Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Lara Hanlon

Thoughts on productivity and getting shit done.

Someone once told me: “nobody should live to work, rather we should work to live”. A simple yet sobering proposition, don’t you think? This advice came right as I was starting my career as a professional designer, when I needed it the most.

As a society, we’re obsessed with the idea of productivity. It is stitched into the fabric of Western civilisation and capitalist culture. Late nights and working weekends have become par for the course in today’s competitive world. Leaving little time to enjoy the fun things in life! But the problem with productivity is hidden in the definition of the word itself.

Productivity: the effectiveness of productive effort as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.

The fact that our productivity is measured largely by quantity over quality stifles our creativity, innovation, efficiency, and happiness. Late nights and working weekends? I’m guilty of all the above! But I’ve come to understand that hard work should be matched by better, smarter work not more of it. I’m making an extra effort to focus on both the quality of my work and quality of my life. Here are some guiding principles that might help you do the same.

Good brain time.

Are you a morning person or night owl? It turns out that your brain prefers certain times of the day for specific types of activities. If you’re a morning person then it’s best to address creative or cognitively taxing workloads before noon. Start your day by tackling the important stuff. Leave the boring ‘mindless’ tasks until the afternoon, when you hit a slump. Or if you’re like me and your brain is sloth-like before lunch then your evenings may be best for thinking and doing. Either way, figure out your peak energy levels and build your schedule around that.

Make a list and prioritise.

Sometimes there is just so much to get done that it’s too hard to think! Simply jotting down your to-do’s at the beginning of your day can help clear your mind and kick start your concentration. Pro tip: Put the most pressing tasks at the top of your list and don’t move to the next until each one is complete. This is where your journey to reaching quality over quantity can begin. To track multiple projects, I like to use a Kanban board. It’s an easy, low-fi and quick way to visualise your workflow. Tools like Trello and Flow are also effective for project planning and task management. Give them a try.

Hack your habits.

When you find yourself on social media or heading to the coffee counter for the third time in one afternoon (when you should be finalising your project deliverables) it’s a sure sign that you’re looking for a distraction. We often form bad habits — such as scrolling endlessly on Twitter — to overcome and avoid situations that challenge us or make us feel uncomfortable. Try to be cognizant of your habits and how they are impacting your work-life balance. Maybe you binge watch on Netflix to avoid going to the gym. Maybe you eat more cake at lunch because your manager is stressing you out. Such habits can greatly effect your decision making and productivity levels. Next time you end up on YouTube instead of completing your to-do list ask yourself what triggered you to do so. To dig deeper into the psychology of habit formation, I recommend that you read Charles Duhigg’s amazing book: The Power of Habit.

Stop working.

As the Design Sage Dieter Rams once said; “less, but better”. Although referring to his approach to designing products, I think we can apply this ethos to personal productivity. If you’re working for hours on end without taking a break, or even worse, without making any real progress then it’s time to hit pause. Forcing yourself to make work for the sake of making work will only lead to poor work! Take time out if you’re struggling to find a rhythm. Get up, go for a walk, pick up a book, or grab a coffee with your colleague while your brain resets.

Reflect and move on.

Acknowledging your progress is important if you want to upkeep your productivity levels. Reflect on your successes and failures as they happen. Think about the work you enjoyed and the projects you struggled with. Ask your teammates for feedback. Consider what you’ve learned along the way and what you need to change moving forward. By doing so, you’ll feel a sense of achievement and will be motivated to tackle your next project. And the one after that…and the one after that…

Lara Hanlon is Designer in Residence at IBM Design, part-time lecturer at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), founder and researcher at éntomo food.

Work Better, Not More was originally published in Prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Work Better, Not More

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