How to Create a Productive Environment
4 Simple Steps to Boost Your Productivity
It’s Monday morning.
You have piles of work to finish.
You get to your desk.
You’re feeling miserable. Your desk is a mess and you don’t know where anything is.
Just glancing at your desk gives you anxiety. You have no motivation and you’re constantly distracted.
You’re willing to do anything BUT your tasks.
So you begin to procrastinate. You go on your phone and end up wasting countless hours on Instagram.
Worst of all, by the time you begin your work, you no longer have the energy or motivation to do anything.
You start to feel guilty about your inability to get anything done. Asking questions like…
“Am I capable of getting anything done?”
“Why am I so distracted all the time?”
“Why can’t I focus?”
If you’re having these thoughts, you’re not alone.
I too asked the same questions when I started working from home.
Ever since the COVID-19 lockdown…
I couldn’t focus. I wasn’t getting anything done.
Until I realized one thing…
My environment controlled how I spent my time.
You’ve probably heard of the saying “mind over matters.”
While this statement has a lot of truth, it doesn’t tell the whole story of how your mind overcomes matters.
Our environment can’t physically make us do something against our will.
BUT, it can set off psychological triggers that move us to take certain actions.
And for you to design your environment in such a way that triggers your mind to move productively…
You first have to determine which actions are productive. And the fastest way to do this is to set some goals.
1. Set S.M.A.R.T Goals
S.M.A.R.T stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Timely
When you set clear goals, it will help you determine two key objectives:
- Which items to keep
- Which items to discard
It also helps you prioritize your tasks. And in some cases, which activities to avoid altogether.
Your goals are the blueprint for a productive environment.
Writing down my goals helped me determine my course of action throughout my day.
While I pursued my goals, I encountered obstacles that stood in my way. Sometimes it takes personal experience to pinpoint the distractions in your life. You may not succeed in your first attempt at creating an ideal work environment.
Don’t let failure discourage you. And don’t call it a failure. Call it an education. When you fail, you learn what doesn’t work.
We can’t predict all the problems we’ll have in the future. But what we can do is to learn from our past.
The world’s second-richest hedge fund manager, Ray Dalio said it best.
“Pain plus reflection equals progress.”
2. Identify Your Distractions
Most people emphasize too much on the “working hard part” of reaching their goals.
Although having a good work ethic is important, this isn’t the only way to increase your productivity. Spending time to get rid of obstacles that get in the way of your success is equally important.
Most distractions are easy to spot while some are more subtle. As humans, each of us has a bad habit or two. Admitting that we have a problem area in our life can be tough.
One of the fastest ways to identify your weakness is to create an activity log for our day. When we honestly record what we do, it will open our eyes to the blind spots in our lives.
For example, I began timing myself whenever I would decide to play games or go on social media. And I realized that I was wasting about 20 hours of valuable time every week.
This was a HUGE wake-up call for me, and I even felt ashamed.
But at the same time, I felt a sense of relief knowing that I am changing the trajectory of my life.
I began to ask myself questions like…
“What stopped me from accomplishing my goals?”
“What did I do instead of working on my tasks?”
Then I compiled a list of activities that I was doing instead of working on my goals.
My list mostly consisted of:
- Browsing the internet
- Playing video games
- Going on Instagram and Facebook
Then I realized that there were two physical objects associated with my habits.
And I went on to make a list of those items, which were:
- Playstation 4 Controller
- iPhone
- Laptop
I also recorded the times I wasted on unproductive activities.
To my disbelief, I wasted roughly twenty hours a week.
Although twenty hours may not seem like a lot of time. If I let this continue over a year, I would be wasting nearly a thousand hours per year.
This realization inspired me to take action.
I went on a mission to eliminate everything that threatened my success.
I did this as if my life depends on it.
Why?
Because my life does depend on it. I could either live a productive life or a wasted life. There is no in-between.
3. Get Rid of Your Distractions
The act of eliminating distractions should be done before you begin your tasks.
Success is a stealthy and meticulous operation.
Rather than going in guns blazing without a game plan, it takes a more strategic approach to pull off.
Like a well-trained sniper, survey your surroundings. And once you’ve identified your threats, take them out one by one mercilessly.
Eliminating everything that gets in the way of your goals.
This doesn’t mean that you stop doing things you love to do during your free time.
But it does mean that you stop doing them while you’re working.
Our inability to separate between work and play will ruin both. Generally, we enjoy our time off less when we’ve been unproductive.
But, it has the opposite effect when we are productive. Our sense of pride in our work increases our enjoyment of life.
Having great self-discipline is not always about how much willpower you have.
It’s about having the wisdom to remove obstacles before you begin your work.
There is something quite liberating about admitting our faults. You feel free because you no longer have to hide them. It takes great humility to admit that you can’t handle certain distractions. But by your admission, you free yourself from disruptive habits.
Since my main distractions were my phone and my gaming controller. I realized that I could not take any chances of having these items in sight.
So I did what any sensible person would do.
I stored them away in a box.
And I kept them there until I finished my tasks.
4. Create Blocks of Uninterrupted Time
If you want to get the best out of your newly formed environment, there is one thing you should do.
You should block off at least two to four hours in your schedule. During these hours, you should devote your time and energy to your work with short breaks in-between.
When I began implementing this concept into my workflow, it led to a change in my phone use. I currently give myself access to my phone only during my breaks. And to keep myself from wasting countless hours on my phone, I set a timer.
When my timer goes off, my phone goes back into the box until my next break. This method is widely known as the Pomodoro Technique.
This technique is quite simple:
- 25 minutes of uninterrupted work
- 5 minutes of breaks in-between
- An hour-long break for every 4 hours of work
Using the Pomodoro has been a game-changer. Here were some of the benefits I experienced:
- Reduced anxiety
- Increased focus
- Overcame procrastination
I also started using productivity Apps such as the Focus To-Do App to combat distractions on my laptop. And when I don’t need to use the internet, I put my laptop on Airplane Mode.
And when my work is done, I reward myself by turning my Wifi back on. I can browse the internet or play games without feeling guilty. I feel much joy knowing that my work is finished.
With the right environment and mindset, we are all capable of accomplishing great things.
What are you inspired to do today?
What changes will you make for your environment?
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
