This is a guest post by one of the UK’s leading experts in digital distraction and digital detox, Frances Booth, author of The Distraction Trap: How to Focus in a Digital World, A Writer For All Seasons, and more productivity tips. Find out more about her here.
Could you use your weekend to be more productive, not by cramming it full of work, but in other ways?
Time away from the office is an important aspect of productivity. For a start, that’s when we get to choose for ourselves how we spend our time.
Often, however, when it gets to Monday morning we don’t feel refreshed or productive. We feel in need of another weekend before the week has even begun. [Tweet “What should you do at the weekend to help boost your productivity for the following week?”]
Here are some suggestions of strategies to experiment with.
Leave it in the office
Many of us feel a huge expectation and obligation to work at the weekend. Sometimes, rather than this being driven by our bosses or colleagues, however, this is a habit we have created ourselves. Ask yourself why you are working at the weekend? If you end up working at the weekend to catch up on work you didn’t get done and want to be more productive during the week instead, start to analyse what you could do to boost your productivity. Do you need tactics to deal with procrastination? Are distractions costing you time? Is leaving work on time an issue? Leaving work in the office and calling it a day (or a week) is sometimes really hard to do. But rather than so often worrying about working more, perhaps we should start worrying about living more.
Let your mind wander
Letting your mind wander is an important state for making connections between different pieces of information. It can help us connect seemingly unconnected things, and often leads to bright ideas. During the week, we often don’t have as much time for this as at the weekend. When we’re concentrating intently on a task at work, or when we’re being bombarded with information or demands, our attention is taken up by these things. So take some time out at the weekend to let your mind wander while you walk, run, or simply close your eyes. Don’t allow digital distractions or interruptions – for example from your smartphone or emails – while you do this, otherwise that’s where your attention will turn. See what ideas you come up with and what connections you make when you let your mind wander.
Do the little things
Often what overwhelms us during the week is a pile of personal admin tasks we need to deal with, clear through or do, that we just don’t have time for alongside work during the week. A weekend is a good time to get through the backlog of small tasks that will plague you all week long if they are not done, clearing space for concentrating on other things. Once you’ve cleared the backlog, do tasks that take five minutes or less straight away (whether it’s a weekday or weekend) so that those small tasks (like putting things away or booking appointments) never get added to the To Do list in the first place and don’t mount up into an overwhelming pile.
Power of rest
To work in a highly productive way during the week, you need to have enough energy. But low-level constant working over evenings and weekends (for example checking email and doing work tasks) can lead to us not taking the opportunity to get the rest we need. Because digital devices mean we can work anywhere and any time, we often adopt these habits without thinking much about the consequences. This can creep and become an expectation we feel to be constantly on call. Exhaustion, burnout and illness can all be fuelled by the feeling that you never get chance to switch off. Setting aside time for rest means investing in sleep, and knowing when to step away from your smartphone or other work demands. See whether you feel more productive on Monday morning after a proper dose of time out.
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Rediscover the small wonders that make you happy, carving out one minute at a time, one day at a time
We all lead busy lives and it is sometimes easy to loose sight of those small things that can make a major difference to our daily experience of happiness.
That’s why Do What You Love created this 31-day challenge to make time for the things you love. Let’s think of it as an experiment in happiness and prioritisation – it starts very gently, and slowly but surely builds over the 31 days, so by the end you will be amazed by how much additional time and space you have found in your day.
It couldn’t be more simple to get involved – just sign up below and get ready to begin. Check your inbox for details, and get ready to receive one inspiring email a day for 31 days. Each one will provide thought-provoking words and a prompt to encourage you to create, connect or just find more joy. Making time for the things you love is vital, and it couldn’t be easier with this fun challenge. So sign up now – it takes less than a minute! After all, the minutes, become the hours, become the days of our lives…
