Five ways to be more productive this new year

New year is the perfect time to make new habits and patterns, but of course it’s also not uncommon to opt for a grand new ambition and give up by the 15^th. What if there were ways of keeping a resolution that could also help with focus, productivity and probably ultimately self esteem long term? Scattered attention is an increasingly common affliction in the 21^st century, with social media distractions, information at the touch of a button and almost instant gratification becoming the norm. Here are some ways to be more productive in 2022.

Batch check communications

Unless something important is expected, none of us really need to be in constant touch with our emails, messages and social media, but most of us are. The temptation to have a quick scroll on Facebook or check whether anyone’s been in touch every five minutes has become a compulsion for many, and constant notifications make it even harder not to constantly check in. Turning off those Twitter notifications, pings from that news spy website or Instagram messages, and setting them to arrive just once or twice a day can make an enormous difference, as can committing to set times for checking emails. 

Write it down

When engaged in an in-depth task, it’s very normal for the mind to wander off on tangents, and sometimes we act on them and start doing something else completely. Trying to ignore thoughts that intrude on our attention is almost impossible, but flitting between tasks is a recipe for disaster. Studies show that writing down the things that threaten to take us off course can be very helpful as there is no fear of forgetting the important ones, and the mind is given permission to offload anything currently unnecessary.

Deep focus with an app

To the same end, these days there is quite a range of apps designed specifically to keep users on track. Forest was created to encourage users to put their phones down; the idea is a tree is planted in a virtual forest for every period of time spent without “phubbing”, and when a certain number of trees are planted the app plant a real one, so there’s a real-life environmental impact too! There’s also Freedom, which allows the user to create “block lists” that translate across all devices, rather than just a phone or laptop, SelfControl, the nuclear option, and many more.

Make lists

A great way to keep on top of to-do lists and the mounting pile of work and life admin is to make lists. Whether they’re kept on a phone and checked off electronically, or as paper notes in a notebook or on post-its that can be removed as they’re done, having a visual reminder and a system, followed by the satisfaction of symbolically getting rid of the backlog once it’s done can be life-changing.

Prioritise

With those lists in mind, it can make a big difference to break down what can seem like an intimidating load into grouped priorities. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a system (appropriately enough called MIT or Most Important Tasks, which suggests that if one focuses on simply checking off items on a list, the result will be a mix of important and less important tasks completed. Instead, spending a few minutes at the beginning of the day to choose one to three MITs (things that, no matter what, need to be done by the end of the day) can make all the difference. It also exposes procrastination as it’s easy to spend the whole day checking off easy, less important to-dos instead of buckling down with the hard stuff.

Bonus tip: Take breaks

Taking regular breaks is key to stay mentally fresh. When concentrating too long on a task, it’s easy to lose the focus. Every 45 minutes to an hour, it’s important to take a small break. Play an online game of klondike solitaire, solitaire or mahjong for a few minutes, take a walk or eat a healthy snack. This means that, after returning to the tasks, the mind will feel re-energised and even more productive.

The editorial unit