Recently I have been hearing more and more often phrases like “I need more hours in a day”. People jam their schedules, weekends, and vacations, but they still feel they have no time. Time management is one of the modern skills, without which it is impossible to live in the 21st century. Among the hundreds of strategies, it is important to find your own and apply it for better productivity. Today we are going to discuss five life hacks that can be a part of your strategy.

1. Make to-do lists in the evening

To-do lists in the evening help you turn your mind to the next day’s tasks. Clarifying the goals of the day and focusing on achieving them will save time and energy. Realizing your goals for the next day will mentally prepare you for the tasks ahead and concentrating on them will get much easier.

2. Organize your workplace 

Clearing your table in the morning can give you a sense of organizing. This will help you get into the working mood and get ready for the day. It is not necessary to clean the entire office, it is enough to start with one thing. For example, clean the closet or sort through folders.

3. Take frequent breaks

Some people cannot concentrate on one thing for a long time. Their effectiveness fades after a while, and work in this state can be useless. So the rule is: take breaks! Knowing that you have a rest every hour, it will be easier to work and you have less distraction.

4. Complete the hardest task first 

Procrastination is one of the enemies of productivity. Putting off the most important tasks, we spend time doing things that do not require special energy costs. At the end of the day, we are tired, and at this time the brain is overloaded with information, which means that the hardest task of the day will seem even harder. The best way out is to start the day with the most important or difficult task. It is morally easier to spend the rest of the day realizing that the biggest problem is solved.

5. Be okay with having unfinished tasks

In case you have not finished the planned tasks, do not feel bad. Reschedule them to tomorrow without guilt, as self-flagellation interferes with productivity and discourages the desire to work. Focus on the number of tasks completed and ask yourself if you have overflowed your schedule with many tasks.

Every person has their own way to get motivated. Try these techniques and some of them might become a part of your own system.