How to identify your optimal productivity style

Productivity can be a struggle, but it doesn’t have to be. That’s why it’s important to find the right productivity style for you.

There are many ways to work more efficiently. The good news is, you can try them out and find what works best for you.

The most popular productivity systems include The Eisenhower Matrix, The To-Done List and the To-Don’t List, Getting Things Done (GTD) and the Pomodoro Technique.

Other equally effective methods are The SMART Method, Timeboxing, Biological Prime Time, Personal Kanban, Getting Things Done, and Eat The Frog. Every productivity method is designed to help you do one thing: get more stuff done faster.

Most productivity methods may not work for you if you ignore your personality’s impact on your outcomes.

Knowledge of what drains you, feeds your focus, distracts your concentration, time of day you work best, and the environment that supports deep work can improve your productivity significantly.

Your personality should play a key role in how you should be working.

Are you naturally productive and loves to get things done at any time of the work day? Or do you find yourself procrastinating and struggling to make progress at specific times? When do you do your best work? What time of day do you power through any work?

There are many different personal factors to consider when choosing the right productivity system for your needs.

Some people work better in a quiet environment with no distractions, while others need some background noise and a messy desk to get into the zone.

No matter your personal preference, there’s a productivity system that will help you get things done. Finding out what your best method of productivity is can help you achieve more in less time.

The only way to become highly productive is to build yourself a system

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” — Stephen Covey

To find what works best for you, you try each system and measure your outcome or output. And then do more of what works better for you.

You could combine a few methods at the same time and review how they impact your productivity level.

For example, “eat the frogs” ( doing your most challenging tasks first) can be implemented simultaneously with the Pomodoro technique ( timing your tasks in 25 minutes sprints).

Once you settle into your personal system ( a method you can sustain), you need to customize it. Make it your own. Stick to the processes that encourage you to do more in a day or get more high-value work done faster.

You have to figure out what system will work best for you to be the most productive possible. Work with your body, not against it. Any productivity system should feed your focus and starve your distractions.

I use the Biological Prime Time technique to get a lot of my most important tasks done faster. I’m most active in the morning, and I’m able practice deep work in sprints.

So I do my most high-value work first thing in the morning. That way, I can get my most important tasks done before midday.

The right personal productivity method can take you from feeling unproductive or overwhelmed to being in control of your time, managing your energy and getting work done faster and smarter.

When designing your personal productivity style, think about your short and long-term goals, high and low energy tasks, work needs, personality and general workflow.

Productivity system experiments can help you combine the suitable methods to design a personal system you can use every day.

Whatever style you choose, remember that it doesn’t have to be rigid.

“Consider everything an experiment,” says Corita Kent.

If your productivity is not flowing after a few weeks, tweak the system or better still improve it — try a different one until you find the right one. You can always revise it to fit your work needs.

Franz Kafka once said, “Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” If your current system is not helping you do more great work, revise it immediately.

Systems and methods are meant to help you build long-term productivity habits and achieve your goals in the shortest possible time.

You alone know what’s best for you. You will never be truly productive until you work with your body and use tools that bring out the best in you.

You will know your productivity style is working when it actually helps you get more things done, and it’s natural for your tasks and goals.

This article is from Medium.