Week 8: Planning your productivity
Welcome to Week 8. Let’s get sh*t done.
For me, weekends are an opportunity to get ahead. I enjoy setting aside time to see friends and family, or having a few fun plans set in advance, but to be completely honest… I LOVE spending my precious weekend hours checking items off my (continuously expanding) to-do list.
If you’re reading that thinking, “does Sydney ever just chill out??” let me clear this up…
I 100% have moments during my weekends—and my week as a whole—where I do absolutely nothing “productive.” I’m talking full couch potato mode. I basically become the couch.
And if I’m being transparent here… I have moments like that daily. Why? Because I operate against a schedule of my own personal productivity.
Before we hone in on this week’s focus, let’s get on the same page: productivity is not synonymous with being busy—in fact, being painfully busy is likely a signal that you’re not a very productive person.
Productivity is all about the efficiency and consistency of your work, not the volume.
We all have peaks and valleys of productivity throughout our day, but most of us aren’t identifying them, let alone scheduling around them. Instead, we power through our 9-5, and then pick up where we left off back at home, or procrastinate our projects because we “just don’t have the motivation.”
What if instead of overworking and overwhelming ourselves, we dialed in during our productive hours, and gave ourselves the grace of a break or lighter work otherwise?
This week, we’re identifying our personal peak productivity hours and staying mindful to work efficiently and consistently within them. Let’s get shit done!
Step 1: Audit your productivity
At the beginning of our journey, you completed the Self by Syd Daily Tracker (or your own version of it), and as part of this, you checked in with yourself three times per day and rated your productivity on a scale from 1-3.
If you haven’t been continuously filling that out, spend this week giving yourself periodic productivity check-ins in the morning after breakfast, after lunch, and after dinner, and score yourself with the corresponding number below:
I have no idea what I accomplished today. I was in a fog.
It was an average day! I feel content with the progress I made.
I was ON FIRE today. I started and finished my memoir, ran for President, and released my first studio album.
With this data, we’re going to start identifying your peak productivity hours by exploring the following questions…
On average, how do I rate my productivity in the morning?
On average, how do I rate my productivity in the afternoon?
On average, how do I rate my productivity in the evening?
Through the week, is there a time of day that I felt consistently highly productive?
This may go without saying, but your peak productivity hours are those during which you score your productivity comparatively high. Make note of those!
Step 2: Get your priorities straight
Before we can use those peak productivity hours, we have to know what to fill them with. Understanding what your priorities are is arguably the most important factor of being a productive person. If you don’t know what needs to get done and when, you’re consequently going to be inefficient with your time.
Here’s an exercise you can use repeatedly to prioritize your work:
Make an exhaustive list of everything you need to get done—literally drain your brain of every possible to-do you have for this week. If you do this right, the list should be LONG.
Cross off everything you are not directly responsible for. This includes anything that has a dependency attached to it, like someone else returning work or a decision to you first.
Cross off everything that doesn’t have a deadline. If deadlines aren’t shared with you, then it’s not time sensitive and can take a backseat to more pressing items.
If you have direct reports or help (e.g. a partner for to-dos around the house), cross off everything you don’t need to do yourself. If it doesn’t require your specific skill set, delegate it.
For the remaining items, identify and jot down three things:
That task’s deadline
A ranking of effort:
High: you need zero distractions and laser focus to get this done
Medium: you would prefer zero distractions, but could handle an interruption and still make progress
Low: you could take care of this while sustaining a conversation with your work bestie
The amount of time you predict it will take you to complete it plus 10 minutes. That’s not a scientific suggestion, it’s just my general rule of thumb—I’m terrible at predicting how long it will actually take me to finish something.
Step 3: Schedule out your productive day
During your identified peak productivity hours from Step 1, schedule:
High- to medium-effort, nearest deadline tasks in order of allotted time from greatest to least amount of time
Flexible time blocks for “fires” (quick, unexpected tasks that need to be completed urgently upon notice)
During your off-hours from Step 1, schedule
Low-effort, nearest deadline tasks in order of allotted time from greatest to least amount of time
Breaks
In a funk? Try these.
Intentionally mapping out your day, and still not getting work done? Been there.
Take your pick to re-ignite your productivity fire:
Turn off your phone, or store it away somewhere out of comfortable reach. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, turn your phone on do not disturb to limit distractions.
Take a walk. A quick bout of fresh air works wonders, but a quick lap around the office or your home should do the trick.
Take a break. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is step away, recharge, and return.
Switch it up. Task switching is tricky, but if you’re just not making progress on what you’re currently focusing on, switch gears to a different task to avoid wasting that time.
Phone a friend. A quick chat can spark much-needed creative energy to complete a daunting to-do.
Feeling ready for the week? No Sunday Scaries here.