I read about the syndrome of professional emotional burnout among teachers and got scared. I had to admit the defeat of the “perfectionist teacher” model and start looking for new models of behavior. To begin with it was necessary to understand what the productivity of human activity depends on and how to become more productive.

Is it possible to do everything without losing your health and nerves?

Of course, first I began to study my surroundings and the Internet to see who else was living with the same problem as me. Observations of friends, work and study colleagues, and teachers showed that I don’t live too badly. Some tried to raise a baby, others, working two jobs, tried their best not to fly out of the university and take at least something useful out of its walls, in addition to the experience of an extreme test when you don’t even know your name the professor receiving him.

Some people simply gave up on everything and went with the flow (they say, you will never have time to do everything, so why bother). By the way, the last group still continues to exist in the chosen style: sitting without work, subsisting on bread and water, with enormous difficulty finding money to pay for utilities. And this is almost 30 years old.

Why weren’t we taught anywhere how to study? Why weren’t they introduced to methods of productive work? Why didn’t they tell you which things help and which harm when performing a serious task? After all, in fact, these tools would become magic wands for thousands of unfortunate schoolchildren, students, managers, teachers, young mothers and fathers who so want to manage everything and do everything well, while receiving joy from life.

Techniques for effective time management. Time Management Basics

And then I started looking for alternative sources that would teach me how to work and study. It turned out that such sources exist, that they are available to almost everyone, moreover, there are a great many of them.

I immersed myself in reading articles, books, and watching videos on topics that concerned me. I really wanted someone to tell me in simple words what and how I should do in order to do everything.

At some point, I realized that many books and articles repeat each other, chew the same thing in different words, in some places there is a lot of water, in others there is a terrible translation, but still, mostly I came across very practical advice that I began to apply it in life. And the methods found worked!

Don't waste time on things that don't work

First, I’ll tell you about those techniques that don’t work, so that you don’t repeat my mistakes. And then I will share with you what I have collected life hacks , which, dare I say it, changed my life.

You are not a robot!

Tips you shouldn't follow

1. Multitasking. I once thought that if I worked on two, three, or, even better, four tasks at the same time, my productivity would increase significantly and I would get more done. I remember very well the days when, having finished my lessons at school, I sat down to check notebooks, at the same time trying to put grades in an electronic journal, write comments on graded works, answer emails from parents and administration, and at the same time explain to a sick student a missed topic. After a couple of hours of such “work” I was like a squeezed lemon, I started making mistakes in notebooks, confused the names of children in the magazine, hated my job and everyone who wanted something from me. Only later did I learn that multitasking is the main enemy of productivity. Every time, switching from one task to another, we expend intellectual energy to “turn on” and return our thoughts to the topic. Constant switching exhausts us. Each time we need more and more time to get the hang of it. We do not deal with any task completely, which affects the quality of the work. Say no to multitasking, and you will see that you will cope with work/school much faster, you will have more energy, and in the end you will get everything done earlier than you did before, using the “four things at once” technique.

1. Down with lunch. For almost two years, I deliberately refused to take a lunch break, thinking that by doing so I would be able to finish work faster and be home earlier. I took some snacks with me, chewed without looking up from the computer and notebooks (textbooks, work correspondence), drank 3-5 cups of coffee a day and sincerely believed that this way I would work better, faster, more. But for some reason the effect was the opposite. Without leaving the computer even for a lunch break, by five o’clock I began to be “stuck” in front of the screen; work that could have been done in 15 minutes, I did 45. I still couldn’t cope with the entire amount of work, I had to take notebooks / preparation at home. In the evening I was pretty tired, very hungry and with a bag of tasks for tomorrow. The technique clearly didn't work.

1. Work/study to music. As a rule, this advice turns out to be more harmful than useful. I don’t argue that there are types of activities when music or some kind of lecture in the background will be an excellent motivation. I'm talking about cleaning, ironing, cooking, that is, things that don't affect your head very much. Dynamic music lifts your mood, washing dishes no longer seems like a punishment, and an interesting lecture on headphones helps you quietly tidy up your bathroom. But when it comes to intellectual work (writing an article and a report, reading a paragraph in a textbook, checking notebooks, corresponding with potential clients), music, especially with words in a language you understand, will distract you, your attention will be scattered, your mental energy will be wasted not only for important work, but also for audio processing. Try working in silence, and you will notice that you begin to get things done faster.

11 proven tools for increasing personal effectiveness

Okay, it’s clear what not to do. But such advice rarely motivates and helps. Better tell me what to do to become more effective, productive, happier?

1. Eat, sleep, love. As I remember now, lectures on psychology at the university, namely the pyramid of needs Maslow , and our teacher’s favorite phrase: “Without satisfying basic needs, there is nothing to think about self-actualization.” In simple words, if you haven’t eaten, haven’t slept, and everything is bad and rare with love, you’re unlikely to think about work and creativity. A hungry artist is an unhappy artist, a sleepy student is an unsuccessful student. As soon as you force yourself to sleep 7-8 hours (yes, work won’t run away, I checked), eat on time (preferably healthy food), drink plain water regularly, allow yourself to spend time with your loved one, you will see that you have become have much more time to do. You will begin to work many times more productively, your mood during work will be excellent, which, of course, will have a positive effect on the result!

1. Rest. Productive work and personal effectiveness begins with rest. Until you learn to rest rhythmically and correctly, you will be an eternally tired, angry worker who doesn’t meet deadlines. Try to organize your work cycles correctly: you work for 1 hour – you must rest for 5 minutes. After several work/rest cycles, give yourself more rest - a lunch break. When you rest, try to disconnect from work as much as possible: get up from the computer, walk down the hallway, drink coffee away from your desk, go outside, do simple exercise, call your mom/dad/grandparents. Rhythmic rest is the key to successful work and study.

1. Plan. Try to plan the day before the things you will need to do tomorrow. When planning, try not to mix personal and work tasks. Write down everything you don't want to forget. Keep your to-do list handy and in front of your eyes. Joyfully cross out what you have done. If the task is large, break it down into small subtasks: this way the difficulty of the task will not frighten you, the work will move slowly but rhythmically.

1. The hardest thing comes first, or the rule of eating a frog. Always start with the most difficult task. As a rule, in the morning you are not yet very tired, you feel willpower, there are certain reserves of energy. Having dealt with the most difficult task, you will be pleased with yourself, which, of course, will raise your mood, and therefore the motivation to work further, and you will do the remaining easier tasks without the burden of “the hardest thing is ahead.” I am sure that by the end of the day you will most likely complete everything planned and be proud of yourself.

1. Work with a timer. This is excellent advice for those who have poor time management, who have a strong competitive spirit, and who find it difficult to control their work/rest periods. Set a timer for the time in which you want to complete the task and get started. You'll probably get the job done a little before the beep. If you still do not meet the allotted time, you will not forget about your well-deserved rest, and the next period of work will not be so painful. Children really like working with a timer: solving examples is boring, solving with a timer is more fun, I don’t want to get ready for school - I do it faster and more cheerfully with a timer.

1. Physical training. Try to devote at least 15 minutes a day to physical activity. A little exercise in the morning, and you will feel a surge of energy when you arrive at work. Five minutes of sports, and now it’s no longer “ you get stuck " in front of the book. An afternoon walk in the park (at least 15 minutes) and, it turns out, you still have the strength to work until the evening. I always underestimated this advice, thinking that squats and push-ups only took away my strength. But, having started to regularly include such sports breaks, I felt that I had strength from somewhere and my mood became better. And physical education has only a positive effect on the body.

1. Process information efficiently. I understand that this point is the subject of a separate article, but still I cannot help but mention it. Try to get acquainted with the methods of productive reading, master the method of mind maps, stop mindlessly taking notes, copying half a page into a notebook, do not ignore the questions at the end of the chapter of the textbook, master mnemonic techniques (memorization techniques), and you will find out that you can study and work at times better. Try telling what you learned from a book/lecture/lesson to your friend, mom, dog, or at worst. By teaching, you remember and make new knowledge “yours.”

1. Down with perfectionism. Sometimes, due to the desire to do some work perfectly, we don’t do it at all. If we planned something the day before, and today something went wrong, we cross off the entire to-do list, give up and refuse to do anything. The “Rhino Rule” is suitable here: even if it’s not perfect, but finish it, complete it. A job done imperfectly is better than something not done at all.

1. Read more. It sounds corny, but it works! Start reading more. Expand your horizons, learn about new products in your professional field, meet new authors, books, theories, articles. Get into the habit of reading at least 30 minutes a day. Unnoticed by yourself, you will expand your vocabulary, learn to think logically (and therefore express your thoughts structurally), and learn a lot of new and interesting things. Reading is free education. Don't miss the opportunity to learn something for free!

1. Get infected with productivity! A good example is contagious. Read about productive and happy people, watch videos about success stories, watch colleagues and successful friends, learn from them, spy on their secrets, ask about the methods and techniques they use. Look up to the best, always strive for more!

1. Stay focused. This will probably be the last one life hack for today. What is its essence? When you do any work, do it 100%. Intentionally return your scattered attention to the task, force yourself to concentrate on the task, become more consciously : when you are distracted from work, bring yourself back to it, do not let your thoughts lead you into the jungle of dreams and pleasures. Direct your voluntary attention to what you are doing. At first it will require a lot of effort, but over time it will become a habit, and distractions will not resist yourfocus on the task.

You may find the tips listed above too simple and obvious to be effective. You are not alone, I once thought so too. But, starting with these little “laws of simplicity,” I finally became a normal person who has time to work, relax, and enjoy life; I began to sleep 8 hours, eat regularly, and most importantly, the quality of my work and life has increased significantly! A happy and contented person is a successful and productive person, verified!

Productivity is the degree of usefulness of the time spent. The more productive, the more useful the time spent. Each business has its own productivity secrets, but there are also general rules.

First rule. What is not measured cannot be improved. What is measured begins to improve during the first attempts to measure it. Therefore, I advise you to use these services to measure your own productivity:

Service for self-recording of time spent. Very interesting insights begin to come after the first week of use. An involuntary improvement in productivity, because you don’t want to admit that you’re doing crap and instead start working on the task.

Service for automatically recording time spent. There are both mobile and desktop versions. Needed for more detailed tracking and further analysis of your own Internet surfing. Otherwise, you seem to be reading an article on the topic, but then you accidentally go on an uncontrollable journey through social media. networks.

The best notes manager. For keeping a diary and organizing the work process. By keeping a diary, you begin to unconsciously become more aware. You notice more, are more attentive, and your memory improves. In general, cognitive (cognitive) abilities improve. Which play a significant role in order to be productive.

Second rule. Work hard, play hard. About the ability to concentrate as much as possible to solve a specific problem and relax as much as possible and disperse attention in order to understand what problem needs to be solved. How?

How to work.

Pomodoro technique. You work for 25 minutes, rest for 5. 4*25 worked, then rested for 20 minutes. You can do +- 10 minutes for both rest and work. But the main thing is to stick to the schedule. If you don’t rest, you can work a lot of time and eventually realize that you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.

How to relax.

It’s better to relax between work by walking in the park. Or any walk in general. Nowadays most jobs are sedentary. And this is fraught with various ailments, and even when you sit a lot, the brain does not work as efficiently as possible. After a walk you can turn it on again.

Additionally, for top productivity

For clarity of mind and good mood.

Proper, balanced and varied diet.

Everything should be in abundance. Micro and macro elements. Vitamins.

Avoid fast food as much as possible. Lots of unnecessary carbohydrates. The illusion of pleasure will not lead to anything good.

Regular physical activity.

Sports, fitness, running, walking. Any load above average.

Social networks. good, but a little bit and not during work

Learn to be independent from them as much as possible, if, of course, the work is not related to SMM. I personally only use VK and Instagram. I filtered out all the news on VK (the news feed is empty when I log in, so as not to be accidentally distracted). On Instagram I follow only those I know personally. That’s why my feed isn’t too spammy and I don’t spend too long

Eleutherococcus tincture. Provides additional enhancement of cognitive abilities in a small but noticeable amount.

The most important thing. Productivity is a tool for quickly achieving goals. Goals must be independent and conscious. You need to clearly understand who you are and where you are going. This is the only way productivity will help. Otherwise, it will be like buying two Pepsi for the price of one in the supermarket, although you went for bread.

The secrets of productive work are of interest to everyone who is focused on success. Many people dream of becoming a productive person. Is it as simple as the books make it out to be? Quite. It is enough to find your productive work time, choose comfortable conditions for productive work and clearly understand what steps you need to take to become a productive person.

Productive work: what is it?

Productive work is the key to success in any business. It’s about competently organizing your work and getting maximum results.

Productive work is work that:

• performed especially well;
• brings good results;
• gives pleasure;
• initiative is required;
• “doesn’t force” you to look at your watch.

It is important to clearly understand that work productivity has nothing to do with the amount of time spent on work. To be as productive as possible, it doesn’t matter how many hours you work. Sometimes in 2-3 hours you can do as much as they do in 15-16 hours. This is where the secrets of productive work lie.

Practice shows that it is difficult to be productive for those people who:

• they are not aware of where and why they are moving;
• show perseverance - move towards the set goal even when the work has ceased to be interesting (do not forget to review the goals and make sure of their relevance);
• They consider themselves perfectionists (because of their desire to achieve an ideal result, you can spend a lot of effort and time on perfectly performing work that no one needs);
• are in a state of some kind of anticipation - waiting for the arrival of the Muse, inspiration, dreaming of a vacation, waiting for an important call, etc.;
• They’re used to it - they celebrate birthdays, New Years, but still don’t start solving an important task on time;
• spend most of their time dwelling on their past or dreaming about the future.

You can name a lot of reasons why people waste hours, days, years in vain. are described in detail on the forum.

secrets of productive work

How to become productive at work?

If you are interested in productive work, follow these recommendations:

1. Find productive work hours. Some people find it more convenient and comfortable to work in the morning, while others are used to working in the afternoon or even at night. Keep track of what hours you are most productive. And use this time wisely. What you do during productive work hours will bring you better results.
2. Get enough sleep, get plenty of rest. Successful people plan not only their workday, but also their... They know how to relax productively after work. What about you?
3. Work strictly according to plan. By devoting just 5-10 minutes of your day, you can become more productive and save up to 2-3 hours. Your plan should not have many important tasks. Learn to delegate.
4. Organize your workspace well. There should be nothing superfluous on the table, and everything you need (notepad, laptop, pen, etc.) should be at hand. Otherwise, you won't be productive. In addition, do not forget about the lighting of the room and a comfortable temperature. These factors help you be productive. If it's below 20 degrees in a dim room, expect to make 44% more mistakes than if you worked at 25 degrees in a bright room.
5. Make it a habit to do difficult things first, and then move on to simple tasks. If the “elephant” seems big, start “eating” it in pieces. Scared to start a huge project? You just start, without thoughts, without persuasion, without motivation. Get started and you won’t notice how you get involved. It is better to leave simple tasks at the end of the working day
6. Reduce the number of smoke breaks, breaks, tea parties, etc.
7. Take breaks between tasks. If you've worked for an hour or two, rest for a few minutes. If you are very tired, allow yourself to take a nap for at least 7-15 minutes. This will be enough to help you become productive again.
8. Turn off your phone and don't go online when you're working on important work.
9. Monitor your productivity. There are applications for this.
10. Value your time. Determine how much your minute is worth. And every time you want to surf the Internet, gossip with colleagues, stop yourself. Remember that every day they burn out irrevocably.
11. Firmly not only to perfectionism, laziness, distractions, but also to the eternal beggars who are accustomed to shifting their responsibilities to you.
12. Record your progress. Intermediate control on the way to achieving the goal is very important. Perfect for this.

secrets of productive work

As you can see, there are no terrible secrets. Everything is obvious and known. The main thing is to start taking action. Say goodbye to procrastination and learn to be a productive person.

If your work is productive, you will not suffer from idleness or lack of time. And you can spend your free hours on your favorite hobby, relaxation and other enjoyable activities. I wish you productive work! You will definitely succeed!

If you have something to tell about productive work, share it in the comments. How did you become or want to become a productive person? What did you do or are you doing for this?

Chris Bailey spent a year experimenting to improve his productivity. Here's a guide he put together based on his lessons for anyone who wants to become more effective. After graduating from university, I received two great job offers, but I turned them down - because I had a plan. For a year, I was going to absorb all the productivity information I could get my hands on and blog about it every day. Over the course of the year, I conducted countless experiments, interviewed many extremely productive people, and read a ton of books and studies on productivity. To wrap up this year, I've compiled a list of the top things I've learned this year. These are my favorite ways to hack time, energy, and attention to get more done every day. The article is long, but it's easy to scroll to the right place! Time management How to have more time

1. Spend less time on important tasks. It seems counterintuitive, but practice shows that it helps. When you limit the time you spend on important tasks, you force yourself to expend more energy in less time and get those things done on time.

2. Forget about TV. The average person spends 13.6 years of their life watching TV - which could be better spent on more meaningful tasks.

3. Record your time wasting in a diary. When you track where your time is spent, you can see how much of it is being wasted, which can help you reclaim wasted time and think about how to spend it better in the first place.

4. Avoid activities that drain your time, energy, and attention. It's best to simply keep unproductive activities out of your life.

5. Remember that the best is the enemy of the good. Your home will never be perfectly clean - something will definitely be wrong. Know when to stop, especially in less productive activities.

6. Set aside a day for technical tasks. Group all such tasks (laundry, shopping, cleaning, watering flowers, etc.) into one day so that the rest of the week you have more time to focus on more promising tasks.

7. Don't work more than 35 hours a week. Research shows that under this condition we reach peak productivity and creativity. Yes, working late makes you more productive - but only in the short term.

8. Your emails should not be longer than 5 sentences and it is best to mention this in your email signature. I've gotten crazy fast with my email using this technique, and most people are all for it when you keep it short and to the point.

9. Turn on The Email Game app if you use Gmail. This is a free add-on that turns answering emails into a game.

10. Sign up for Unroll if your email is on Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook.com. This app collects all your subscriptions into one convenient daily email.

11. Stop putting letters into folders. Searching for emails using keywords is much faster.

12. Learn to touch type. This way you will save a lot of time. 13. Track your computer time with the free RescueTime app. You'll be surprised how much time is wasted.

14. The larger proportion of your income you save, the better. If you don't pursue fashion and entertainment, you can shorten your working life by decades. How to spend time doing the right things

15. Identify your most productive activities. Make a list of all the things you are responsible for at work and ask yourself: If you could only do three of these things all day, which ones would you choose? This is where you need to invest 80-90% of your time.

16. Keep your workouts short so you don't feel resistance. This is a great way to learn new habits. “Can I meditate for 15 minutes? No, I feel resistance, I won’t. OK, what if it's 10? Still a lot. What if it's five? Hmm, it seems easy. I think I can do it.” That's it.

17. Work on important but not urgent tasks. Every day, complete at least one important task that you can’t finish right now - this way you will move forward in achieving your long-term goals, and not just close current holes.

18. Use the Pomodoro technique: focus on something for 25 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes. It's incredibly effective.

19. Make a procrastination list: productive and meaningful things to do the next time you procrastinate. This will help you stay productive even when your brain is trying to escape from the tasks ahead.

20. Follow the “two minute rule.” This rule from David Allen's system states that when a task takes less than 2 minutes, just do it instead of putting it on a list for later.

21. Plan your free time. This seems like a backwards principle, but actually structuring our free time makes us happier and more motivated.

22. Determine the next thing you will do based on four questions: where you are (office, home, cottage, etc.), how much time you have, how much energy you have, and what are your most productive activities.

23. Watch how you spend your time. Constantly check and reflect on how you spend your time (and energy and attention) throughout the day. To do this, I set notifications on my phone that sound every hour.

24. Schedule time when you completely disconnect from work. During this time, your brain is still thinking about work issues, but in the background while you are busy doing something else.

25. Spend more time planning. A minute of planning saves five minutes of implementation. If you just execute and don't plan, it's hard to work smarter.

26. Keep in mind what people really mean when they say “I don’t have time.” Usually it’s not that there is no time at all, but that the task doesn’t seem important enough to them.

27. Pause before sending important emails and messages. Give your brain time to form thoughts so your message can become more complete, valuable, and creative. The world will not collapse, and you will be able to convey your point more accurately. Energy management Body control techniques

28. Play sports. This is the best way to become more energetic, and it also helps fight diseases, improves your mood and improves sleep.

29. Eat better. Your food greatly affects your energy levels. The worse you eat, the faster you get tired, and the less energy you have for current affairs.

30. Stop drinking coffee out of habit. Caffeine loses its effect when you drink a lot of it daily, but it is very effective if you use it strategically (only when you need a boost of energy or need to focus).

31. Consume caffeine wisely. Drink more slowly, drink water at the same time, stay away from sugary energy drinks, eat well when consuming caffeine, don't drink coffee on an empty stomach, and don't rush into a second serving of coffee or tea.

32. Don't drink caffeine less than 4-6 hours before bed. It reaches peak levels in the blood within an hour and is eliminated within 4-6 hours.

33. Drink more water. Water adds energy, speeds up metabolism, helps you think, suppresses appetite, helps your body eliminate toxins, reduces the risk of many diseases and even helps you save money!

34. Drink half a liter of water after waking up. Your body has just gone without fluid for eight hours and is clearly dehydrated.

35. Keep a diary of what you eat. People who keep such a diary usually do not overeat - and eat, on average, almost a third less.

36. Get enough sleep - even more than you need. Sleep enhances concentration, attention, decision-making skills, creativity, social skills and overall health, and reduces mood swings, stress, anger and impulsivity. By the way, there is no difference in socioeconomic status between larks and owls.

37. Don't drink late at night. Drinking alcohol before bed impairs sleep quality and reduces energy the next day.

38. Set the air conditioner to 21–22ºC. At this temperature we are most productive.

39. Set the air conditioner to 18.5ºC overnight. Most studies recommend turning your bedroom into a cave at night, where it's cool, dark and quiet.

40. Learn to nap during the day. If your energy is low during the day, take a nap. It strengthens memory, attention, curbs burnout and enhances creativity.

41. Constantly be aware of your energy levels and act accordingly. This way you will be able to recharge your energy in time when there is little energy, and take on bigger, more daring things when there is more energy. Soon you will start to notice certain trends. 42. Find your biological peak by tracking your energy levels throughout the week.

43. Smile! It boosts immunity, helps you cope with stress and see the bigger picture, makes people more trustworthy and just feels good.

44. Paint your office in the right colors. Blue stimulates the mind, yellow stimulates emotions, red stimulates the body, and green instills a sense of balance.

45. Before going to bed, try to look less at colors in the blue part of the spectrum. Looking at your phone, tablet or computer too much is bad for your sleep.

46. Try to be in natural light conditions. It helps you fall asleep, reduces stress, and increases energy and focus.

47. Download f.lux - this program shifts your computer's colors to the red end of the spectrum when the sun goes down, which encourages the body to create more melatonin and improves sleep. Brain Control Techniques

48. Introduce new habits to change your life automatically. This is how changes last for a long time.

49. Learn to reduce stress: exercise, read, listen to music, spend time with friends and family, get a massage, walk in nature, meditate, engage in creative hobbies.

50. Take frequent breaks. This gives you new ideas, allows you to think about your work and become more productive in general.

How many days a week do you actually dedicate to work? Research conducted by Microsoft has proven that there are only three. But if you think about it, we are capable of more than 72 useful hours and 4 days of procrastination! And it’s not about working nonstop, but about finding a balance between rest and work. Tim Ferriss, author of How to Work 4 Hours a Week, Live Anywhere, and Get Rich, gives six tips for making every day as productive as possible.

1. Manage your mood

We read about how to improve our productivity and try to do as we were advised, but nothing works. That's because productivity "how-to's" are designed primarily to be read by a robot. Well, or the hero of the dystopia “Equilibrium”. They are not designed for the rich range of emotions that we can experience.

Always start your day calmly. Warm up, stretch, focus on today's goals and objectives. Prioritize them. During breakfast, try to resist the temptation to read the news feed - this will bring you unnecessary stress and interfere with digestion.

By reading work emails first, you are wasting your personal time working for other people's goals.

Under no circumstances start working right in bed! Many of us are checking work email within four seconds of waking up and starting to panic about the volume of work tasks. When we start the morning like this, the whole day we will not do something, but react.

“The first hour and a half of my morning is exactly the same every day,” says Tim Ferriss. - My body is accustomed to this routine, it helps me keep the situation under control and not give in to panic during emergencies. And if I’m calm, that means I’m productive.” A good start to the day is the key to productivity. But a bad mood is a direct path to procrastination.

2. Don't check your email in the morning.

For most of us, this advice will sound like real stupidity. Indeed, how is it possible to wake up and not check your work and home email, all the news feeds of all social networks? But to the question “What would you like to spend more time in your life?” no one will answer that by mail and social networks. Just imagine: when you read emails first thing in the morning, you can't help but react. This means that you are wasting your best time (your personal time!) working for someone else’s life goals instead of your own.

“If possible, don’t even open email apps or instant messengers for the first two hours after waking up,” advises Tim Ferriss. - I agree that most people find it difficult to even imagine this. So how do I make my to-do list for a day without email? How will I know what tasks I need to complete today? You will be surprised, but you can form 80-90% of your daily plans without looking at Outlook. You can, of course, stop by, but do you need that dose of cortisol and dopamine early in the morning? I don't."

3. Before rushing to do something, ask yourself - is it necessary to do it at all?

To the main question “Why can’t I do everything?” there is a very simple answer. Because you are doing too much. Want to increase your productivity? Instead of spending hours trying to complete one task, ask yourself: “Is this the way to do it?”

“Doing something perfectly doesn't make it a priority,” says Tim Ferriss. - People go to time management training and learn to get things done as quickly as possible. But the problem is that some of them don’t need to be done at all.” It's funny how we complain about not having enough time and then prioritize as if we have enough. So what to do? Perform only tasks of primary importance. And nothing more.

4. Focus - Eliminate distractions

“Everyone in the world has attention deficit disorder, which is a result of living in modern society,” says Ed Hallowell, a professor at Harvard Medical School. Has modern life really distorted our priorities? No. It’s just that there’s a whole carousel of bright, shiny and so attractive distractions spinning around us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our ancestors lived without it. Therefore, we need to work where there is no this distracting merry-go-round.

“The essence of concentration is to minimize the number of factors that can lead you to procrastination,” explains Tim Ferriss. - People perceive concentration as a superpower. This is wrong. It is the ability to place yourself in an empty room with only the work to be done and close the door. That's all."

The importance of self-discipline is greatly exaggerated. A clear daily routine is much more effective

I immediately remember a story about students at a New Haven school whose classroom windows overlooked the railroad, along which freight trains constantly ran. At the end of the year, it turned out that all the students in this class were behind in the program. They were moved to another classroom, away from the distracting noise of trains, and their performance improved.

In short, the more distracted we are, the worse it gets. Top management of large companies are interrupted on average every 20 minutes. How do they manage to complete so many tasks in a day? They work from home for an hour and a half every morning, where no one can disturb them. And then they go to work.

What are you thinking about right now? “I have other responsibilities.” "My boss needs my help." “I was invited to a business meeting.” “My husband calls me.” “I can’t just go and hide”... That’s why you need a system.

5. Develop a system

“I don’t know how I manage to do everything. I just do everything as it turns out and hope for the best,” these are words you will never hear from successful people. Every productive person has a daily routine.

“A clear daily routine is much more effective than self-discipline. “In my opinion, the importance of self-discipline is greatly exaggerated,” Tim Ferriss states categorically. “I usually ask people to create a daily routine so that decision-making only relates to the creative part of their work.”

How to create an ideal system? Tim Ferriss suggests the 80/20 method.

1. Determine which actions are responsible for the majority of your success.
2. Determine which activities are reducing your productivity.
3. Develop your daily routine so that there is several times more of the first point than the second.

So, are you ready to wake up tomorrow with a clear head, fresh thoughts and a clear daily routine. But how do you know where to start and what to do?

6. Set your goals for tomorrow before you go to bed.

This is very important. Then you will be able to wake up and clearly understand what you should do and in what order, and no “pseudo-schedule” will ruin your day.

“It’s best to identify one or two urgent and important things before dinner. This will help you clear your head before bed and prepare for tomorrow,” recommends Tim Ferriss. Create a nightly ritual for yourself. Try to finish work at the same time. Then save all files, disassemble the desktop. Slowly make an action plan for tomorrow.