Productivity Strategies & Apps

As many of my friends on other social media platforms have observed, I've recently fallen in love with the productivity app, Forest. With so many different apps and strategies to use, it can be stressful trying to figure out what works best for you, let alone what they actually are. While I know these are tailored and don't work for everyone, I wanted to share three things I do/use:  (Spoiler: Pomodoro, 2/3, & the Forest App)

So before talking about being productive, I want to stress and center the importance of taking care of yourself. You can't write 15 pages in a day while hungry, you can't read your mountain of articles when you've had less than 6-8 hours of sleep a day (despite you thinking that might work). As I've learned over and over again, the adrenaline makes me feel like I can "do" anything, but in reality, taking care of yourself, physically, mentally, in community, and checking in with your spirit, is critically necessary. With that in mind, here are three strategies I've used to stay productive:

POMODORO TECHNIQUE

• What it is: 25 minutes of work, 5 minutes of rest. Essentially, the idea is to give yourself a short-enough set of time to focus hardcore, without the exhaustion or intimidating pressure to focus for hours on end. 
• Why it works for me: When I sit at my desk to write, I find the inexplicable need to check my email, check Facebook, answer a friend's text, and soon enough 2-3 hours have passed by. The 25 minutes helps me focus where I tell myself, "okay, after these 25 minutes, I'll check..." and by then, I'll be on a roll. 
• Why I also like it: Our bodies are not meant for sitting hours on end. So, after the 25 minutes is up, during the break-time, I make sure to stretch and move around, get some water, check the things I'm suppose to be checking, so that I can start working after the break is up. 

If you look up "Pomorodo" in your app store, you'll find tons of options. I personally love Forest (which I'll talk more about later) and used to use My Tomatoes, but it is website only. However, I like that you can (1) set breaks to be longer if you need, and (2) you can log ​what you did and download it as an excel sheet. 

I've also seen FocusBooster and 
Pomodone rec'ed. (And as a note: I don't receive $ for any of the apps I mention; just a fan). 

Ultimately, what this strategy helps me with is (1) taking breaks because breaks are necessary, and (2) helping me realize that the things that seem urgent aren't always urgent. Often times, I'll convince myself that I have to answer this text right away, or I have to check my email right this second, as a way to avoid doing the work that needs to get done. While I've adapted Pomodoro to not necessarily be the 25:5 breakdown, the mentality has helped me rewire my concentration. 

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TWO OUT OF THREE

• What it is: Divide your day into 3 working chunks (you can see mine in the sea-foam green. Try to only work 2 of 3 chunks (and don't forget your meals too!). For that other third, do other non-work stuff, however you label it. For me, that's when I do my side hustle, work on this website, call and catch up with a friend, journal, workout, go on a walk, etc. 
• Why it works for me: I created this system as I made myself a "daily routine" spread in my bullet journal. I realized I was very quickly burning out by trying to work all hours of the day. And it's tempting to do so. But we shouldn't. 
• Why I also like it: Through splitting the day, I've learned which time blocks I work best in, which ones I should leave like meetings where I can just listen. 

My hour divisions are like this*

• Morning: 8AM-12PM
• Afternoon: 1PM-5PM
• Evening: 7PM-11PM

and on the rare occasion:

• Late Night: 11PM-3AM

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As a note, the lifestyle & commitments I have at the moment privilege me to create a schedule like this.  For that late night chunk, it's very rare, but I've also realized that sometimes, I work best when the world seems to be sleeping...

Ultimately, this is about creating boundaries and listening to when your body works best, with the flexibility it might not be the same time every day. On some days, I'll actually do a "Morning" and "Late Night" and I have no idea what I did in between. But that doesn't matter because I wasn't meant to do work then, so I didn't. And with Covid19 and everything else going on, this has been a way to give myself some flexibility and some grace.

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​THE FOREST APP

• What it is: It is a productivity app where you "plant" your productivity through trees you set for different times. If you leave the app, your tree dies... and it really looks so sad when it's dead. You have a plot that you can plant each day, and the app also helps summarize based on the week, month, and year.
• Why it works for me: It has all the features of "My Tomatoes" (my former fave), but this one locks my phone which is my main source of distraction.
• Why I also like it: The "friends" feature where you are able to find your friends who also use the app, connect, see each other's plots, and plant together. This last function is the major accountability: you all earn the same tree, and if anyone in your group planting group messes with their phone, everyone's tree dies. It's high stakes but also a great way to feel invested amidst the physical distance.

Other Features: 
Coins which you earn alongside your plants, which you can use to buy different tree species and make your plots cuter. I like the sunflowers~ 
Tagging where you can label the work you're doing (like writing, reading, etc.)
Timer: you can set it from 10-120 min. though Reddit says 25 min. is the best ratio for earning
Achievements: make sure to check them because you get extra coins here and also follow their instagram (pro tip!)

To say that I am a fan, is definitely a huge understatement. And I have to say, this really is one of my favorite apps because of how my community and I use it together. We plant together, we cheer each other on as we see people having great "planting days." I also code my trees, which has helped with my accountability, where the "mushrooms" (one of the tree species) is for my dissertation (diss-shrooms, if you will). So, even if I'm planting a lot on a certain day, my community knows that if there are no diss-shrooms, I am not on task. And then they'll text. It's both wonderful and hilarious and gentle way to remind me to not get sidetracked, as I am so often tempted to do~