Productivity 101: 5 ideas how to be more productive

How to manage your to-do list and be more productive?

It’s March already and it seems like it’s officially time to be feeling accomplished in 2021. And after a tough 2020 and so many things we just couldn’t do, no we have a great opportunity to put some work into finalizing all pending projects and then celebrating all these achievements. I currently have both work and personal to-do lists for the month consisting of about a 100 pretty complex tasks each (everything from purchsing furniture, great amount of additional tasks at work, preparing big scale print orders for my illustration brand etc.) and it’s been so busy ever since the start of the year.

So I found myself using all ideas, resources, advice and books I could in order to do it all succesfully, stay calm and have great results I’ll be proud of. I conducted a couple of experiements with my schedule and habits to discover what works best, I tested some popular tricks and techniques to tell you if they really are useful and I have gathered all facts here to share with you and to help you with your tasks and productivity.

1. limit distractions

It sounds simple but it’s actually not because you might easily get caught up in a complex task with many subtasks and find yourself not knowing where to start or you could jut start procrastinating distracted by emails, social media, a convo with a friend etc. Just DON’T! - don’t let it happen because it would ruin your schedule and today’s the best opportunity to give up on those bad habits. If it’s really hard for you to focus maybe try using the Microsoft Focus plan or the Pomodoro app based on the popular productivity technique or even a handwritten journal where you can enjoy crossing out items off your to-do list. It’s impotant to focus on one task at a time until you finish it or at least make some significant progress on it.

Curiousity can also be a distraction - for example I often find myself interested into new topics or names dropped - of a brand, person, movie etc. I am just very curious and really pile up lots of research ideas in my mind. And I’ve recently found out that researching new things really pumps me up so I decided to make small reseach my go-to first task that would work like a good dopamine booster and motivate me to deal with the other tasks throughout the day. In fact it’s all about finding the best producitvity tricks that work for yourself. Ever wondered what sriracha is or what movies’s got the most Oscars awards ever, now’s your time to research. Take 5 minutes for this then start your focused work time.

2. give yourself rewards

We don’t talk enough about quality breaks and why they are crucial. A 10 minute break can help you accomplish two hours worth of work in about only one hour. Trust me and give it a try to find proof yourself.

We have all read about it and been told mulitple times by friends and family that we should make sure to limit screen time, take breaks, go get some fresh air etc.…but we still seem to forget it sometimes. Please do not forget. They key to productivity is a balanced day, not being too busy and there’s plenty of research on the topic in so many scientific articles.

Make sure to take some spare minutes for a coffee, snack, dancing along to a fave tune, playing an instrument or doing some pushups - whatever you want. It will help you feel better and recharge you for a new set of tasks.

3. write it down

Declutter and get rid of all old to-do lists, notes or any desk mess. Spend a quality half an hour (only half an hour! you shouldn’t turn this into a chance to procrastinate) prioritizing your tasks and make sure you’re left with only one to-do list - it’s a lot easier to progress this way. Writing tasks on sticky notes every day or piling up various to-do lists will not help you in any way. For example I once found myself with so many tasks that my to-do list was literally giant, foldable and consisting of 3 pieces of paper. But it’s okay, we start with task one and go on until everything is done. :)

4. have a dream map

That’s a very useful long-term approach. I recently created my dream map and I should confess that it is a real game changer. It helps you stay focused in the long term and remind yourself what your big goals are so that you stay motivated to do your day-to-day tasks that will bring you closer to success in those areas. The whole process of rethinking your goals, making desicions and re-affirming your belief that all is possible can really help you and give you some positive energy to invest in even the dullest of tasks.

My dream map is from Dari from Dflowlab и Pop art portrety and I’ve shared my whole experience creating it in this article together with some more pictures.

5. just do it

Nike said it well - now just do it.

Start with the smallest and simplest tasks, break down the bigger ones in small ones and just go. You know your priorities, most important and favourite tasks - yes! you do! And if you’re trying to tell me you don’t, you’re just trying to procrastinate again. Just think of a random task you’ve been putting off and really hate - now go do it, just like that, eat the frog first. Then comes the next one, it’s that simple. Usually the hardest thing is to start, that’s the trick - there’s no trick. :)

Thank you for reading, hope my advise will be useful and you’ll really level up your productivity game.

- Nicole

Dream (map) big

I’ve been wondering what’s the best way to start this article because we all seem to try to appear as realists and racionalists, we say we don’t believe in destiny or supersticions or…big dreams. And we do it as if it would make us look wiser, smarter or (how could it possibly?!) happier…

Personally, I’ve always approached any new hting on the orizon with a pinch of faith as well as a pinch of doubt. And I did the same when I found out about dream maps a few years ago. I found some information while researching furthe ron my favourite mood boards and it really seemed great to me that visulization could could actualy help your dreams come true. Well, it sounded a bit too good to be true but still kinda cool.

And basically that was it. I soon forgot about what I have read. Until last autumn I met Dari wo told me all about dream maps and how she has created a brand that provides people with a DIY dream map kit to start their journey to makign their dreams come true.

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Dari’s products are two - the Dream map we are talking about ( that you can see more about here: https://dflowlab.eu) as well as Pop art portrety - special kind of personalized image portrait that are also DIY as you need to paint the canvas for the “magical” image to appear on it. (see more here: https://www.popartportrety.eu)

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We quickly found a topic to discuss - dreams and determination to give your best and achieve your goals. And Dari even gave me one of her amazing dream map kits and my dream map adventure began.

P.S. I can’t wait to tell you and I’ll spoil it by confessing now - it’s kinda unbelievable but the dream map really does work. Psychologists may have said it a thousand times that confidence and positivity improve our chances for success but we don’t quite believe it until we find proof ourselves. In fact the dream map helps you attract positive energy that on the other hand can help our dreams come true and trust me some of my dreams really were almost impossible. I don’’t know what you’re thinking while reading this but all I know is that even I still can’t wrap my head around it although the fact that it’s all happening to me.

What is a dream map? It’s generally a big plan that includes all areas of your life illustrated by beautiful pictures curated to symbolize what exactly the definition of success in this certiin area is to you. You create your dream map yourself by chosing the pictures to and arrange them for your different goals. The process includes putting lots of faith and positivity in the map. what you need to do once the map is ready is place it at a visible place where you can daily use it to review your goals and visualize your success. The magic of the map attracts good luck and helps you make your dreams come true. Trust me, I tested it myself and it does work indeed! ;)

• I followed Dari’s advise to create my map in a period of changes and new beginnings :) the new year did not start very well for me so I decided to reset it with changes and decision in the end of January.

• I chose a sunny Sunday afternoon and worked on the map on my desk under winter sunrays. A cup of coffe and my favourite playlist were there to support me and I was ready for goalsetting. I made sure to give myself a few hours so I can focus and create the map.

• I read all information about the map first so that I know what I should do.

• I evaluated all 9 sectors and started brainstorming what my goals would be for each one of them.

• I cut out all images and arranged the most suitable for my map accordingly.

• I started with sector number 5 and the topic of health, mindfulness and personal development and then continued working on other sectors.

• I chose some very big and some smaller and simpler tasks for each sectro - in order to have some balance

• I filled in the Dream accelerator page as well

• I chose a visible place to put the map so I can foten look at it and use it as inspiration and motivation

The whole experience was great for me, very colourful and fun. I’m a big fan of all DIY projects and all I can say is Yay! Anyway the best part started later actually because once the map was ready I found myself waiting for new things to start happening but it seemed like nothing was happening. And that was when suddenly so many things started happening that I just couldn’t believe it. Everything improved even in areas where I though it was not really possible. So for a couple of weeks I managed to meet and talk to some incredible people. to amke some long postponed big decisions, I luckily managed to find tickets for upcoming events I really liked that seemed sold out, I also made a complete rebranding of my blog and got back to writing and photoshoots which I totally adore, as well as I made some special hobby projects I would love to share soon. I found collaborators for some amazing new ideas and now I also can’t wait to see the great upcoming surprises.

The dream map was very easy and nice to work on while it’s so powerful. Having a chance to see your dreams become true surely is a great reason to give something a try so I dare you to do it. And if you follow my recommendation make sure to tell me and Dari all about your dreams coming true. :)

- Nicole