Chapter 7: Being Productive

Dear reader,

Well, well, well, if it isn't the mysterious blog reader again...you sly devil you! :). Please, make yourself comfortable, I will hang up your coat.

Over the last three weeks I have learnt how to be twice as productive with my daily routine. Huli is a blog producing maniac for a reason. Today's article is all about facing laziness and smacking it in the nose, or, if you want the less violent approach, tickling it until it passes out.

As humans we are all prone to procrastination. In fact it is often those with a plan, those who want to be organized and do well, that are the biggest victims of all. (The lazy people are often the brilliant people) This is because these people assume that their own hard work and backbone will pull them through. What they fail to notice is that quite often this backbone comes far too late or ceases to exist at all. They need a handsome guy to sell them one. *Pulls out of his pocket a wallet* They are five hundred pounds. Gimme.

What is the solution? It is quite simple really, follow with three simple tips:


1. Kill the moments of down time. Even if you are working during the day, ignore the temptation to take off those work clothes, relax and be stimulated by the television or to have a sit down. Get out of your chair and do something active. I  Alternatively, do some standing cooking and watch your television there. You could even shake your behind. I do the washing up while watching Youtube--it works. Learn to multi-task with entertainment and boring chores. If you hate hoovering, listen to a podcast on your MP3 player while doing it. If you are cooking, watch your movie on your laptop there and then while you are seasoning that meat, instead of later on the couch in front of the television snuggled up with your pillow. The difference is that the cooking will set a deadline to how long you can spend watching that film, while the comfort of the couch will overwhelm you and make you sleepier. If you are a student, use the point below. If you are walking to a location, call someone while you walk.

2. Become organized. There are two websites that I am using right now that are incredible for managing my time and forcing me to achieve goals. They are Springpad and Wunderlist.

• Springpad is a site that I use to store and organize all of my findings--whether it is a picture of the latest male fashion, a restaurant that I enjoyed eating in a week ago, an exercise video, or piano song. You store the links in "notebooks" which can be accessed at any time and shared with your friends. This not only saves you from re-finding the link, but it organizes your thoughts and turns streaming the internet into a game of finding new knowledge to fill those digital notebooks. 

• Wunderlist is a to do list with a gorgeous interface. It is easy to use and can be supported by smart devices such as Apple products and Androids. You can set goals to achieve on the day, and also add options to repeat everyday weekly and monthly. You can also set a reminder option so that it will remind your phone with a beep and active alert.

The great thing about these websites is that they take away the need to procrastinate on the internet, as they refocus your energies into productive activities rather than websites that just tickle your attention span. It forces you to do things that are for your own benefit. Trust me, when you start to do this all quite suddenly becomes addictive.

3. Wake up earlier. The more time that you have in the day, the more you have to spend doing great things. In the past I made it a habit of waking up late due to going to bed late (usually staying up and watching videos early into the morning :P). By all means stay up late if you are gaining something, ie: studying or producing something, but never sacrifice sleep, it is more important than having a few laughs before you close your eyes. As a student having the morning off gives you plenty of time to study. If you are in the working world it gives you time to have a morning jog to begin your day energized . You can manage the times of the day more by setting yourself targets (again Wunderlist is great at doing this). For example, you may set a target whereby if you don't read up to a certain target you are not allowed to do x. This is a way of rewarding yourself for hard work, but it also makes you more conscious of time and teaches you how to divide up your day properly to maximize the results.

Lastly, it is important to note that being productive varies between people. Right now my family are being productive with their sleeping. Others may feel productive when making a peanut butter jelly sandwich. I personally feel productive when I feel mentally exhausted. Find the hallmark for yourself and you will be amazed at the transformation. Fundamentally this will help with your inner self, it will teach you how to pursue your potential with style. Go on then busy bee, make me some honey--I want some with my cereal tomorrow. Have a great day.:D and I hope this was of some benefit to you!

It's time for bed :)