Can you tell I’m not doing much traveling at the moment? Because I seem to be writing about everything but travel. Hopefully this post will help those who are trying to balance too many things: a blog, work full-time, travel, study etc. I sure know I’m not the only one who juggles a handful of different responsibilities every day.
Five Ways I Manage My Time Productively
I get up at the same time everyday no matter my commitments and always leave myself enough to complete some tasks before leaving the house
Ok, well maybe not everyday, I tend to let myself have a sleep in on a Sunday or just stay in bed and start my to do list instead of getting up. However, every other day of the week I am up and dressed within minutes of my alarm going off. None of this snoozing my alarm for half an hour business, having half an hour of disturbed sleep just seems silly to me. But then I am a morning person…
I try to leave the house every morning feeling like I have already achieved something with my day. Whether that is a reading for uni, part of my assignment or scheduling social media for my blog. As long as I’ve checked one thing off my to do list before I leave the house, I’m happy. The only excuse is when I’m getting up and heading straight to the gym.
I make the most of every minute of the day
I know its bad but I tend to eat my lunch sat at my computer, probably catching up on social media or reading blogs or even writing blogs like I am right now. Yes it’s good to take breaks but I don’t see the point wasting an hour to eat lunch and do nothing productive. Whether I’m sat in the uni library or my local coffee shop I always have to be doing something productive. I’ve become really good at making use of my time no matter where I am. The only ‘dead’ time I have in my day is when I’m cycling/driving between places because of this, if I have a break during my lectures I tend to stay in university meaning I gain an extra 30 minutes to my day.
When you are short on time for getting everything done, I find the most important thing is having a list of what you need to do. This way whenever you have a spare 10 minutes you don’t have to think about what you can do because you already have a note to hand.
I don’t own a TV
This is probably one of the biggest ways I’m so productive with my time. I recently spent a week at my parents and instantly realised the dent a TV makes on my productivity. No matter how hard I tried the noise and visual of the TV just kept distracting me (I was too social to sit in another room). I will occasionally watch stuff on my laptop but I tend not to bother because I could be busy using my laptop screen for something else.
If I find I need to watch something to relax then I choose inspiring travel vloggers to catch up with on YouTube, thus helping me with blogging ideas. However, I cannot sit in a room with no noise so I ALWAYS have music playing in the background. What I’m doing will depend on what I listen to because I’ve found I cannot read for university and listen to songs with lyrics I love!
I write a to do list of my three main goals every morning
This step is so simple but it sets me up perfectly for the day. First I write down any compulsory things I have to do that day (lectures, work, tutorials etc.) and then underneath I write down my main three items to do on top of this. Some days that will be simple tasks like do laundry, go to the grocery store other times it could be to complete a certain piece of uni work or to spend 30 minutes on an ongoing project. The nature of my goals will depend on how much free time I have that day and how behind I am on everyday life tasks.
This is something you could easily do the night before so you already have an idea of how your day will pan out before going to bed. Equally it doesn’t have to be three points it could easily be two or four – whatever works best for you.
I use Pinterest when I’m stuck
I know Pinterest can be time consuming and a bad idea when you are busy but equally when you are feeling stuck it can be useful. They have a wealth of productivity tips on there, such as the tip about writing three goals down every morning came from browsing Pinterest. I get ideas for teaching, blogging, tackling university work and even just the other day I found a brilliant technique for note taking from university textbooks.
And if all else fails at least I will look at anything travel related and immediately I’m inspired. It is amazing how much more you can achieve when you are feeling inspired and positive.
Follow Jodie’s board Productivity on Pinterest.
Do you use any of the techniques described? Or do you have something else I should try?
Tags: Advice Blogging Inspiration productivity