3 easy ways to improve your productivity and reduce stress

Do you frequently feel drained at the end of a stressful workday? Or find yourself looking back at a busy week, thinking: “What was I actually doing this whole time?”

If you can identify with this, I’ve got good news: By being aware of some key points and following a few simple rules you can save yourself from days that go by in a blur and the constant feeling of running on empty.

1) How to avoid the pitfalls of multitasking

The situation

There is a common misconception that our level of “busyness” is somehow an indicator of how productive we are. Ironically it’s exactly this distorted thinking that leads many of us to be less productive and more stressed.

The complication

Completing quick, simple tasks like answering emails or answering Slack messages while also working on a presentation, makes us feel extra productive because we’re “getting more done”.

For each completed task our brain releases Dopamine — making us feel good and providing a sense of accomplishment.

Chasing that Dopamine hit we work on multiple things at the same time i.e. trying to “multitask”, approaching our work in a very distracted fashion. We can even become somewhat “addicted” to this way of working, due to the way Dopamine acts in our brains.

While it may create the illusion of productivity, “multitasking” is terrible for our output and energy levels because our brains are simply not made to work that way.

We think we’re multitasking when in fact we’re just rapidly switching between tasks, losing our ability to truly focus and immerse ourselves into our work; all the while draining our mental energy.

If we approach work in this fashion, we’ll only do shallow, distracted work, making it more difficult to achieve great results.

Let’s dig a bit deeper into why “multitasking” is bad for you: When starting a new task there’s an invisible barrier, a feeling of having to “get into gear” before we can fully immerse ourselves into that task and be at our most productive and creative.

Depending on the task it can take up to 30 minutes or even more to reach an optimal level of focus and immersion because the brain has to load the right “instruction set” for the task at hand — our attention is laggy.

Not only are we less focused and less productive during this phase, it actually burns mental energy to switch from one task to another. Additionally, rapid switching between tasks can trigger a stress response and release Cortisol.

Elevated levels of Cortisol can mess with our health in the long run — making us feel anxious, grumpy, sleep worse, and tanking our energy levels.

The answer

• Make a conscious decision to avoid “multitasking” so you can fully immerse yourself in the task at hand and avoid stressing yourself out.
• Work on one thing after another not on all things at once — if we don’t follow this simple rule we’ll be more stressed and don’t perform as well as we could.
• Block enough time for each task to allow yourself to get into the right state of mind to excel and do your best work.

2) How to prevent distractions from killing your focus

The situation

In our lives we’re confronted with a continuous flood of distractions — at work, our email inbox and Slack are constantly fighting for our attention, while our phones are beckoning us to check notifications from Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on.

Often we get to the end of the day only to find that we spend the majority of our time answering emails, replying to people on Slack, and handling random, mostly unimportant requests without getting any real work done.

The complication

While we may think external stimuli like notifications are easy enough to ignore, our brains are wired to be distracted.

We have a bias for novelty, meaning that anything novel seems inherently more interesting than it actually is.

What makes novelty so enticing is that new information triggers the release of dopamine — which can create a sort of addiction to being distracted.

This makes sense if we consider our ancestors whose brains constantly had to ping their environment for cues of danger.

While essential for survival a couple of thousand years ago, today this makes us very susceptible to being distracted by notifications popping up on our screen or pings from our phones.

It’s easy for our brains to be distracted by cues in our environment but really difficult to get back into focus once we’ve been pulled off track.

In addition, if we actively choose to ignore the distractions around us, we’re subconsciously experiencing stress.

Not surprising if you think about our ancestors: Keep ignoring the rustling leaves behind you for too long you might get eaten by a saber-tooth tiger.

The subtle stress of ignoring something potentially important manifests physically in our bodies through the release of — you guessed it — Cortisol.

The answer

• You need to actively eliminate distractions if you want to be in full control of your productivity and complete as much “deep work” as possible.
• Put your phone away and silence non-essential notifications. Having it sit right next to you on your desk may be convenient and phone separation anxiety is a real thing but the temptation is just too big and the potential for distraction too great.
• Don’t check your messages first thing in the morning — when you’re most productive — reserve that slot for an important task.
• Set 1 or 2 fixed time slots during your day at which you will check in on Slack / Email and keep them closed outside of those times. Disable any potentially distracting notifications.

3) How to prioritize your time for maximum productivity

The situation

Keeping “busy” is usually pretty easy, especially because many work environments inadvertently enable busy, distracted work.

Our mental energy and attention — even if managed well — are limited and so in order to maximize our productivity we need to be smart about what we choose to work on.

The complication

The true challenge lies in figuring out what really matters and focusing on doing that above all else.

When your main focus is on the quantity of your work, the quality inevitably has to suffer.

Your time is limited and valuable — treat it as capital and ask yourself whether you really want to “invest” it in a given task or not.

Since your “capital” is finite, investing your time into something non-essential inevitably means that you won’t be able to invest in something else that may be more important.

Think about this: How come we tend to be so careful when choosing where to invest our money but often so careless when it comes to investing our own time?

The solution

• Don’t try to do it all — radical prioritization is the key to maximizing productivity and reducing stress.
• Decide on a priority task for each day and make sure you block enough time for it.
• Start working on the priority task first thing in the morning while you’re at your most energized and focused.
• Make use of your calendar. While everyone’s approach may differ it generally helps to roughly plan out your day in advance. This will keep you on target throughout the day and will also help you keep track of your productivity.

(Bonus) Without self-care, your efforts are wasted

“Healthy body — healthy mind” is not just an empty saying it’s a statement rooted in science. But while we’re generally aware of how to take care of our bodies we often discount the importance of physical exercise.

Humans are not built for a sedentary lifestyle — sitting for 8+ hours a day can have serious consequences for our health if not compensated for.

It is important to be aware that even minor lifestyle changes can significantly affect our physical wellbeing and, subsequently, our mental energy levels and productivity.

When you lack the motivation to exercise just think about what your future self would advise you to do. I’m pretty sure eating healthier, sleeping more, and getting more exercise would top the list.

• Just 15 minutes (ideally more) of daily exercise is significantly better than no exercise at all. Not only for its immediate benefits but also when compounding over the course of many years.
• Getting some exercise gets your heart pumping and your blood flowing — not only to your muscles but also to your brain helping you focus better and helping you be more productive.
• Taking regular breaks can seem like a waste of time, but even 20 minutes can significantly boost your focus which more than makes up for the “lost” time.
• Good sleep and a healthy diet are such obvious points and yet we often ignore their importance.

This post is inspired by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky’s book “Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day” as well as Gary W. Keller’s and Jay Papasan’s “The ONE thing” which I can both highly recommend.