How to increase your productivity in winter

The modern world is fast-paced and busy and navigating the wealth of information we have around time management, expectations, and goal setting can feel overwhelming. Keep reading for seven quick and easy changes you can make every day to balance long-term goals with your day-to-day life.

1. Take time out to plan your day

Rather than having just one giant goal, why not break it down into small, achievable milestones? If big goals look daunting, scale them back and make them monthly, weekly, daily, or even hourly.

At the start of the year, have a goal in mind before you start breaking this down into smaller, more manageable goals. At the beginning of each month, you could even set weekly goals and, depending on what the goal is, break this down further into daily goals. This is a great way to reflect and review what has worked in the past and what you plan to take forward.

An example could be feeling more organised in the everyday. You may not be able to plan your diary for the whole year, but if there is a task that needs completing within the week, try setting aside allocated time per day to get it done.

We recommend physically writing down your schedule or goals to make them more concrete. When we plan things mentally, we’re less likely to follow through because our plans lack the physical accountability that writing them down brings.

2. Keep a thought journal each day

Journaling is a great way to process and challenge certain thoughts and ideas that come and go throughout the day. This helps us become more aware of our thoughts and highlight patterns of thinking that may be holding us back.

Whether you’ve experienced a positive or negative situation during the day, write down how you felt immediately after, 24 hours later, 72 hours later, and then a week after.

When you write things down, you’ll see how your thinking around the incident has developed over time and how you can adapt your future ‘in the moment’ reactions to resemble a more measured response.

3. Set yourself daily positive affirmations

Affirmations are simple, positive statements that you can repeat to yourself throughout the day to reinforce goals and values. Broadcasting an intention or goal at the start of the day can help manifest and build a mental framework that keeps us focused and motivated to keep working towards our goals for the day, week, or year (no matter how big or small)

Affirmations like “I am enough” or “my mental health is a priority” can serve as empowering reminders of our worth, wellbeing, and goals for the day. These statements encourage self-compassion and help shift our mindset away from one of self-doubt to self-confidence.

To make the most of these affirmations, choose statements that resonate with personal goals and values. You can find inspiration for affirmations from various sources, including online resources, self-help books, or dedicated apps. If you’re struggling to find something, put some time aside for meditation or mindfulness practice and get closer to the things that matter most to you.

Aside from introducing affirmations in the morning, try repeating them during moments of high stress or when you’re facing or approaching a difficult task. It’s amazing how much positive thinking and manifesting an outcome can help you stay grounded and focused.

By consistently using positive affirmations, you'll build a resilient mindset that supports both your personal and professional growth.

4. Use SMART goals to achieve your targets

We all have hopes, dreams, and goals we want to achieve and realise in the future, but many of us lack the ability to effectively build a plan that helps us work towards getting what we want. Add in vague goals that look unclear and feel unattainable and it’s not surprising that we struggle.

Structuring our short and long-term achievements around SMART (SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals can help make goal setting more manageable and improve productivity in our personal and work lives.

They help us stay organised and keep us motivated by breaking larger goals into smaller, actionable tasks that appear more manageable and achievable. SMART goals also ensure every objective we set is clear, realistic, and manageable by forcing us to define what we want and what small steps are required for us to get it.

For instance, instead of setting a vague goal like “get fitter” or “lose some weight” a SMART goal would be “go to the gym three times a week for 30 minutes over the next month”. By pairing an attainable and quantifiable figure with a behaviour, you’ve set yourself a goal that’s measurable and achievable.

SMART goals are just as useful in the workplace for planning your diary, creating a task hierarchy, or prioritising your workflow. It’s common to feel pulled in different directions by multiple tasks and deadlines at work, but by breaking down complex projects into smaller, more manageable steps, we can start to make progress without becoming overwhelmed.

Create a measurable timeframe that’s achievable and practical based on your workload and break the ‘bigger picture task’ down into a series of smaller steps. Taking 15 or 20 minutes out of your morning to do this will save you time in the long run. Eventually, you’ll even start to subconsciously break down projects into smaller, more manageable chunks.

5. Take breaks to recharge

Taking breaks can feel counterproductive (especially at work), but they’re essential for processing the information we take in during the day and for preventing burnout. If we don’t take breaks to rest and recharge, we become less productive over time and symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, and irritability start to impact our ability to manage productivity and regulate our emotions.

In the workplace, many of us regularly work long hours without taking breaks because we think our schedule demands it. The truth is that the quality of our work suffers and we’re more prone to errors and mistakes when we don’t take time out. Our concentration and performance levels drop and our ability to focus on the task at hand starts to decline.

Short breaks between tasks help reduce mental fatigue, allowing you to stay focused and perform at your best for longer. Taking short, intentional breaks gives your mind a chance to recharge and return to tasks with renewed energy and clarity.

This could be something as simple as standing up and stretching, grabbing a coffee, or stepping outside for some fresh air. You’ll shake off the cobwebs and feel more motivated and alert when you return.

6. Use stress management techniques

Chronic stress affects our mental and physical health and diminishes our ability to stay focused and perform efficiently. When we’re stressed, we can’t focus on the task at hand, or effectively plan for the future.

By learning how to manage stress, we can clear our minds, improve decision-making, and stay on top of tasks during frantic busy periods. Learning to do this is crucial for maintaining a balance between self-care and productivity, especially when life feels overwhelming.

Stress management techniques like mindfulness and deep breathing exercises can help you stay grounded, especially when your schedule gets busy.  These practices encourage us to slow down and focus on the present moment, allowing us to manage tasks with a clear mind and less anxiety.

Physical activity is also a great way to relieve stress. Something as simple as a 10-minute walk can reset your energy levels and help clear your mind. Just changing our environment and surroundings can reshape how we see a stressful or challenging situation. Another powerful tool is maintaining a sense of structure. This helps reduce decision fatigue and keeps us focused on one task at a time, rather than getting distracted by everything else we need to accomplish.

Last and definitely not least is self-care. Whether it’s ensuring adequate sleep, spending time outdoors, or practising relaxation techniques, make sure you’re setting time aside for you. You’ll find it easier to navigate work and personal demands when you’re rejuvenated and fresh after performing an enjoyable activity or getting a good night’s sleep.

7. Review and reflect at the end of the day

Learning from the past is a really important part of becoming more productive and efficient with our time.

It’s easy to move from one task to the next without taking stock of the progress we’ve made. Things move fast during the day, so taking time out to reflect on our achievements and interactions in the evening is a great way to get a fresh perspective on what we did that day. Downtime allows us to pause, look back on what we accomplished, and assess whether we’re moving in the right direction.

What this looks like for you will all depend on what you find relaxing. You might want to sit at your desk and pen a journal-style diary entry, or sit quietly on your bed, light a candle, and mentally walk yourself through what happened that day. Either way, set this time aside for you. Leave your phone in another room, turn the TV off, and incorporate other relaxation and self-care techniques that help you chill out and wind down after a busy day.

If you’re struggling to get started, just close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Reflect on the contents of the day and see what thoughts, feelings, and emotions rise to the surface. Think specifically about your actions, decisions, and interactions with other people and pay attention to how the thoughts that come and go make you feel both physically and emotionally.

Last updated Thursday 12 September 2024

First published on Thursday 12 September 2024