This Simple Calendar Hack Will Boost Your Productivity
Everyday chaos often gets in the way of our creative passions. Yet so many inspiring people manage to cut through life’s distractions to build incredible side projects and find deeply fulfilling jobs. Locating the time in your busy schedule might seem impossible, but the author of The Accidental Creative, Todd Henry, believes that working toward your nebulous goal might be easier than you think. Scroll on to learn how you can master your calendar and maximize your productivity.
The productivity guru says that while we keep busy schedules, we often squander our time somewhere. The secret is finding the time that you’re using less productively — maybe when you veg out in front of Netflix or passively scroll through Instagram — and reclaiming an hour or two to work on your project. “You have to treat it like an appointment with yourself,” Henry says.
Because personal projects don’t have a clear deadline, most people gravitate to whatever’s the most urgent at the moment, which pushes our real passions to the back burner. You can take back control by strategically using the time you have. Even a small amount of time, if you can commit to it on a regular basis, can yield big results. “Every single book is written at 100 words at a time,” Henry says.
Still struggling to pencil yourself in? Try opting out of activities that eat up your energy. While love-hate relationships can be good for you, grabbing drinks with a difficult coworker is maybe not the best use of your time. “You have to be willing, on a regular basis, to look at everything going on in your life and say ‘What am I going to say no to strategically today so that I can say yes to something better tomorrow?'” Henry says.
Do you have a side project or goal that you’re passionate about? Tell us about it on @BritandCo!
(Photos via Todd Henry + Getty)
