Escape’s Guide to Being Productive

Priority list

We’re so used to living completely in our heads, moving from subject to subject that we rarely zoom out of our spotlight focus and widen our attention. Going from one task to another without reference to a wider plan and tracking your process is a recipe for anxiety. It’s what keeps you at your desk despite having already gone overtime.

Writing a short list of priorities is the antidote to this. A priority list doesn’t have to be long. Even if you just clarify what your one most important task of the day that is enough. Action rarely makes us feel stressed, it’s avoiding it that does. We still have pretty simple reward processes in the brain, so if you set your battle, choose your enemy, and finish it off, you’ll feel much better. You can then close your laptop knowing that you’ve earned your rest.

Some prefer to do this first thing in the morning, others last thing the night before. See which works best for you. 

Break it down into sessions

We are more effective when we define a task and the period of time we’re going to take to tackle it. It gives us momentum. We start moving with time rather than letting it wash over us. Consider when you’re at your most effective, morning, afternoon or evening and do the most mentally taxing work when you know you have the most energy. 

Plan out when you will do which task. You will feel yourself moving through the day with each task and relax any fears you may have and show you what you’re achieving. 

Block distractions

Apps, social media and news websites have got their roots deep into our brains now, and it even feels like they’re in our fingers. The number of times we open a website unconsciously, almost involuntarily, demonstrates this. Well, extensions such as Self Control and Serene can help you out by blocking the worst offending websites and building a barrier to those instant gratification-obsessed fingers. 

Limit time-sucking tasks

We’re talking about you emails. You are like the night sky - theoretically endless. There is only so much time one should spend in their mailbox. Especially as, like social media companies, they have become data farms and want you anxiously spending as much time in there as possible.  

We advise blocking out two periods of 20 to 30 minutes for your emails, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. 

Meetings are implicated in this too. Regular meetings spread throughout the day interfere with getting into a flow state with your work. They exacerbate the problem of bouncing from task to task and never knuckling down with one. Saying “no” to meetings is ok. You can also block out time when you will take meetings and times when you will do deep work. Reducing the duration of meetings is also good.

Accept and enjoy breaks

Anyone who takes productivity seriously takes breaks. Research demonstrates that most workers only achieve about 3 hours of productive work a day. First, accept that you need breaks, secondly, enjoy them as much as possible.

Breaks are great, the better the break, the better your work afterwards. It’s like sleep. If you don’t do it enough you suffer. You can’t just furrow your brow you can blast through it. Your brain will gradually take in less and less information and your work will deteriorate. Attention spans are shortening, and while you can tackle this in the long term, you will have to allow yourself the brain you currently have and work with it.

Research shows that most people working from home don’t take a lunch break. It’s pretty hard to when your house has turned into your office and it’s raining outside. However, it doesn’t stop them from being important. Put as much thought into what you will do in your breaks as you do with what you will do while you work. It’s vital for you to feel refreshed and to boost your mood. 

Apps like Pomodoro Focus are great for this. After 25 minutes of working, you get a 5-minute break. After another 25 minutes, you get a 10-minute break. 

Complement this with the best productivity tools to keep you focused and how to stay motivated in a job search.