I read a bunch of productivity tips once—and then spent the rest of the day feeling accomplished for reading them.
It’s not rare to see celebrities adopt a multi-hyphen tagline (Actor-Writer-Comic-TikTok star) to describe themselves as a means of self-promotion. But believe it or not, we are all multi-hyphenates in some shape or form.
We may not all pursue lofty goals such as getting PhDs or founding charities. But nearly all of us take on responsibilities that build up over time by virtue of simply being functioning members of society (bold assumption to make, I know) —whether it's work, family, friends, pets, or the duties that come with each.
Add to the above list interests and hobbies, which, if you’re like me, change much like the changing seasons. Before long, we find ourselves caught in a web of busyness, juggling more than we can handle and wondering how we got here.
This is where a strange fascination of mine comes in handy: the urge to declutter, organize, and be productive.
Obsession with Productivity
When I’m overwhelmed or in a funk, reading about productivity tips lifts my spirits the way some find knitting soothing. I’m sure there is a medical condition that describes my proclivities towards order, but I digress.
The good news is that my obsession with staying organized and finding productivity tips has a silver lining: Not only has it been therapeutic, but it has also proven to be a great time-management resource and helped me get stuff done.
I'm repeatedly asked how I manage my time. While I don’t claim to be a guru of any sort, I feel some methods consistently work to keep the madness at bay. Here are five of my go-to organizing and productivity tips.
Five Organizing and Productivity Tips
Whether you’re a seasoned pro who rolls their eyes at organizing or productivity hacks, or you're more like my 20-year-old self desperately in need of a roadmap, these five productivity tips below are at least worth reading. It’s entirely your call if you want to try any of them out—or just use them as further proof of the futility of human endeavor.
1. Keep a Zero Inbox
If you squint hard enough, 4833 unread emails can look like inbox zero.
My inbox is almost always at or close to zero. I know it might sound impossible to some, but for me, it’s become a daily ritual that helps me stay focused.
Despite all the advances in technology, Email is still a significant part of our communication network and the gateway to happenings, events, statements, bills, notices, promotional material, and, of course, spam.
I manage many inboxes (see the reference to changing interests/changing seasons above) and, at least 2-3 times a day, quickly review the items in my consolidated email inbox. By default, I mass-delete most of them, saving the ones I may need later in a separate folder(s) and leaving the ones that actually need my attention sitting in my inbox. Over time, those get moved to the save/delete folder as well.
Pro Tip: If you’re shelling out for extra cloud storage because you’ve got 9,834 unread emails hovering in your inbox, it might be time to look into the Zero-Inbox strategy. Just sayin’.
2. Use Lists
I make to-do lists just to feel the joy of crossing off things I’ll never actually do. Unknown.
This is not the first time I’m extolling the virtues of To-do lists.
Lists are friends. It is extremely rare for me to go to bed without making a list of what I need to do the following day. Over the years, this has become even more important because
- I really do have more to do now than I did in my free-spirited younger days, and lists help keep track of all that I’m supposed to do
- I have the memory of a firefly, so until I get an AI memory chip implant in my brain, I’ll continue using lists the way you attach external memory to devices hardware engineers took shortcuts on.
That said, you could have the most detailed task list in existence and still get nothing meaningful done. Highlighting the three (or five, for you optimists) most important tasks on the list helps to keep a clear line between what’s important and what’s urgent.
3. Understand The Power of Sprints
Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire. Wendell Berry
It has happened—I look at what I need to do and decide to take a nap.
The only valid and workable solution I’ve found when faced with something overwhelming is to use the power of sprints. I set a timer, stop multitasking, focus on the elephant in the room and when the timer goes off, I stop.
Scheduling regular mini-decluttering and organizing sessions is the only way to keep on top of the messes that are inevitable for those of us who aren’t monks.
4. Get Comfortable Saying “No”
‘No’ is a complete sentence and the ultimate time-saving hack."
If you've ever read or even cursorily glanced at anything I've written, you'll notice a common theme: I typically tout can-do optimism most of the time. I'm all about making the most of the brief time we walk on earth. If I were to pass today, you couldn't go wrong with this inscription on my tombstone: "Her days were jam-packed, and her to-do lists were overflowing."
But now, when there are more pies than ever to dip my fingers into, I'm inspired to slow down. Not because I'm less enthused but because I'm finally beginning to wise up to the detrimental effects and the futility of trying to do it all.
I'm now on a mission to say "NO" more often.
5. The Power of Perspective
If all of the above tips fail, it’s still okay. There will be days or weeks (hopefully, they don’t turn into months or years) when we may not have the energy, bandwidth, or motivation to do. The best alternative at such times is to afford ourselves the grace of perspective and to let go.
If you feel stuck, instead of cleaning, you could give yourself permission to watch an episode of Hoarders. Soon, you’ll realize just how fantastic your life is in comparison. There is nothing quite like seeing the extremes to put things into perspective.
Finally
Productivity is just doing stuff so you don’t feel bad about binge-watching later.
Keeping my linen closet neat won’t solve the Middle East conflict. Heck, not even my family, who seem to have a knack for grabbing the towel from the bottom of the stack, will likely notice the effort I put into it.
Yet, it feels good. Maybe the reason I find a well-organized linen closet (even if it only lasts for a few minutes) oddly satisfying is an indirect acknowledgment of the reality that I have very limited control over external events.
Maybe it's the act of trying to stay organized and productive that brings us joy instead of treating productivity like some stepping stone to a future version of happiness we can’t even picture.
Because, ultimately, what is life, if not very tiny moments of joy strung together?