Personal Productivity Hacks

I was scrolling through Threads the other day and came across a thread titled “Neurospicy Hacks to Help With Productivity.” If you’re not familiar with the new lingo the kids are using these days, “neurospicy” is the term people use to describe individuals who have some neurodivergent tendencies.

I find it interesting that so many people are self-diagnosing as neurodivergent these days, but after reading the list, I found that there were plenty of hacks that I’ve always used to motivate me and keep me as productive as possible. I’m in no way self-diagnosing myself as neurodivergent. However, some of the hacks I use came up in the comments on Threads, and I thought I’d share these personal productivity hacks with you all as well.

1. Word count timer: This one really helped me with my newfound role as a ghost-writer, but I also just realized I’ve always done a version of this when I have a writing deadline of some sort. I set a timer and a word-count goal per day and hour. Even though I don’t necessarily write just to reach a certain number of words, when I set a timer and a word-count goal, I feel more motivated to reach it and less stressed to start writing. For example, if I know I have a ten-page paper to write, I calculate how many actual words that is and divide that number by the number of days until my due date. I then decide how many hours a day I will dedicate to writing and figure out how many words per hour I’ll need to write. Suddenly, ten pages turn into 250 words per hour for three hours a day, for ten days. That is much less daunting than just saying, “I’ve got to write ten pages,” so I don’t hesitate as much to get started because I know I only have to write 250 words an hour for three hours on a specific day. Once I hit that goal, I shut it down. That trick has worked wonders for my procrastination habit.
2. Walking at work: I spend most of my time sitting at my desk at work. My watch is very good about reminding me that I need to actually get up and walk, which I normally do with no problem. Because my job is right across from a park, I don’t just stand up and walk to the kitchen or the restroom. I make a conscious effort every day to take a break and walk around the park for fifteen or thirty minutes, depending on my workload and the weather. I know everybody might not have that same luxury, but if you can, you’d be amazed at how refreshing it is to get some sunshine and fresh air after sitting/standing in an office building for several hours. I come back from that walk feeling energized and ready to close out my day with a bang rather than a fizzle.
3. Virtual body doubling: I’ve talked about body doubling in a previous blog, but if you don’t know what that is, here’s a refresher. Body doubling is having another person in the room with you to keep you on task. It’s basically a study buddy for GSDing. When I mentioned it before, I was referring to in-person body doubling that I would do with my immediate friend circle. We periodically go to each other’s houses and serve as body doubles to help each other do household chores, work, or any other tasks that need completing. Well, now I’m into virtual body doubling. Some of my college friends and I have a group chat that has now also become a virtual hangout. Whenever any one of us needs to work on a to-do list and needs accountability to see it through, we FaceTime the group and do it together. These have come in clutch for me when I’ve been tempted to watch TV or mindlessly scroll on social media instead of meal-prepping, cleaning, working out, or catching up on work.

What about you? Do you have any tips and tricks that keep you productive and getting stuff done? Share them with us. Maybe we can add them to our arsenals to help us get stuff done!