productivity

A quick practice that helps you be focused, productive and energized throughout the day

Now that working from home is part of the new normal I have been encouraging myself and my clients to include easy intentional mindful practices that won’t require much time but help to stay aligned, focused, and productive throughout the day.

When you start your morning by planning it intentionally it helps you to get the results and keep your energy balanced rather than drained. 

My “lockdown” life started already years ago when I became an online entrepreneur. After I became a mother, I needed to tweak and change my habits even more as I didn’t have that much time for wellbeing and self-care, working and balancing life while everything is quite chaotic.

I needed to learn how to ride on the chaos, lead myself in the new setting to stay sain, work for 15-20 hours per week, manage my schedules, energy and time efficiently, so that I have energy for playing with her and household chores.

Now she’s a toddler and we can do a lot more fun things together.

I created this practice and a habit that when it’s my turn to take Stella to the nursery in the mornings, we focus on admiring nature and the surroundings; the birds and trees, and smells of flowers.

She’s sitting in the stroller and often nodding strongly along with her bright “Joo” (yes in Finnish), and pointing things out on the way. Sometimes she just sits still, and it seems like she’s getting herself ready for the day as well.

I share with her the plans for the day as much as with myself to get my mind organized for the day. Speaking our mind, our desires and intentions, out loud is a lot more effective than just thinking about them.

It’s like a meditative mindful walk, being present, connected is a great way to get the day on the right track.

I used to do this with my planner, but now as I don't have too much time while working from home and having a toddler, I've found this to be a helpful way to support myself, feel centered and productive.  

As I do this, I’m ready to get started and can start working right away when I get back home.

A few years ago, before I brought in this kind of habits into my days, I often didn't get much done during the day. Even though I worked long hours and was so busy with my business that I didn't have time for personal life or self-care. And I didn't even have a small child!

I neglected my body, skipped mealtimes, and when things didn't work that well I had a tendency to push myself forward and work even more!

That led to negative cycles, anxiety, and exhaustion until I realized it and made some radical changes. 

Slowing down, bringing in these kinds of habits and ways that give me clarity, and structure for my work has positively affected my performance and energy levels; how I feel about work and myself. Also, I have done a lot of work with my past conditioning, thought patterns and mindset. 

Upgrading the beliefs has allowed me to give myself permission to feel SAFE to know I am enough, do enough and just allow myself to enjoy life and work more. 

That pressure that I felt inside before has released, bringing the feeling of calmness and trusting the process of co-creation.

Are you working at home, or you are forced to work from home or are you in lockdown again?  

Getting yourself intentionally ready for what is to come makes a great difference in how your day goes and ends.

You see different results and feel different: Complete and successful by the end of the day.

Going out for a short walk and getting your body and mind intentionally ready for the day makes miracles on how your day goes. 

You will be more focused, productive, and relaxed - throughout the day

This is why it’s worth making the effort, which it doesn’t actually require that much. Only a little bit conscious awareness and willingness to be well, feel well while getting amazing results.

When you take time to focus on yourself, your well-being you are staying more aware, present, and simply, happier when you are able to see and feel what is going on.

So here’s a recipe for a mindful, grounding, feel-good walk (you can do this anytime during the day and enjoy the benefits):

1) Just get out and walk around a few blocks. Explore the surroundings, like a child. Go slowly, take your time. You will see a lot of details that you might have missed!

2) Feel how you and your body feels & breathe and relax tensions consciously.

3) Set three intentions for your day. Visualize your day from the morning until the evening with the best, your desired outcome.

4) Think about your workday, and where will you start when you go back home so you know what you are going to do first.

Productivity & Success Tip:

Always start with what feels most difficult first in the morning. That tackles the procrastination as your mind is not that distracted yet, and your creativity is high. Then you also minimize the real threat that your mind starts creating all kinds of excuses, denial, and busywork that prevents you from taking action that you actually want and need to take. 

Is this helpful? I'd love to hear from you. What ways help you to get things done efficiently when you're working from home?

Much love, 

Jenni


Get more inspiration, valuable advice, free resources and enjoy the energy of like-minded women in our Facebook community!

Feel like you need to fight, take a flight or freeze?

Working from home, taking care of the kids, household, home-schooling and being forced to stay inside with your loved ones who are trying to do the same IS chaotic and overwhelming.

Finding time for yourself, your work, self-care and handling all your responsibilities can be extremely difficult now. Even if you don't have kids.

Worries, fears and anxieties can take over. You might feel so drained and unmotivated.

You might feel that you need to fight or take a flight. Or freeze. 

It's okay to have all those feelings and feel exhausted.

We've been locked down for almost 4 full weeks now in Spain, so I can relate.

The first thing to do to change these feelings is:

Give yourself permission to feel those feelings and then, forgive yourself for having them. Accept where you are, right now. 

Also please, please, know that you are doing a lot (more than you know) and going through a lot.

I know work can be as demanding as it was before. If you have a family it can be that your bosses are not understanding your situation at home with the kids and that it's impossible to respond to those demands like before. 

I know how it works, I had over 13 years in the corporate world.

It could be that your business is under thread and you simply can't work right now.

I get that too! As an entrepreneur, I needed to sit down to create new offerings, strategy, and plans. After I dug myself out of the darkness I momentarily dropped, I created new ideas that I'm working on now and… they are actually super fun and I have no reason to avoid doing them anymore (you will see this in social media and my emails)!

I realized I thrive in challenging situations.

I've gone through so many drastic shift storms, so I know deep down in my gut that the obstacles are the way (you maybe want to check out the book by Ryan Holiday, it's quite fantastic) — I will always get up and get back on track, even when being a bit wounded

Like you too! You have gone through so many obstacles in your life that now it's time to remind yourself of the hardest ones!    

But it also means that I also need to calm, change my thoughts and re-connect with myself with breathing consciously multiple times a day by using the Clarity tools and habits to relieve the overwhelm daily! 

I am empowering myself to trust I will make my visions true while I have to prioritize how to use the very limited time I have for working, and self-care as I'm balancing all this with my husband, cooking, and child care. 

Instead of letting your inner stories overwhelm you and believe everything is falling apart, you can take responsibility for how you feel, what's happening around you and help yourself feel energized. 

Now it's not time to push yourself to do more but stop to see where you are and focus on self-care. 

That will make a HUGE difference in how you feel right now and release the anxiety, worries and overwhelm.  

Like my mentor Marisa Peer says:

You are in control and you can control your thoughts that are creating your feelings. 

That doesn’t mean to stop doing things but focusing on your needs; self-care, healthy, productive habits and using the tools that are helping you to create a structure for your days. So that you get things done more efficiently is helpful right now.

Looking into how you do things and helping yourself feel better, will give you more time and energy. 

To help you in this situation I have put together a list below of the resources to relieve the unwanted feelings and help you feel, calm and focused in this crisis - while trusting in your own abilities to get through this with high confidence.

Little action makes a huge difference and releases the negative energy from the body.  

Anytime when you hopeless, please remind yourself that this will pass!

We can get through almost anything just knowing that it doesn't last forever.

Get the free mini-course self-empowering tools and methods that will not only help you navigate through this feeling calm, focused and connected but create structure, healthy habits, self-care routines that you will benefit from forever!

Much love and courage,

Jenni

 

The best hacks to staying resilient, focused and productive in lockdown with your family

I know many people are struggling at home in quarantine feeling overwhelmed when they are not getting things done as they want and need to, just because they don’t get enough time for themselves!

Over the years I've been going through all the challenges that many have to face quickly right now so I know it's not easy at all when you have to spend a lot of time at home, take care of your kids, household and work while being with your loved ones in the same space, who are also trying to do the same.

I am an online entrepreneur and I've worked from home for the last 6 years. After I left corporate and started working for myself I needed to learn to lead myself in a whole new way.

It took a good amount of effort until I found the self-discipline, habits of high productivity and the planning tools that give me clarity and balance daily — without forgetting self-care, my daily routines and personal needs.

When I became a mother a little over a year ago, my time became incredibly limited and I was at home all the time. This crisis and locked down experience reminds me a lot about last spring.

I then needed to learn to plan things out even more carefully and work more efficiently. It was actually really good for me as I didn’t have time to procrastinate anymore or overthink things too much. I had to teach my inner high-achieving perfectionist to calm down and trust less doing and more focus would be more!

So I consciously aligned my habits and the ways I worked again, my productivity actually peaked and I got so much more things done in a short time.

It made me wonder what on earth did I do with all that time before I had a child.

Again, after my husband, Joonas quit his day job a couple of months ago we had to learn how to be together all the time.

It took a little practice for us but we were able to find the ways to agree on things in a new way, take care of the household and Stella as a team, and learn how to express ourselves and our needs and feelings better (big one!). This requires constant, daily discussions.

So now, to be honest, my daily life hasn't changed that much during the complete locked down. 

We are all forced to adjust to these sudden, shocking changes. There's no office to go, social interactions and daily transitions are not happening naturally. It can feel there's no place to escape and get a breather.

This, plus all the health concerns and the fear of the unknown future can cause a lot of stress and add up insecurities and anxiety - so please be very compassionate and gentle with yourself, you are doing the best you can.

I collected the best productivity hacks, tips, and habits that I have found to be mental, emotional and financial (we all have to make our income) lifesavers when you spend 24/7 with your family and work from home.


How to get things done and feel calm and productive when working from home:

  1. Be present and feel good in the moments: Inhale “receive” & exhale “release" mantra every time you feel tension or fear pops up.

  2. Meditate daily - 5 minutes does miracles. 

  3. Agree the house rules and make a weekly schedule with your spouse. This should include:

    1. Work meetings and taking care of the house hold, groceries & meals. Now we need to prioritize a lot and be flexible.

    2. If you both work, agree when the other one is taking care of the kids and the other one can focus on work better.

    3. Make sure everyone gets some alone time daily.

  4. Take a shower daily and dress up to get ready for work — this makes a big difference on how you feel.

  5. Talk about your feelings with your loved ones. Sharing helps to release blocks and vulnerability connects people intimately. Listen to what your loved ones say to you! Just being heard and seen is most often enough helpful.

  6. Plan your days: Including the breaks, mealtimes, exercise and decide when you stop working. Follow your daily plan. 

  7. Cook healthy, yummy food. Enjoy and appreciate every bite. 

  8. Move your body somehow (have a morning dance party or take online classes) - even a couple of minutes of movement is helpful and helps you let go of the excess energy.

  9. Communicate your friends and family daily; thank goodness for the technology it fulfills our social needs <3

  10. Consume news and social reasonably. It easily adds up more stress and anxiety.

  11. Enjoy and appreciate the time you get to spend together. 

Remind of yourself daily that this too shall pass!

It is not possible to act normally as we did before in this situation - we have to align and adjust a lot. 

To see the positives, this crisis can be a possibility to get closer and more connected with your spouse. You may get some ideas with your career or business and actually this can be quite creative time, like transformations often are. Even it’s difficult and painful.

Now it's not time to push yourself forward but allow yourself to go through this experience and feel your feelings along the way.

With these tips and habit changes, you will help yourself feel good, which is the most important thing now. 

To help you actualize all this you can download my the Daily Life Planner page CLICK here.

It gives you structure and simple guidance on how to create a morning routine and plan out your days while staying productive and knowing you will get everything done.

Take really good care of yourself, rest and focus on going through this day by day.


Much love, Jenni

Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash - thank you so much!

Get Rid Of Overwhelm

Motherhood has been quite overwhelming for me the last couple of weeks. 

Little Stella just turned 8 months old. She's so big already, that I almost miss the tiny-baby time. Most of the time she’s full of joy and smiles, an active and strong-willed baby who shows a good sense of humour. She’s standing up, crawling and climbing on things, finally she’s getting around on her own, she was so eager to learn it for so long.

All this growth is wonderful; I'm grateful that I'm allowed to watch and help her grow.

It also means that she has been sleeping less during the day and is waking up more often during the nights. Sleep regression, teething and growth leaps… It’s hard for all of us.

On some days I’ve been so tired, overwhelmed and dizzy that I didn’t even know that this level of exhaustion could exist and how one could still function and get things done. Sometimes we really are, super-humans!

It’s quite amazing what our bodies and our brain are capable of but it can’t go on like that for a long time.

A tired brain is scattered, overwhelmed and unproductive. 

Exhaustion lowers our energy levels and it’s hard to focus on anything complex. 

We get irritated and disconnected when we are tired. 

And, everyone knows that long-term exhaustion can lead to issues in every areas of our life. 

As a coach, I believe, and know that we can always change the circumstances for the better. 

We don't have to keep ourselves struggling for long. We don’t need to keep self-sabotaging ourselves.

Even when it feels impossible, the answers always come when we are ready to receive help and guidance. We can always find solutions, when we just stop to think about it and allow ourselves to change our situation.

That’s what I did with my situation with my little one. I stopped complaining, did some research and found solutions to help my little one (and myself) sleep better. Things change so fast with them, I had to ask for help, so I could get some rest.  

All this helped. Bringing awareness to the situation and knowing that I can affect and change my situation felt already relieving and I could make a plan of what to do next.

The biggest reason for overwhelm is the lack of clarity; there’s too much to do.

We tend to have to-do lists that include everything we want and have to do in the near future. Sometimes the days are scheduled so full that it doesn’t leave room for natural changes that life brings: we get sick, someone cancels, something needs to be prioritized, energy levels are low… We get into reaction mode and feel that we have to over-control and micromanage everything. 

Do this to get rid of overwhelm

Plan your weeks beforehand on Sundays:

  • Choose three main priorities for the week.

  • Sketch your weekly schedule so you know what’s coming up.

  • Set intentions: see things going amazingly well all week and decide how you want to feel at the end of the week.

  • Ask what are the worries you cannot do anything about? Leave them to the universe.

  • Schedule time for yourself; exercise, get fresh air and prioritize your own needs. This is non-negotiable: it's the source of your well-being and happiness.

When you get used to doing this it’s quick and then you know what’s happening next week and you are prepared for changes. With the plan, you will also set boundaries. Saying no will be easier. You will also feel that you are in the lead and super good you have planned time for yourself.

Know that there's a lot you can do to help yourself when you need help. All you need to do is to get started.

Have you ever encountered a stressful time in your life where overwhelm got the best of you?  How did you manage to overcome it? Let me know in the comments below!

With Love,

Jenni

Are you waiting for the right time and things be perfect?

Hello!

It’s been a while since I sat down to write to you. Having baby Stella at the end of December started a completely new phase of life, and a life-long duty, called motherhood. I have loved being with the little one and having a family has changed my life in so many good ways.

Baby is now on her long afternoon nap and the house is quite a mess. My mind reminded me there are tons of “better” things to do than sit down to write to you, which I have tried to finish I don’t know how many times.

Before her birth I planned to take a few months off from working with clients and enjoy this precious time and possibility to be with her, while writing and taking care of the other side of my business aside. I have this urge to create and contribute and I’m used to work a lot -- it’s simply part of my nature and I love what I do.

It’s been a challenge to combine these two desires.

The last months have been transformational: basically all areas of life have demanded adjustments and inner work, while going through a massive personal upgrade and identity change that motherhood often puts us through.

I’m lucky I had a chance to stay at home and take time to be with the baby, heal after the birth and take my time to adjust for the first couple of months. (It should be a birthright for the new moms and their babies.)

After things got a little steadier and I had more time, it started weighing on me why I didn’t take time for myself and do what’s important to me.

I had crafted a solid, easygoing plan on how to get started again. Baby is sleeping on schedule, so I pretty much know when and how much time I have. My husband is happy to be with the baby after work and on the weekends.

I ran out of excuses, so I stopped to see what was going on.

  • I was comparing myself to others… when I looked at other people with newborn children in social media I thought what’s wrong with me. They seemed to have everything in order and were living a picture-perfect life, there were no signs of greasy hair or old yoga pants.  

  • Continuous distractions got me off track... When I got back to it this highly critical inner voice said what I’d created is not good enough, so I started writing something else and then ended up not finishing anything.

  • I waited for a better time... when this chaos and overwhelm would pass; baby getting through growth spurts; learning to eat from the bottle; when I have a babysitter and so forth…  

I didn’t give myself permission to start until everything would be perfect.

I have a lot to share about this so called “mom guilt” that hit me, the need to be perfect, irreplaceable, micromanage and do something all the time, mainly to show myself that I'm a good enough mother, and not abandoning my child if I take some time for myself.

I realized there will always be something going on and life with kids is overwhelming and chaotic, but also fun and happy.

So I decided…

… to stop letting these learned ideals, patterns and my inner stories control me.

… to stop cleaning the house out of the “mom habit” when the baby sleeps.

… 15 minutes is a long time and I work when I can. When I can’t, I relax.

… it’s finally time to let go of perfectionism. I simply don’t have time for it anymore.

I gave myself a permission to do things I want to do and adjust it all to this new life.

If we are not trying and doing what calls us, we never know what’s possible.

If we let fear-based stories lead life or if we constantly compare ourselves to others it certainly destroys creativity and courage and we never dare to put ourselves out there.

It doesn’t matter at what stage of life you are or what you want to do. May it related to your career, relationships, your personal goals or big dreams. You got to start from somewhere.

Are you waiting until things are perfect? To get started, ask yourself:

  • What are your excuses or stories that you tell yourself?

  • Are you sure they are true?

  • If you took action now, how would it make you feel?

To make this blog happen I sought advice from my blog on how to boost productivity by using this brilliant method that helps you remove distractions and resistance, and get things done fast when time is limited. Read it here

Let me know in the comments below if this resonates.

Love, Jenni

To subscribe my weekly inspirational newsletters sign up here.


Create More time and Minimize Distractions with these 4 steps

If you are like me, it's hard for you to keep your hands off your phone when you get a message or when a new notification pops up.

I used to struggle with how easily I could slip down the social media rabbit hole. It would happen many times a day when I was just "quickly checking on something." And suddenly time went by.

It made me feel lousy that I was wasting so much time, plus I felt I didn’t have any control over myself! I was constantly late and behind schedule and that meant my days got longer as I tried to fit everything in. I was always wondering, where does all the time go?

When I tracked what was causing the distractions and how much time I was wasting online every day, I decided it was vital to set clear boundaries for myself (my mind actually), so I could keep my focus and get things done efficiently - and feel good about myself in the process.

It requires true willpower to stay away from the phone when it’s the alarm clock; social and business network; entertainment system; library; assistant; and office. And that really is what our mobile device represents to us nowadays.

It's difficult to resist because we are talking about something that is extremely addictive.

Mobile phones, email, and social media wire our brains in ways it's not accustomed to being wired.

We have started to believe that we need to be contactable and available at all times. Our brain has got so distracted and disturbed that we don’t actually know how to be present without doing anything but enjoying ourselves and paying attention to the life we are living.

I believe we are talking about a bigger problem than we yet even realize.

Many believe they are the only one suffering with certain issues, and that everyone else lives happy stress-free lives. That’s a social media bubble and it’s not true.  

It's so easy to grab your phone first in the morning. Then, before even waking up properly; without setting up the day; or even saying good morning to yourself or to anyone else, your rat race has started and your day is already being driven by the demands of your phone.

It will ruin your day if you open up a message that immediately activates your stress hormones.

This could be an email that you need to react to right away; something bad you see in the news; maybe you find out there’s a huge catastrophe at work; or you discover your ex has met someone new.

Whatever it is, it can immediately cause angst. Negative thoughts and emotions then quickly run out of your control and your day starts in the wrong mood!

All the wonderful communication possibilities mobile devices offer can make you feel like you can’t lead your life, or never even have enough time to live your days, peacefully.

This can be changed. You can either give your power away or choose to respect yourself; your priorities; the connection with your loved ones; and your well-being, by setting clear boundaries.

Here’s how to do it:

  1. Switch off all unnecessary notifications and put your phone on silent when you need to focus. Leave your phone in another room if its presence haunts you on your desk.

  2. Create a morning routine and start your day by being present, focusing on your breathing for a while or with a short meditation.

  3. Create clarity around your schedule and set intentions for your days.

  4. Take breaks and recharge yourself, so your brain is not exhausted continuously. Do nothing for a couple of minutes in between all the “doing”.

The benefits are clear:

  • When there are no constant beeps and pop-ups, there won't be any temptation to react and respond to those notifications. You, therefore, won't be sucked into your inbox or into a social media hole for hours.  

  • You are more mindful of what happens and how you feel, and can then react and respond to events mindfully.

  • You will have more energy, clarity, and time.

  • Switching off your notifications is a fast and straightforward way to increase your productivity and your ability to stay calm and focused: you will feel happier as you are mastering your schedule and creating a better day for yourself - which is what we all want!

How valuable would that be for you?

Leave a comment letting me know how you manage distractions or what is causing problems for you. Ask questions! What rules have you set around your phone and internet usage and how well are those rules working for you?

To help you create successful, intentional days, you can download the printable daily page of my Clarity Planner.  

Love, Jenni

Transform your days for successful, productive feel good days

If you feel like your days never seem to go as planned, you’re not alone.

If my day is not planned, and there are no clear intentions and time slots reserved for each type of activity, then I’m hustling, starting 10 things without finishing any of them properly and then staying behind my schedule. 

Typically at the end of those days I feel that I have wasted the day, there’s self-blame, anxiety, and I feel as though I got nothing done! Not good.

This is a usual “chicken running without a head day" for many, I know.

During the first years of my entrepreneurial life I got exhausted and drained, as I felt as though I was never complete and there was always so much to do!

The freedom I had got after leaving my 9-5 job led to time management issues and I didn’t have clarity.

I just couldn’t stop working and forgot my personal needs and self-care, as I had no structure or boundaries at all. I was scared to think about how much more I needed to do to be more productive and effective  - in order to get the results I wanted. It led to adrenaline exhaustion until I realized that it was about me.

I needed to change my habits and introduce clarity and structure into my days.

It’s not how we should feel in the end, even there are always so many things we need to do. The list is endless but our energy isn’t.

That's when I changed my habits and implemented new methods that helped me to find my freedom while staying super focused and in high vibration.

I started enjoying great days, one after another.

Soon I was super happy to notice it worked: I had improved my productivity; creativity; my overall wellbeing; and increased my income. I felt good about myself and worried less. I felt that I was in control and complete every day by working a lot less and flowing forward with ease.

It was then I designed my Clarity Method and the planner that helps me to stay spiritually, mentally, and emotionally aligned and flowing steadily forward towards my desires and goals.

This is how you can create intentional, successful feel-good days:

  1. Sketch your days and plan your schedule the night before. You win your mornings by planning them the evening before and deciding what you are going to focus on each day. It takes less than five minutes!

  2. Start the morning with a consistent morning routine. If you have limited time, do a short meditation and visualize the day ahead. Use your mind to imagine how you want things to go and how you want to feel when you’re done. The calming and centering feeling will carry you through the day. 

  3. Feeling grateful and appreciative from the bottom of your heart for what you have now is the fastest way to manifest, using the power of the mind consciously.

  4. Set intentions, goals, and your three love-to-do's for the day.

  5. Decide when your day starts and ends.

  6. Plan time for self-care, downtime, breaks, and exercise.

  7. "Close" your day. Pay attention to the good things that happened that day. Before you end your day, trackback what went well and take the lessons you need to learn - and feel the feelings away by briefly journaling!

  8. Sketch your next day's schedule in the evening.

  9. Decide what time you'll wake up and what are your morning routines and habits.

Repeat this daily and you'll feel energized, successful, and complete & content in the evening.

Repetition is a way to change your habits. I mean ANY habits.

Your habits are starting from your thoughts and feelings.

This helps you to see the results at the end of each day.

Declutter the stressful feelings and any bad mood which may have arisen. The less we hide these feelings but release and feel them healthily, the freer and more relaxed we are. 

It's rewarding to track back and follow up on your life daily. 

You learn a great deal about yourself and what works for you but also see what doesn’t really work and let go of that without resentment. You can always start again, at any moment.

Paying attention to good things in the mornings and evenings leads to instant gratification and positive cycles.

You will then unlock the power of the mind and attract more of what you want in life - it all starts from daily action!

Like one of my clients said, setting the daily intentions is like magic; things go as we intend to.

To help you get to create successful, intentional days continuously while enjoying and getting done what you wanted and needed to, download the printable daily page of my Clarity Life Planner!  

Use it for planning your days, habits, feelings, wellbeing, tasks and activities.

Love, Jenni

Simple Way to Boost Productivity and Increase Focus

I have been the biggest procrastinator I know and the habit caused me a lot of struggle and self-doubt as I was just not able to follow through my plans and desires. (By Gretchen Rubin's framework my tendency type is Rebel, meaning that I often resist all, inner and outer, expectations - mostly my own).  

It has been a huge learning curve for me to learn how to say no, also for myself, and set boundaries, when I just want to do this and that quickly, and ideas pop up in my head, which just distracts me (nowadays I write the them down “for later” so that I make myself to believe that I don't miss a thing).

I know so many of us who work themselves or manage their own time and schedule and struggle a lot with their time management. I wanted to share a technique with you that helps to get things fast and efficiently and it helps you to commit your goals and tasks.

 

How to increase your productivity, do things efficiently and keep your focus? 

This is called Pomodoro method (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian), which is amazing when you don’t have much time and you want to get things done fast and optimize your time and effort.

Many people use way too much time for simple things as they just don’t do it. This method increases your productivity when you start using it (and it makes you happier). 

Francesco Cirillo was cutting tomatoes when he got the idea of the Pomodoro Technique on the 80’s. 

How would it feel for you if you would feel complete at the end of every day?

First of all (this is my preparation advice):

  • Plan your months, weeks and days (read here how to do it and download the free daily planner).

  • Splitting your time in chunks keep you on your happy tracks.

  • Clarify the outcome what you want and need to do.

  • What would make you feel complete with the task?

  • What is the tiny little thing that you need and want to get done?

  • Minimize all the distractions: email, phone, social media accounts - everything that could distract you.

Then we are getting into the traditional Pomodoro method:

  • Set the timer for 25 minutes.

  • Start working - you only have to work for 25 minutes, so it’s not a big deal right?

  • When the alarm peeps, take a 5-10 minute break.

Repeat for four times (100 minutes) and then take a longer 20-minute break (great time for meditation, just taking it easy, get some fresh air and empty your mind).


Why it works?

1) You set a clear intention for what you want to achieve.

2) You minimize all the distractions and focus 100% and you will get more done in 20 minutes than in hours.

3) You allow yourself to work in small time junks, which is so much easier than climbing to the huge mountain at once and feel overwhelm by it!

4) Small steps - fantastic accomplishments and you will feel complete, satisfied and rewarded after you are done.

Don’t go to social media during the breaks if you don’t really have to. You only get distracted and overwhelmed or end up in a social media rabbit hole and suddenly two hours is gone. Or you start comparing yourself to others and self-doubt takes over. So say brave no for social media!

As Francesco's brilliant idea proves: the best ideas always come when you least expect them! No pushing, no struggling - but with life with ease attitude!

Hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know in the comments below in what ways were you able to boost your productivity or what is the biggest block for you.


With love,
Jenni