The Kat House

I just read a post by Jonathan Phillips in which he discusses some of his favorite productivity tips. He put together some great information in response to Ben Yoskovitz’s call for secrets to productivity. I’ve decided to join in on the fun, so here it is - my own personal productivity tip!

Kill two birds with one stone. We’re all familiar with multi-tasking, but with a little creative thinking, we can accomplish tasks we would have never thought possible to accomplish simultaneously. I remember a semester in college when I took a full load of classes as well as worked a very demanding full-time job. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to get the required studying done, and my Biology class was beginning to suffer. After a lot of brainstorming, I developed a plan. I spent an entire evening reading several chapters from the textbook into an audio recorder. The next day, I listened to the recording during the 45 minute drive to class and the 45 minute drive home. It wouldn’t have been possible for me to read the textbook while driving, but by thinking outside the box, I had essentially added an hour and a half to my day! For the remainder of the semester, I spent one evening per week doing the recordings, and the rest of the week listening to them in my car. My final grade in the class was a high A! If you find yourself in a situation where there just aren’t enough hours in the day, make a list of the parts of your routine that cannot be changed, like driving. Look for creative ways to integrate other tasks into the time allotted for those fixed duties.

Be sure to check out The Ultimate Guide to Productivity Group Writing Project, and gift us with a tip of your own!