Sometimes life takes a turn for the worst and then the next thing you know you’re struggling to get through the day without pulling your own hair out. Deadlines get missed,  your organisation falls apart and your productivity fails. It happens to the best of us and trust me, I’ve been there. But I’ve found ways to combat these negative cycles. If I can do it then so can you. Here’s my top three tips to living a more productive life.

Tip 1: Manage your energy!

Instead of being so hyper focused on managing your time, I find the best way to be the most productive is to actually manage my energy. We’re not going to be young forever, nor will we always have the same amount of energy. As we age our energy levels slowly decrease. Decreasing workloads and splitting tasks over a few days will save you from burning out. Sometimes I have so many things that I need to complete that I spend my energy worrying instead of just splitting the tasks. Learning to prioritise certain things makes life run far more smoothly.

Tip 2: Focus on one thing at a time.

Juggling too many things at the same time is a recipe for disaster. We aren’t superheros, we’re human. And humans make mistakes. But to save yourself from making far more mistakes than necessary it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone can multitask and that’s okay. Focusing on one thing at a time allows for breathing room and enables you to focus better. Ensure one task is done to the best of your capabilities before moving on to the next one. Baby steps!

Tip 3: Build a better to-do list.

I know, I know! Everyone mentions a to do list but I assure you, you’re probably doing it wrong. To make sure a to do list is actually completable, place the most difficult task first. Get the hard stuff out of the way. Most of the time when people write a to do list they always do it the other way around but from my experience, it never works. Putting the most difficult task first ensures that you’ll feel more fulfilled and you’re far more likely to finish the list once the harder tasks are out the way.

And there you have it! My top three tips to help you live a mor productive life. I hope these tips help you as much as they help me.