The voice droned on. And on. It felt like the meeting would never end and I wondered for the hundredth time why I was there. It didn’t really involve me and was so technical I didn’t even understand most of it.

To make matters worse I had only half an hour left to get all the things done I needed to finish that day.

I wasn’t going to make it.

Sound familiar? I had been caught in the cycle of being busy but productivity was just a dream. How did I change it? Here are a few hacks I employ to take back control my day.

Do What is Important First

We talked about identifying what is truly important. If you do the important things first, even if the rest of the day is a wash, you’ve still achieved something.

Whether it is exercising as soon as you get up, identifying your key work task and doing that as soon as you sit at your desk or sit down to write for 20 minutes. When you schedule these items first, you are more likely to do them and your day will feel more satisfying. And who doesn’t want more satisfaction?

The key is to block out the time. Make it a non-negotiable on your schedule. A burst of productivity is better than a busy day with no focus.

Learn to say No

Ok, I’ll be up front. This one can be really hard. But you don’t have to suddenly be the unhelpful one in the office. Here are a few simple ways to say No without hurting anyone’s feelings:

• Turn off your email popup – You read them as they come in right? Trust me when I say that it is MUCH easier to focus on one task if you are not constantly interrupted by that little . I will warn you, though – you may get a shock when you see all the emails waiting when you get back to it, but really they can wait.
• Turn off your phone notifications – It’s the same. Every time it goes off your brain has to make a decision – do I read it or not. Save your brain power.
• Use Do Not Disturb – This has been a big one for me. I put my instant messaging and on my email on DND for an hour or two most days to get those key activities done. On our messaging system, I have a note that says I am on DND until xx time, if your matter is so urgent it cannot wait until that time, please call my mobile. Now some people will ignore the “so urgent” proviso and just call you at that time. I had a colleague who did that continually. So I stopped answering and called him back after my DND was over. Eventually, he got the message. You may need to train people a bit but maybe they’ll do it too and soon everyone will have a focused hour or two. It makes a huge difference to your productivity level.
• Decline Meetings – You know those meetings that you go to that go on forever, have a thousand people and you are wondering why on earth you are there? Say no to that. You probably don’t need to attend all the meetings you are invited to. And you can say no to those of no value. If you need permission, consider it granted.

Batch Like Tasks

Batching of tasks can reduce the time taken immensely because you are already in that head space. Doing things like all your admin in the one sitting, vacuum all the rooms in the house, not just one, draft several weeks of blog posts in one sitting.

Just like and designers put like with like, batching tasks that way are going to fuel your productivity so your day isn’t totally taken over.

What are your favourite tips to stay productive?