Optimize productivity: 2 easy ways how
Of all the strategies I’ve tried over the last several months, there are a few that really stood out in terms of helping with time management and productivity. Here are 2 easy ways to optimize your productivity.
1. Forest: optimize your focus
I heard about Forest from multiple sources but didn’t understand how planting trees could possibly help with productivity. If you’re not familiar with this app, it helps you stay focused by planting a tree. You set a timer for how long you want to focus, and a tree grows in that time. However, if you leave the app, the tree dies. One tree is planted for each timed session that you complete. Surprisingly, this strategy truly helps me stay focused on my work, whether I’m studying or writing posts for my blog.
Forest also helps me fight procrastination. When I’m tired or unmotivated, just planting 1 tree helps me get started. And more times than not, Forest helps me continue working for an extended period of time. It’s oddly quite satisfying to see your forest fill with trees. Another great feature is that the app tracks the total time that you’ve focused. So I get competitive and try to outdo myself or at least meet a target focus time whenever I study.
2. YourHour: optimize your time
There are so many times I’ve gone on social media to take a break only to end up scrolling for way too long. You know when you tell yourself it’s just 5 minutes, but 30 minutes later you’re still scrolling? The worst part is that I usually gain nothing. A few chuckles here and there but usually nothing worth remembering. At least with a good TV show or movie, there’s a storyline or character to look back on. So then I realize I’ve wasted my time, which always leaves me feeling crappy. Especially because this will happen a few times a day.
I finally decided to find an app to help me manage my screen time and found YourHour. It tracks my total usage time and locks me out of apps when I’ve reached the time limit. This saves me from mindless scrolling and makes me conscious of how to use the limited time that I have. While planned or intentional breaks are necessary, I find mindless scrolling to be draining. Time is the one thing that we never get back so I want to use mine intentionally and meaningfully.
Overall, both these apps have helped optimize my productivity by making me more mindful of how I use my time.
What helps you be productive?
-M
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