5 Productivity Experiments for 2014

It always makes me laugh when people tell me that I seem to have it all together (whatever that even means!), because my life can look pretty darn messy and chaotic at times from my perspective.

One of the things that I am eternally trying to get a handle on is that awful ‘p word’:

Productivity.

There are a million articles, blog posts, books, and tip sheets out there promising to make you faster, more effective, and more focused in your work. And there are certainly no shortage of stories about super productive people whose routines seem so insanely efficient that you can’t help but wonder if they’re even human (I’m lookin’ at you, Ryan Holiday).

I’ve personally found the deluge of advice to be a little bit overwhelming — not to mention the fact that many of these popular rituals and routines stress me out just thinking about them!

If I feel myself tense while I’m reading about a new method or system, that is my body giving me the sign that it’s time to step away slowly and try something else. No matter how many outrageously efficient founders swear by it, it won’t do you any good if it doesn’t feel right.

That said, I’m always on the hunt for new elements that I can incorporate into my daily routine to help me get more done and live with greater ease.

So this year, I’m running five productivity experiments to see if I can’t make some improvements to my work flow and my overall wellbeing:

1. Start Every Day with  a New Chapter

It was only in the last few months I rediscovered my love of reading — and now I have at least one fiction and one non-fiction on the go at any given time. I absolutely love the personal growth that comes from a great book on leadership, business, or wellness, and I adore getting lost in the pages of a captivating novel.

While it can sometimes be difficult to find time to read, I’ve found the investment to be incredibly worth while — 30 minutes with a great book does wonders for my stress level and really helps to clear my head.

So for the last few weeks, I’ve been experimenting with reading one chapter of a book before doing absolutely anything else in the morning. Basically, I wake up, make myself a cup of coffee and make a bee-line for the couch.

I’m loving this practice so far — it’s a great palette cleanser first thing in the morning and helps create a separation between sleep and rest time, and work time. It’s also something to look forward to every morning, which helps get me out of bed on frosty winter days!

2. The Bullet Journal System

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve certainly seen how excited I am about the new notebook that I picked up for 2014 ($9 at Poppin.com or Chapters).

I’ve always loved cracking the spine on a fresh new notebook, but this year is particularly exciting because I’ll be trying out a new system called The Bullet Journal.

Designed to be a “rapid-logging system” for taking notes, managing to-do’s, and maintaining lists, this is an amazing alternative to apps for the analog-lovers out there like myself.

As Ryder Carroll, creator of the Bullet Journal explains, “Bullet journal is for those who feel there are few platforms as powerful as the blank paper page. It’s an analog system for the digital age that will help you organize the present, record the past, and plan for the future”.

Take a look at the intro video below and let me know what you think!

3. Taming my Inbox with Unroll.Me

Unroll.Me is a one-stop free service that allows you to manage the insane amount of promotional emails that wind up in your inbox on a daily basis.

When you first log in, Unroll.Me invites you to connect your email address and creates a list of all of your subscriptions, allowing you to easily unsubscribe with a click.

It turns out I was subscribed to 101 email newsletters. WHAT?!?! I would have guessed 50 at the most.

Once you’ve finished purging, Unroll.Me gives you the option to combine all these emails into a daily digest called the Rollup, which helps reduce inbox clutter and distractions.

4. Buffer-ing Daily

It’s no secret that I love Buffer.

Buffer is a social media scheduling service with an incredible free offering, and an amazing team behind it who are head-over-heels in love with the product.

Known for their popular Buffer Blog — featuring life hacks, productivity tips, and business advice — this company is committed to helping users lead happier, more productive lives, and that really shows in the product.

Buffer makes it so easy for me to manage and schedule tweets (I mostly use it for Twitter, despite it’s many platform integrations) not only from the user-friendly Buffer platform, but directly in Twitter with the Buffer button or from any webpage with the Chrome extension.

While it is certainly no replacement for a real-time conversation on Twitter, Buffer is great for those days when you’re on the road and may not have time (or cell coverage) to tweet, or those moments where you remember at 2:00am that you should post about something, and worry about forgetting it in the day light hours.

5. Delegate

Without a doubt, this will be the hardest experiment to run.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I’m a control freak, but I definitely like things being done a certain way, and I am extremely protective of my brand and those of the organizations that I work with…so letting someone else represent me, even in a small role, in any remotely public setting is a very scary thing, indeed.

But the reality is that I need some help, and there are so many incredibly bright young people that are looking for someone to give them a chance — just like so many did for me.

Your turn!

There you have it — five of my favourite adventures in productivity for 2014!

While this is enough to get me started, that definitely won’t be the end of my ‘experiments’ in 2014. I am always on the lookout for new solutions and experiments, so if you have a routine or ritual that you swear by, please share it in the comments below or tweet me @nskbelanger!

Beautiful photo courtesy of Craig Garner on Unsplash