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One strange question I often encounter in podcast interviews, with strangers on the plane, or amongst my friend group while out to coffee is…”What do you do to stay productive? Describe your daily routine.”
You might think I’m kidding, but I’m for REAL telling you the truth. In fact, I get asked this so much that I find myself asking other people the same question–because it’s strangely fascinating to hear how others manage the busyness of life.
Since this platform, my blog, is my professional time-capsule, I decided to log this information here. I hope to one day look back, and either 1) have developed better productivity habits or 2) realize I’m slacking in an area and reading this post will light a fire under my tail to get back to this thing that once made me feel productive.
Disclosure: I do not think this is a master plan for productivity. It’s merely a log of what I currently do. In fact, I’m interested in learning more about your productivity plan. I might try to adopt some of your strategies.
I like to be up when no one is rustling around. After my morning hygiene routine, I enjoy drinking (aka savoring) my one cup of coffee and read for the first twenty-ish minutes of waking up.
What do I read?
I often am reading a book, but many days I read about 10-12 articles from my Flipboard app. I LOVE this app because it is like the Spotify for reading materials. It curates articles for the topics I enjoy. My subject matter ranges from innovation, brain science, education, business, mindset, self-help, coaching, writing, and marketing. My all-time favorite articles come from Inc. Magazine.
I write in my digital journal daily. My journal is a reflection tool. Embarrassingly, I often “coach” myself through writing. Sometimes it is about situations that happened the day prior, or it can be something that is on my mind at the moment. However, there are times when my journal is simply a reflection of an article I read or a word or two that I had to look up. Side Note: I love learning new words and trying to use them in my writing or speaking vocabulary. I enjoy writing in my journal. It’s a place reserved for zero judgment and helps me collect my thoughts and move past (sometimes negative) situations that would otherwise lodge in my creative mind far too long. I, also, love this time for laying out plans for “outside-of-work” creativity–my passion projects.
I eat breakfast because I know I need to. I’m rarely ever hungry in the morning, but I eat two boiled or scrambled eggs, or Greek yogurt with fruit and oats. My eating habits are boring and often consist of the exact same thing for breakfast and lunch. However, for dinner, I get creative a few times each week. I log my food intake and exercise in an app called My Fitness Pal and currently focus on macronutrients instead of calories. I used to spend my energy focused on calorie intake, but after visiting my whole-body-doctor, I’ve changed my focus, and I set my app to calculate my macronutrient intake as well as calorie intake. My current plan is to consume 30% carbohydrates, 35% protein, and 35% fat. I rarely ever make my protein goal, but I’m working on it. I drink one cup of coffee mentioned above and about 130 oz of water each day.Why the app? My Fitness Pal keeps me honest and helps me actually eat more–which is a good thing, because I tend to get busy with work tasks and forget to eat or eat food that isn’t good for me–like ice cream, my fave! Secret: On the weekends I often splurge and eat whatever I want without logging! I don’t do that every weekend but a lot of them. 😉
Email is a monster! I often don’t want to tackle it, but it’s where I start my workday. To make it a tad more appealing, I send a #GratitudeFirst email each morning. In the school setting, I sent these to random employees (see article HERE), but now I often send them to one of my REAL VIP subscribers. I like to thank them for their support and encourage them to have a fantastic day! It’s simple but helps me tackle the beast–my inbox!For this, I go down the list answering anything I can right away and adding things that need extra attention to my Google Keep tasks list or to my Google Calendar. I file those that are answered and need to be kept in their designated folders and delete emails that are completed or junk mail. I also have a “Follow Up” folder to file emails that need attention later; this file becomes a “to-do” list for the following day.
I used to strive for zero inbox (see article HERE), and sometimes I still do! However, realistically, my goal is zero “unread” and everything that needs to be filed is tucked away, but those that need attention are on my Google Keep list.*Reminder: This is not the master plan of productivity, just my current plan. *wink*
I’m a to-do list girl! As I’m going down my inbox, I’m continually adding items to my Google Keep To-Do list. This list also contains anything that was added to my agenda the day before. It might be parts and pieces of projects I’m working on completing alongside every-week tasks that need reminders.
My workday consists of tackling this Google Keep To-Do list between all of the usual hustle and bustle of the workday–meetings, coaching sessions, travel, speaking events, etc. No two workdays are ever the same for me, but tackling my Google Keep To-Do list remains consistent. (Side Note: I love keeping the marked off items at the bottom. It’s somewhat messy but makes me feel accomplished to scroll down and see them.)
I make time to stop each day–even though my Google Keep list is rarely completed, and workout. At least three times a week, I go to the gym and run a 7-8 minute, one-mile warm-up, and do a weight workout. I alternate between leg day, arm day, and circuit training.Most evenings I walk two miles down our country roads with my hubby. We often reflect on our day and enjoy the beautiful evening Kansas sunset.
With Kaleb away to college, my evenings look a lot like this…After dinner, I usually find myself with my laptop open watching television with my husband. I like watching dance competitions, singing competitions, Property Brothers, Fixer Upper reruns, and my newest favorite is Songland–a songwriting competition. Why is my laptop open? Because I’m still trying to narrow down that Google Keep list for the next day. I often save some tasks, such as basic graphic creation type tasks, that I can tackle while watching TV and chatting with my hubby. Most days, I work on work-related stuff, but when I’m not behind on my Google Keep list, I work on my own passion projects during this time.
On the weekends, I don’t follow this evening routine. It’s mostly my weekday regimen. I have a little more of a life on the weekends. LOL.
I enjoy stretching my brain. Therefore, I’m always working on some sort of new skill. I mentioned earlier, I find pleasure in learning new words and working on my passion projects. Alongside those, I like honing skills or competing with myself by beating my running time or learning new weight training exercises.
Right now, I’ve been working on video editing techniques and the details behind creating special effects.
No matter how busy I get, I feel a sense of accomplishment when I Cannonball In and try something new! Pushing myself out of my comfort zone makes me feel successful.
Between the tasks above, I spend time narrowing down my notifications on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for both my account and DBC, Inc. I rarely get to all of them, but I try. Social media can be a trap for me, so I try to allow myself to go down the notifications and @mentions during the workday, and I save the Home Feed for the evenings. It seems to keep me somewhat focused and doesn’t suck me in for hours.
After my nightly hygiene routine, I usually to to bed by 11 PM. I do wake up in the middle of the night and go down my notifications on social media, but I always go right back to sleep.
There you have it. My 10 keys to productivity or the skeleton of what I do each day. The goal is always to be as prolific as possible. Some days I CRUSH it, but most days I plow down my list completing as much as I possibly can and call it good at the end of the day. *When I travel, my days look slightly different, but most of the key components stay fairly similar.How does your productivity plan look, sound, and/or feel? I’d love to hear one of your favorite tips that keep you feeling like you rocked the day.
I am an educator who values the individuality and uniqueness of others. Writing the blog R.E.A.L. is an outlet for me to pay it forward by sharing ideas, influences, lessons learned and exposing a little vulnerability while encouraging others to maximize their R.E.A.L. potential, as well.