Sometimes productivity involves slowing down.

I’ve written about this before, but I’ve become the poster child over the years for what it means to be a productive boss babe. I hate that term so much because it ties together women’s worth under the banner of capitalism, because to be unproductive in societies like the United States means that you’re considered someone who just exists and leeches off of the system.

But throughout my time as an undergraduate, I really tapped into the work ethic I was raised with. My parents pretty much only ever work, and because of that iI inherited the work, work, work with no breaks grind.

This is somehow I evolved into someone attending graduate school full-time and while working full-time. I don’t know how I do it at this point, but my life is somehow warped into something that I basically just work while awake.

I really do not recommend living like this to anyone, but let’s just say I’ve gotten really good at time management and balancing having time to slow down. Because trust me, you’re not going to get things done if you’re seriously burned out.

Time blocking and finding your ideal work times is critical.

I am someone who knows that I cannot work for long periods of time throughout the day. I commend the students who post their videos of studying eight hours on YouTube, because I am someone who truly could never do that myself. I work about five hours a day max, and I taught myself to be most efficient during this time zone.

Typically, this is from 11-2 and 5-8. If you can’t tell from that little work schedule, I largely work for myself and end up making my own hours.

Anyways, learn how to time block. Google Calendar is something that is free and really useful if you can access a Google account. I block out work periods that I know are my designated times to sit down and crank out work, and I pretty much love how I am able to designate my time in this way.

I take a lot of classes and have meetings, so being able to sit down and have something visual to look at is absolutely incredible and life changing for me. I would be a mess without my calendar because I have so many things to do that I can’t remember.

I’ve become more productive with Asana.

We use Asana in several of my jobs, but I never thought about using it for my own work. I was someone who always used written to do lists, but then I realized one day how wasteful all of this paper was, as even if it is actually being recycled, a tree still died for me to be uselessly writing down everything I need to do. So I booted up Asana and began playing around with it.

I originally had attempted something like this awhile back with Notion, but that failed once I got my new computer. For some reason Notion uses a lot of data to run, and I bought a new MacBook last winter.

It gives me the “your computer has run out of storage” message every so often because of the apps running, and I noticed Notion simply uses a lot of data to run. Asana doesn’t, so I split my to-do lists up onto singular days, then I check them off as needed.

Since starting Asana, I’ve been consistently checking everything off, and even finishing my tasks before expected. It’s so nice having everything laid out on a new tab, and I think it’s been useful. Note that I have the free plan though!

Taking many unplanned breaks is needed.

You’re probably looking at this heading confused because the previous two points you’ve read so far are very structured and by the book. When you end up living a life like this though sometimes, you forget the important things in your life. I value spending time with my aging mother and just chatting, so there are times when I break the routine and end up chatting with her for about thirty minutes while watching television.

Your life isn’t work, and you’re going to become miserable if you just work constantly.

So take breaks when needed! Obviously indulging too much will impact your productivity, and if I took too many breaks, I would probably not make enough money to survive. Don’t infringe upon your needs, but also know your limits.

If I didn’t take these breaks, I would definitely become crankier and then not get any of this done.

Find a mentality that keeps you going.

It shouldn’t always be about money, although I know that if many of us were rich, we wouldn’t be doing any of the things we do in order to survive on a daily basis. For me, as someone who works from home, I’ve had to create environments and spaces where I know how to keep working and plugging away at the things I need to do.

Whether it’s the silent corner of the library at school to get through my graduate school work, or cleaning up my childhood bedroom to try and get it the right atmosphere where I feel productive, I know myself better after all this self-reflection and can create the environments that I feel like I can work in.

For example, I know someone can’t be distracting me. I work best alone, and so I prefer working at home by myself whenever possible due to how I end up getting distracted when other people are around. I play audiobooks because I know they help me focus when I enter the deep work zone, and I also know that I work best on desktops.

Think about what spaces and environments work best for you, self-reflect, and then you’ll be on your merry way too! I also did all of this on a budget, so there’s ways to get around a lack of money.

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