With so much technology these days, it can be very challenging to stay focused on one task at a time. Constant notifications, calls and reminders can distract you and make your day unproductive and frustrating. If you work in a shared office, noise and chatter is another obstacle on the way.

Many of us heard the saying, “It’s harder to break a habit than it is to form one.” It can be hard to unlearn something that isn’t serving you, so being mindful of which habits you develop from the get-go and what habits to avoid can set you on the right path from the beginning.

How often do you review your to-do list? Does it get the same amount of attention as your other productivity practices? Of course, it should because your to-do list acts as a sort of map, and if you're not regularly checking in to see where you're at, you'll quickly lose your way. Furthermore, it's a lot easier to prioritise a regular review than it is to try and recoup lost time from bouncing around without a clear picture of your desired outcomes.

If you feel guilty about a never-ending list of things to do and you don’t particularly enjoy creating to-do lists, read on. I want to share how to create an effective to-do list and start ticking things off to make it work for you and increase your productivity. It might be surprising to learn that creating a practical to-do list is an art of its own, but it’s true.

Productivity isn't only used to improve work-life. For many people, lives are somewhat merged these days, as they run businesses from home or on call 24/7 regardless of the traditional workweek. Productivity also applies to everyday life and should be your state of mind, not something you do during specific hours only.

We've all been there before... You wake up during the night with a brilliant idea or answer to a problem you've been grappling with. You decide not to write it down, being confident you won't forget it. But alas, come the morning – it's all gone, and you can't remember a thing.

Procrastination isn't about laziness but instead an inability to act, even when you know you should. The reasons for this vary from person to person, but the key ones include a lack of urgency, feeling overwhelmed, afraid of failure, very high standards, and boredom.

Productivity isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ thing. More often than not, you need to try a few methods before finding the one that works for you.

The following method is for those productivity seekers that start with a hiss and roar, and then a few months into it, their drive fizzles out.

There are many well-known sayings around the benefits of early mornings – for a good reason too! Research has indicated that people who wake up early have better brain function and superior critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

In my blogs, I love sharing various ways of achieving better productivity and time management in your daily life.

One of the quickest of them all to implement and see results is planning your day the night before. It's such a simple thing to do (once you get into the habit) and allows you to jump straight into your day with energy and focus.

Creating goals can be tricky; keeping them can be even more challenging. Research shows that, on average, about 80% of those who make New Year's resolutions will have failed to keep them by the second week of February.

So, what can you do to achieve a different outcome? I suggest implementing a solid framework using a SMART spreadsheet and calendar.

Stop! Don’t unsubscribe from that spam email or text. Why?

When you’re working on your day-to-day productivity, one of the most common areas for improvement is better email management. Almost always, a key recommendation is to ruthlessly unsubscribe from things you do not read.

In this blog, I'd like to share my suggestions on implementing the 10-step framework in different areas of your life. Let's start with work as most of us spend a huge amount of time at work with statistics showing as much as 80% (in full-time employment).

To have a totally organised life seems like a utopia to most of us. The reality though is that life just isn’t predictable and no matter how organised you are, there will always be unexpected curve balls to deal with.

Enter a framework of principles to support an organised life.

If you found yourself in an unwanted situation of feeling like your identity is wrapped up in your job, I'd like to share my suggestions on moving forward and creating the life that you want. 

If work is overriding every aspect of your life and setbacks impact your self-worth, it's probably time to consider making some changes.    

Many of us in the Western world have been raised to believe that work comes first and that it's normal to be entirely dedicated to your occupation.

This 24/7 availability for work means that we're often glued to our smartphones, obsessively checking email, texts and notifications. It's all been very much normalised, and social media feeds are full of people proudly working 60 hours a week, and some are even sharing about their extensive side-hustles.

f you're finding that your day is continuously getting away on you and your to-do list keeps getting longer, it's time to consider daily and weekly scheduling.

The problem with to-do lists is that they're arbitrary – you decide what needs to get done when, and how long it will take. Unfortunately, most of us focus on urgent or easy tasks rather than the important ones. Less than 17% of the population are any good at estimating how long something will actually take.

Increasing your productivity often involves having to do or implement something. Still, one of the most effective ways to help your productivity requires doing very little indeed - other than have a good night’s sleep.

Lack of sleep is fast becoming a big problem in the western world with some research indicating 45% of the population suffering from inadequate sleep. This lack of sleep impacts problem-solving, memory capacity, creativity – and productivity. And that lack of productivity (directly related to sleep deprivation) is costing the US economy over $63 billion a year!  

We are all aware of the benefits of learning; how it keeps the mind engaged and neural pathways active. But what about the art of unlearning - doesn’t it seem counterintuitive to be adding things in, only to remove them at a later date?

So you’ve identified your small and large goals and priorities for this year. You already plan your days and use a to-do list daily. You might even have had success with hourly check-ins. However, you’re still noticing that you’re not making any real progress with your overall goals and losing track on some of your essential tasks.