Massive Productivity… Even When You Don’t Feel Like It!

Massive Productivity… Even When You Don’t Feel Like It!

Did you know that your surroundings could be interrupting your workflow and keeping you from achieving massive productivity?

Let’s face it, sometimes we simply don’t feel like working. There are many reasons why we dread our workload. Overwhelm, boredom, feeling mentally or physically off… Whatever the reason, there are times working is the last thing we want to do.

Everyone deserves a break from work, but sometimes there’s no avoiding what must be done. If you’re in a work-related slump and can’t seem to get motivated, it may be because of your surroundings.

How Your Surroundings Influence Your Workflow

You may not realize how much influences your workflow. In fact, your work is impacted by your senses including what you…

• See
• Hear
• Feel
• Smell

Whether consciously or subliminally, your senses are influenced by your surroundings and greatly impact your mood and productivity. Here’s how:

What you see influences your work flow. Your workspace is influenced by your aesthetic. If you tend to be highly visual, your workspace could become over or underwhelming depending on the view. Factors that influence workflow include:

• Clutter or sparsity- Your productivity can be influenced by clutter making you feel overwhelmed or nervous, while a bare aesthetic can trigger a sense of isolation.
• Poor lighting- Lighting has a direct influence on our subconscious. Fluorescent overhead lighting can be overstimulating. It may cause headaches, and directly affect your mood. Ambient lighting can create a sense of peace and calm helping with focus and productivity.
• Drab décor- If you are in one space for long periods of time, it makes sense to feel ‘at home’ while working. Having décor that reflects your personal style can help you feel energized and happy while working on tasks.
• Visual isolation- If your workspace includes staring at a blank wall, it can become depressing. Simply changing the view in your workspace can help. Where possible rearrange furniture or add décor. If you can’t improve the view, take walks to reboot and refresh your mind.
• Color- Studies show that color affects mood. Did you know red is known to cause hunger? That’s why many fast-food restaurants use red in their décor. Stark whites or other cool-tones can trigger depression and anxiety. Choose a color pallet in your work space that helps boost your mood and energy. Colors with soft and warm undertones can be calming and boost efficiency while you work.

Improving your workspace can improve your workflow. Consider what aesthetic helps you feel more productive and energized. Take time to create an environment you feel comfortable and confident with and you’ll be more motivated to be there as you strive for massive productivity.

What you hear influences your workflow. Our hearing is keener than we realize. In fact, our minds are picking up tons of ‘noise’ from our surroundings that could affect our workflow. What you choose to hear and what you are forced to hear could make you want to bail on work. Here’s how:

Environmental noise… Background noise such as construction, traffic and repetitive sounds like clocks, leaks, or talking can affect workflow. Pay close attention to what noises are agitating .

Music… Music can be a blessing or a curse when it comes to work. Music has a heavy influence on mood and productivity. In many cases, you can choose your background music, but in some cases you can’t. Being able to avoid music that triggers negative emotions is important. From the type of music, to the volume, either could be influencing your workflow.

Silence… For some, silence is key to being more productive while for others it could be detrimental. Determine what works best for you and implement the right noise level for your workspace. Studies show that some people work better with ‘colored noise’ which is a term for background noise set at a certain decibel that helps the brain focus or relax.

Voices… If you are easily distracted, the sounds of voices can influence your productivity and cause you to be more avoidant of work. Close your door, turn off the television or electronics, and create a space where you are free from conversations or chatter while you work.

Understanding the role noise plays in your workflow can help you create an ideal environment for work that is motivating and distraction free.

What you feel influences your workflow. Sometimes discomfort disrupts workflow. How you feel at work can make or break your motivation. Some typical influences include:

Temperature… Being too cold or too hot can impact your mood and focus. Finding ways to manage the temperature can help you be more productive and comfortable while you work. Having access to a fan or a blanket if needed can help you feel more comfortable despite the temperature in the room.

Clothing… Whether you work from home or in a brick-and-mortar location, what you wear matters. Finding clothing that is comfortable and functional helps. Plus, dressing for success subliminally boosts productivity!

Physical fitness and health… How your body feels is a chief contributing factor to your work output. Physical discomfort or poor health influences your productivity and desire to work. Be sure to use sick time when you need to rest and take breaks throughout the day to stretch and move your body to help joints stay healthy.

Equipment… Ergonomics is a vital component of job satisfaction and well-being. OSHA indicates ergonomic injuries create upwards of 20 billion dollars in costs per year. From the chair you use to the height of your keyboard, being comfortable at your workspace could make the difference between wanting to, or avoiding, work. Once I made some simple yet effective changes in my home office, I was able to double my productivity and feel happier as well!

Being uncomfortable contributes to dissatisfaction and avoidance of work. Doing what you can to improve how you feel can lead to achieving massive productivity.

What you smell influences your workflow. Our senses are stimulated by what we smell. Some people love the fresh scent of flowers, while others get headaches from them. Knowing what scents positively influence your work can help you be more productive:

• Citrus and Peppermint:  Both scents are known to boost mood and create focus.
• Aromatic foods: Food scents can trigger hunger, aversion, or peace. Knowing what food smells affect you can be helpful. No one likes the smell of reheated fish, or burnt popcorn, but some people love the smell of fresh baked goods, jasmine, or fresh linen.
• Foul odors: From body odors or strong perfumes to musty environments, odors easily influence productivity. Foul smells can trigger headaches and could be an indicator there are safety issues in the case of mold or mildew.

Try diffusing scents in your workspace that motivate and give you energy. Create special blends of citrus or fall scents depending on what you prefer. The change in the atmosphere can help boost your mood and work output.

Batching Helps Balance Your Work Load and Improve Your Mental Health

If you find yourself avoiding work, it’s important to understand why. Life has its ups and downs and those can influence your mental health and productivity. If there’s not a specific reason affecting your workflow, it could be you’re simply overwhelmed and spread too thin.

One of the reasons people dread working is the sense they can never complete a task entirely before another is looming. Jumping from one task to another, hoping to get it all done day after day is exhausting and can lead to burn out, which is the polar opposite of the massive productivity you want and deserve. A remedy for the madness is batching.

Batching is a concept that helps you gain control of your work load and intentionally design your work week and your work flow. It also helps you control your work load and your mental health. The goal of achieving massive productivity makes sense on many levels.

If you ask most people, they’ll tell you they dread Mondays when they know there’s a week’s worth of work waiting for them. Wouldn’t it be better to have a clear schedule starting on Friday and lasting into the next week? Batching makes it more likely you’ll hit Monday with fewer commitments and looming work projects.

Batching structures your work week into a manageable pattern allowing you to group activities and projects and assign them to specific days and times of the week. Batching is a remarkable way to gain control of your work week, work load and improve your mental health. Here’s how it works-

Batching for massive productivity actually begins in the middle of your week. First, batch your work into project types. Examples could be content creation, writing reports, social media, or whatever is pertinent to your work flow. Assign one project type to be done on Wednesdays. From there, assign projects to Tuesday or Thursday working outward through the week.

By focusing on your midweek first, it’s possible to create a schedule that gives you more free time and a lighter workload on Fridays and Mondays. This can greatly improve your stamina, workflow, and overall mental health.

Pro Tip: Batching personal commitments is just as helpful as batching your work load. Assign yourself one day per week for activities like doctor appointments, grocery shopping, or other activities. When making plans, proactively slot your appointments into those days and time frames to keep control of your schedule. This helps eliminate having appointments spread throughout the week needlessly taking up chunks of your time.

Batching your day makes sense as well. Aside from batching your week, batching your day can also be beneficial. Ask yourself when you are most productive. Batch tasks that require the most energy during that time and work outward from there.

If you have the most energy in the morning, schedule the bulk of your work during that time and keep those hours protected from tasks that aren’t as important. If you tend to be more focused in the evening, save tasks that require more energy for that time.

Batching puts control back into your hands. This allows you to create a work week and work flow that makes the most sense for your time and energy. Rather than doing various tasks every day, consolidate them into one project per week. This eliminates being spread too thin, overwhelmed, bored, and overworked. What’s more, done properly, it will give you more free time each day and during the weekends to enjoy your off-duty lifestyle.

Trick Your Brain into Working by Setting a Timer…

Sometimes, half the battle is starting. If you feel burned out and struggle with the thought of working, the urge to avoid it altogether can be strong enough to make you procrastinate. Putting things off can lead to missed deadlines and falling short on your commitments which only adds to the stress you’re already under.

If your tasks feel daunting or distasteful, your brain may magnify the potential discomfort causing you to avoid the tasks, but usually, once you get started, it’s easier than you thought. Tricking your brain into doing the work can help you take the first steps and get going.

Telling yourself you don’t have to spend hours working on a distasteful task has a remarkable influence on your mindset. In fact, the simple act of setting a timer for twenty minutes of focused work, can trick your mind into being more productive and moving you closer to massive productivity. Here’s how it works:

If a task is daunting or creates anxiety, set a timer for a short period of time. Work until the timer sounds and give yourself a break. Do something you enjoy that is the opposite of what you’ve been doing. For example, take a walk outside, enjoy something to eat or drink, or listen to a podcast that will make a difference for your business. Then, reset the timer and work for another chunk of time. When your subconscious believes you’re working in small increments, it is less likely to cause you to procrastinate. Also, once you gain momentum working, you’ll likely want to keep going as your brain becomes engaged in your work.

Additional Ways to Trick Your Brain into Moving You Closer to Massive Productivity

Create a carrot incentive to work towards: If you’ve seen the timeless meme of the donkey aimlessly walking towards a carrot tied before his face, you know how hard he was willing to work in hopes of getting that carrot. What’s your carrot? Choose an activity or item you are willing to work for and treat yourself at the end of the day.

Say NO more than yes: Your brain keeps a mental tally of all its commitments. Reducing the number of tasks you must accomplish in a day can help your brain feel more calm and capable. Set limits on the personal and work commitments you make each day to help your brain be more focused and less overwhelmed.

Eat the frog: Eating the frog is a euphemism Mark Twain used to describe completing difficult tasks. The concept of eating the frog refers to tricking the brain into doing the hardest thing on your to-do list first, thereby making the rest of the day a walk in the park in comparison.

Finding simple ways to trick your brain into short bursts of activity can help you be less avoidant and more productive each day.

How and why do I have more free time and disposable income than almost anyone I know? It has to do with the level of productivity I’ve achieved. Now you can learn from the same person who helped me to take back my life and move forward as a successful entrepreneur and author.

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I’m a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, an independent publisher, and serial entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green and would love to connect with you. If you’re new to the world of online entrepreneurship please check out my training on how to make your first income online at 3 Day eBiz (Use Coupon: MAKEITHAPPEN for a discount) and learn how to gain an unfair advantage when it comes to building a lucrative online business.