- Good morning, everyone.
So today I'm gonna show you how I stay productive
but still maintain my sanity and my happiness.
Being productive is still a priority for me,
but it doesn't control all facets of my life.
So in this video
I'm gonna show you my new balanced approach
on how I get everything I want done.
And a portion of this video was sponsored by Grammarly.
So every workday begins with me moving my body,
I'll squeeze in at least 20 minutes of exercise.
It's so true when they say
that your mind and body are connected
because after a workout my mind feels sharper
and more alert.
If you want energy for your brain,
you gotta take care of your body.
So I feel invigorated after my morning routine,
and now I'm ready for my workday to begin.
Thank you to Grammarly
for sponsoring this portion of the video.
So I'll start off the day with checking emails.
And since my email is one of my lifelines from my work,
from delegating, scheduling, communicating all that jazz,
I wanna make sure I sound as polished as possible,
so I'm not proud of this,
but as I've gotten older my grammar and my punctuation
has just gotten worse.
Like it's degrading by the year,
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Truly every working professional
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Grammarly is just like your own digital writing assistant.
So I'm in front of my computer
and I'm about to write my weekly email
that I need to send out.
So the first run through, I will just type blindly,
I don't check for grammar or spelling or anything,
but afterwards I check my work using Grammarly premium.
So as you can see
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the blue underlines are clarity suggestions,
the purple underlines are formality suggestions.
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Thank you so much Grammarly
for sponsoring that portion of the video.
Now let's get back to work.
So now that emails are out of the way,
I wanna focus on my daily highlight.
So I learned this technique from the productivity book
called "Make Time."
So your highlight of the day is the main task
that you need to complete that particular day.
So there are three categories
on how you can choose your highlight.
So first up we've got urgency.
So this is like the most pressing thing
that you have to do,
that you must absolutely complete today.
So for example, a lot mine are usually
like writing a treatment, or filming a video,
editing a video, all that jazz.
The second category is satisfaction.
Now these are the tasks
that are gonna make you feel satisfied and fulfilled.
This is really focusing on what you truly want to do.
So for me this would usually be
like finding inspiration, or even like planning a baby moon,
that's like the next thing on my list.
And the last category is joy.
Now this is really for the weekends or like days off.
This highlight is just focusing
on what's gonna bring you the most joy.
So this could be like spending time with your family,
hanging out with your friends,
finishing that book that you've always wanted to do.
But since today is a work day,
I am selecting something from the urgency category,
which is to film this video.
And after I finish my highlight of the day,
I feel this huge wave of peace and satisfaction,
knowing that I've completed
like the biggest thing I need to do all day.
Like you think that you'd feel more empowered
by ticking off as many little things
that you need to do in a day,
but the reality is you just feel more exhausted
because the to-do list is infinite,
like it never ends
like after you complete five,
there's like 15 more you can add onto the list.
Just focusing on one highlight of the day,
it tells your brain when to stop,
and just like relax and recharge.
And I would rather complete one huge thing every single day,
than a bunch of like small little tasks
that I didn't really need to prioritize.
But the truth is I still need to have a to do list,
but it just looks a little bit differently.
So this is what I call the pool.
This is just an area where I jot down every little thing
that I need to do but I don't assign it a day yet.
I just need somewhere to write these tasks down,
so that way I just don't forget,
So in this pool, these are the tasks
that I need to do at some point in the week
or later on in the month.
When I'm sitting down and I'm planning my day,
which is usually the night before,
I'll look through my pool of tasks
and then I'll select which task
I can reasonably do that day.
And usually this list is on my bullet journal,
but you can have it on sticky notes,
you could have it as a reminder on your phone,
just anywhere where you can see it.
So now that you have your highlight of the day
and the tasks that you have committed to,
it is time to schedule them.
So I like to keep three tactics in mind when I'm doing this.
The first thing is you want to estimate
how long each task is gonna take you.
Then you wanna think about a time
on when you're gonna do it,
and then lastly, add it to your calendar.
Now I'm telling you, this is a foolproof method
on getting everything you wanna get done
because it actually keeps you accountable.
So I use two things,
I use my iCal and I use my bullet journal.
So my calendar app is my overview for everything,
I love that I can see like a comprehensive view
of what I'm gonna do that month.
And then lastly, I've got my bullet journal.
Now this is just like an extra additional step that I do,
completely not necessary.
I could probably just get by,
by just doing the calendar app,
but there's something about writing down my task
that is very centering to me,
it also just helps me mentally prepare
for the next day ahead.
Time-blocking is incredible
because it confronts the trade-offs
on how exactly you spend your time.
So in this particular day,
my highlight is to send the rough cut to my editor.
So I like to schedule my highlight
when my energy is at its peak,
and when my focus is the most like lasered.
So this is different for everyone,
but my optimal time is 10:30 AM all the way up to 12:00 PM.
This is after I've done my morning routine,
I've had my tea, I've answered back my emails.
There are literally no distractions at this point,
and I just feel freaking ready and pumped
to tackle my highlight.
I personally love to time block
because I hate when I have to switch
from activity to activity,
like before I thought like oh I'm just multitasking,
but it's really not.
It's nothing but a distraction really,
and each time you switch
there is a switching cost in your brain.
When you're going from one test to another,
your brain has to reload
a whole different set of rules and information,
and this boot up costs can probably take around
a couple of minutes,
but if it's like a really complex task,
it can take a couple of hours.
And I just don't want to deal with that.
So I just like to really laser in on my focus
on one task at a time,
and I find that it really boosts my productivity.
The fact that we have like an infinite abyss
of entertainment just right in our back pocket
is just very unsettling.
So I wanted to give you guys a couple of tips
on how I like to focus.
So my first tip is to keep your phone out of the room,
if you can't keep it out of the room,
put it in a drawer somewhere where you can't see it.
Like I've noticed that even when I look at my phone
to check the time,
if I have a notification,
it is so freaking hard for me to not check it,
and then I'll look at the notification.
and then like 20 minutes has gone.
I've noticed that people really need to reach me,
they'll either text me,
and then that text will come up on my computer.
So my next tip might be a little controversial,
which is to not read the news until you're ready.
News is extremely overstimulating,
I mean that's like what the headlines do.
They're meant to make you outraged or anxious,
like that's how they get clicks.
I find that true breaking news will find its way to you.
So don't feel like, oh if I don't check the news
I'm just not gonna know what's going on.
To be honest, it can wait.
And when you're just drowning in an endless stream
of negative information and sad, sad stories,
like it absolutely has an effect on your mental health
and your focus as well.
So I would recommend just having specific times
on when you check the news.
My last tip is to get a physical timer,
now this is my time timer,
and I have been raving about this
since like my college days.
This has been the best method for me
to really, really focus.
And it's because it makes time visible.
So when I'm about to time block
I'll usually do 45 minute increments,
before 45, it was 20
because that's like a little bit more friendly.
But as you can see you drag out and it's just bright red,
it's like in your face, it's like telling you to focus.
And when this time timer is on,
all I'm allowed to do is the task in front of me.
And once I get my flow,
I don't even realize that the timer has gone out.
So once I finished my highlight
and the tasks that I committed that day,
I don't dare to add anything more,
like I am done.
If I finish early, we're good.
Like I am relaxing.
Before I would really get under the trap of like,
Ooh, like if I finished early
I can squeeze in one more thing, this one last email.
But honestly, recharging is so important.
Like working overtime is like driving a car with no gas.
Like you don't have anything left,
so you have to refuel at some point.
I've just really learned how important it is
to create boundaries with my work and my personal life.
Since I also work from home and I live here,
I have to put on these strict timelines
to maintain my mental health,
like after 5:30 or 6:00 PM, like I am done.
Like I turn off the MacBook,
I don't look at my emails.
I even put my phone on Do Not Disturb mode.
Like if something is freaking urgent,
someone will call me or text me.
Anything else can honestly wait,
this is the time where I really wind down
and I recharge and I center myself for the next day.
I would much rather just always be at peak performance
when I'm working,
than just like jogging along with an empty tank.
I really wanted to explain how important it is
to just have like a centered life,
like productivity and being super efficient
isn't supposed to be like the holy grail.
I think relishing your life is also extremely important
and finding that balance is key.
So I hope you guys enjoyed this video,
and I will see you guys in the next one.
Bye
(jazz music) (kissing sound)