Sometimes you can’t be as productive as you’d like to be, due to factors like time constraints, physical limitations, or task accumulation. That’s pretty discouraging! And it can build a negative self-view over time.
Maybe you ARE incredibly productive, but you just don’t feel like you’re ever doing enough.
Or maybe you’re hitting the Goldilocks of work/life balance and everything is perfect, but you’ve been too brainwashed by hustle culture to truly appreciate your own efforts.
So what can you do to feel more productive, and to cut out that voice always telling you that you need to do more?
10 Ways to Feel More Productive
Here are ways to feel more effective with your job and life without actually adding anything to your workload.
1. Acknowledge the system
It’s pretty engrained into us that we’re worth less if we aren’t fiscally and personally producing at all times. Losing your job is embarrassing. Rest is demonized. It’s expected you’ll spend four hours deep cleaning your house because a cousin you don’t even like is coming over.
You’re supposed to make money, stay fit, be mindful, eat well, have an active social life, and keep a nice living space or you’re slacking.
Sometimes what we need isn’t a way to be MORE productive. We usually need a way to step out of the mold we’re crammed into and learn how to appreciate what we’ve already accomplished.
So phase one to feeling more productive is to notice and acknowledge the systems that built our perceptions. Who gains from us feeling like productivity is tied to morality? Who gains from our insecurities? Who gains from us competing with one another instead of collaborating? It’s not us!
Take a look at the bigger picture to understand how much of that programming does not serve you, and try to identify whose voice is in your head telling you that you aren’t doing enough.
2. To-Done lists
To-done lists are a super simple way to feel more productive in a pinch. You just look back on your day or week and write down everything you accomplished. It can give you the same little dopamine boost that scratching a task off of your to-do list does, and sometimes that’s enough to prove to yourself that you are doing plenty.
Use this strategy when you need a quick fix for the short-term.
3. Record your goal progress
Don’t forget to track your progress! It’s nice to record it somewhere visible, like with a chart or a graph, or just leaving to-do items scratched off on your list instead of removing them. Having a visual can help us realize that we’re doing just fine.
Accomplishing goals takes one tiny step at a time, and it’s easy to forget the cumulative effort you’ve put in. Look at how far you’ve come and congratulate yourself!
4. Organize your space
A cluttered space can make you feel cramped, claustrophobic, and anxious. If there’s a mess around you, it’s easy to feel like you’re not organized and not accomplishing anything. A visually decluttered and organized work (and home) environment can make you feel productive on its own!
Every night, I spend 20-30 minutes straightening up my house, and I go to bed feeling pretty good about it. Everything is put away, there won’t be dishes waiting for me in the morning, there isn’t a basket of unfolded laundry threateningly looming over me, and my work station is ready for the next day. I actually sleep better since I solidified a quick tidy-up into my EOD routine.
5. Journal
Take a second to reflect on what you’re even trying to accomplish with your work–you might feel unproductive because you’re putting effort toward things that you don’t value. Here are some prompts to get you started:
- What have I accomplished today? List out everything, even tiny things.
- What have I accomplished this week?
- What am I doing daily that aligns with my values?
- What am I doing daily that aligns with my long-term goals?
- How do I define productivity for myself? How did I come up with that definition?
- How do I care for my mental and physical well-being daily?
- What challenges am I facing, and how am I addressing (or ignoring) them?
- What would I tell a friend in my exact situation who feels the way I do right now?
- What is one small thing I can do this week that would feel like progress?
- How does my current mood affect my perception of my productivity?
Hopefully this will give you some clarity and consciousness about the reality of your effort.
6. Set small goals
Sometimes we feel unproductive because we’re expecting way too much, too quickly from ourselves. While it’s great to have long-term goals, small goals might be even more important.
What are you accomplishing right now? If your snap response is “nothing,” that might mean you need some smaller goals so you can remind yourself that you’re making progress. Choose 1-3 goals that are achievable, and that you can complete within the month.
Here are some goal ideas, if you need inspiration.
7. Emphasize process over outcome
Measuring your productivity by outcome is often useless. We can’t control what happens, we can only control our own efforts.
Instead of setting a goal like: Get 5 new clients this month.
You can set a goal like: Reach out to 2 potentials per day.
Stressing over factors we can’t control won’t make us more productive. It will just make us more stressed. So think of what you want to accomplish (e.g., getting 5 new clients this month), and make an actionable plan that you can actually implement (e.g., reaching out to 2 potentials per day).
You don’t decide if those people hire you or not, so don’t measure your success by outcomes you can’t control.
8. Take care of yourself
It’s easy to neglect self-care when we don’t feel like we’re doing enough. You might fall into the “I don’t deserve nice things or relaxation until I accomplish X” mindset, but punishing yourself won’t help you get to your goals any quicker. Some self-compassion can go a long way.
And I’m not suggesting you blindly spend money while you neglect intentional work to harness an “Abundance Mindset” because I’m not a Portland-based life coach with 6 figures of debt and an aerial silks membership.
For real, sustainable progress, we have to look after our mental and physical health. Whether that means properly recovering from a bad day, giving yourself a break, or taking the time to realign your goals, prioritize keeping yourself well.
9. Limit distractions and seek mindfulness
Focusing on tasks by using things like deep work methods can make you feel more productive than pecking at a project while you’re distracted by other things. Locking in on your current task can help you make more progress toward your goal, and make you feel more productive.
Similarly, mindfulness slows us down to reduce stress and help us plug into what we’re doing with more consciousness and intentionality.
10. Learn something
Mental stagnation makes you feel unproductive no matter how much you’re getting “done”. Sometimes all it takes to wake back up is learning a new skill.
Here are some ideas of new skills to learn, as well as links for where you can start for free:
- Coding
- Spanish
- Knitting
- Baking bread
- Animation
- Growing vegetables
- Martial Art (local obvs)
- UX design
- Wood whittling
- Terrarium keeping
- Designing book covers
If there’s something that’s always interested you, try it yourself! If you love movies, make a short film. It doesn’t have to be good. Learning and creating are the two most important forms of progress, so try to make time for them to feel your most productive.
All in all, your work output is not the beginning or end of you as a person. It’s a small sliver of life that has been magnified far out of proportion, but you can change your perspective anytime you want to. In fact, here are ten strategies to help you work less without sacrificing actual productivity. Regain control of your process and narrative to feel more fulfilled and functional every day.
