Productivity Is Possible: Accomplish more in just an Hour 

Does it ever seem like we spend more time thinking about, planning, and figuring out how to be more productive than we spend actually being productive? 

The number of things on our To-Do Lists keeps multiplying. The demands on our time keep increasing. It’s overwhelming. 

And the number of apps, planners, and calendars that promise to transform you into the most organized, productive version of yourself are also skyrocketing.

You’ve got something that needs finishing.

Where do you even start?

Try one hour.

What can you get done in one hour? Surprisingly, a lot.

The key is to have a plan and stick to it. And not get bogged down in planning the plan (not that we’ve ever done that…)!

You ready to see how we get our best work done? Take a look at the below.

Let’s do this!

Block Your Time

First off is to find and block out your hour. Finding an hour where you won’t be interrupted can feel impossible sometimes, but it’s important to make it clear to the people around you that this is time you’ve set aside specifically. 

If your schedule will let you aim for a time of day when you have the most energy and motivation. Trying to focus when you’re already tapped out for the day is going to make it that much harder to get things done.

Put it on your calendar, set an email reminder for colleagues, set an alarm–whatever it takes to make your hour concrete and immovable. Once it’s scheduled it stays scheduled.

Right + Good hosts a Monthly Monday Motivation event to do just this. Check out our Slack group to join our regular accountability coworking sessions to learn more. 

Make Your Plan

Ok, this is the dangerous part. 

You could spend an hour planning your hour. 

You could spend an hour planning to spend an hour planning your hour. 

You could be trapped in an endless loop of productivity madness. 

No one wants this!

We’re aiming for 15 minutes max. Set a timer if you need to. Don’t overthink it.

You’re looking for a few things:

  • What do you need to get done? (Obviously.)

  • What are the steps to getting this done? What you’re looking for here is how can you break this task down into smaller pieces. What order should those pieces go in? 

  • Is there something you need to do before you can even start? Copywriting legend Sonia Simone calls it “the thing before the thing”. Do you need to set up an account, buy a piece of equipment, or reserve a space–whatever you need to actually do the thing.

  • Write it down.

Start Your Hour

You’ve got your time, you’ve got your plan. The last step is to set yourself up for success.

Turn off your notifications and silence your phone.

If you want some music, choose something without lyrics.

The more you can minimize any distractions, the more likely you’ll be able to get into a flow state.

A what now?

A flow state is that feeling where you’re totally immersed in something. Where you look up and you’ve been working the entire hour, but it seems like 15 minutes. 

More Tips and Tools

It’s easy to push off a project over and over for a lot of reasons. Maybe it’s something you aren’t looking forward to doing. Or you feel like you aren’t equipped enough. Or you just feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. 

The benefit of planning an hour to tackle a project is that you can address some of those issues head-on. A plan will make you feel better prepared. Scheduling a time will make it less likely that you’ll back out. Enlist a friend to hold you accountable if you need to. Do the hardest thing first–you’ll feel better getting it out of the way. 

Starting with just one hour is doable, sustainable and sets a lower bar than trying to plan your whole week or even whole day at once. Starting small gives you a better chance at success, which makes you want to keep going!

If you feel like you need an organizational tool, there are many to choose from. But don’t fall into the trap of spending a ton of time comparing and trying to choose one. Just pick whatever seems like it will work for you and try it for a week. You can always switch to something else later! 

A few popular options are:

  • The Personal KanBan Method. If you love sticky notes and physically moving items from column to column, this is a good one!

  • The Pompodoro Method. Good for people who need to be reminded to take breaks.

  • A Decision Matrix. This one is for the spreadsheet and methodology lovers out there!

  • Use SMART goals. Use this acronym to help you break down your goals and tasks into smaller chunks.

    • Specific

    • Measurable

    • Achievable

    • Relevant

    • Time-based

  • There are also multiple apps designed to boost your productivity, like Airtable (our fave), Asana, Trello, ClickUp and more. 

Need More Help?

Maybe your project is really more of a problem. If you’ve rescheduled something more than once, it’s a sign you may be avoiding it and need clarity on what to do next. 

If you’re really stuck and need not only some planning help but also some problem-solving advice–check out our Power Hour. We’ll dig deep into your personal or team issue to come up with a solution that works for you. You’ll walk away with tangible results, templates and other deliverables that you can apply to future issues as well.

Are you feeling super productive and ready to really Get Some Stuff Done?

A Half-Day Sprint could also be the answer you’ve been looking for. With a custom-built agenda, we’ll take your team through a half-day problem-solving and strategy session. Not only will we work with you on a manageable task list and project management timeline, you’ll get our expert audit of your team’s processes and framework to streamline and simplify your next big launch. Team mediation, brainstorming, content strategy and creation–whatever we can dream up to help you get your projects off the ground. Plus, two weeks of follow-up email support!

Whether it’s a looming work deadline, or an important personal project–time management and burnout are affecting most of us right now. Just finding a starting point can be overwhelming. 

With some thoughtful planning and commitment, it IS possible to get your project done! But go easy on yourself. There will be distractions, hang-ups and you know, life. 

Let us know what your favorite productivity hacks, tips and tools are. We need them, too!

Resources/Helpful Links