OCTOBER SPECIAL!!!

A little bit of distraction every so often can help to motivate you and increase creativity. Why not treat yourself  5 minutes out of every 60? Better still, if you can get up, stretch and move about and drink something, your body (as well as your mind!) will thank you for the break

Does your concentration slip a little if you spend multiple hours doing the same repetitive tasks, or tasks requiring unbroken focus? Why not break these tasks up a little with some different jobs that require a little less concentration or require you to be creative rather than highly analytical. I find that it really helps me to clear my task list more effectively than if I try to complete entire complex jobs one at a time, and invariably lose concentration

If your in-tray is already overwhelming, don’t just add new work to the pile without acknowledging, realistically, how long it is likely to take you to complete the task.  If a customer needs a job urgently, consider adjusting your to-do list in terms of timescale priorities and also think about whether or not it is fair to charge additionally for work you have to complete at short notice or in the evenings/over weekends if the customer demands a quick turnaround for an important project

Turn off those notifications! Platforms like Slack and Asana, and even social media sites like Facebook and Twitter just LOVE to let you know when something has happened on that platform.  By checking these platforms occasionally rather than have constant notifications coming through, you will find it easier to focus on the task at hand rather than be distracted by the background chatter on the platform

Just like apps and software that send notifications pinging across your screen every three minutes, email notifications popping up left, right and centre can be a hindrance when it comes to productivity.  If you are concerned that your customers will be unhappy that you don’t answer their email straight away, consider setting up an auto-responder that highlights the fact that you check emails at 9am and 3pm,  so that you are managing your clients expectations when it comes to speed of response

Desperately need to clear your to-do list in a limited number of hours? Why not ask a fellow freelancer or VA who is working online on the same day to check in with you every couple of hours and hold you accountable and responsible for the work you are doing? For some reason, having someone say ‘Tell me what you have done over the last two hours!’ helps to encourage me to work through my task list at an incredibly efficient and productive pace

I love to make a physical to-do list on a scrap  paper and enthusiastically cross off the tasks that I complete once I have finished them.  Getting to the end of the day with visible and tangible evidence of your amazing productivity really helps to ensure that you start the next day on the right foot, keen to continue with your productivity streak