What's YOUR best productivity hack?

Remember that pivotal day when you KNEW you would start your own business? I remember that day well.

I was downsized from a cool start-up company (along with 60 of my colleagues) and I decided to strike out on my own. No more "job" job.

​I was going to be Kim.Inc, put out my own shingle, and start my own company. 

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But that wasn't the day.  

A few years earlier I had the realization that the corporate workplace was not for me.  This was the day...

It started out like any other day. I had a pretty easy commute out of Ottawa to a large tech company in Kanata. As I watched the gridlock of cars all heading INTO Ottawa every morning, I was grateful to be going in the other direction on the quiet side of the highway. 

On this particular day, as I drove by the IKEA on the way to my job in the suburbs, I noticed the big summer sale banner was up. I love those sales. When I got to my desk, I felt that all too familiar unease. I couldn't focus. I was not a morning person to begin with and I just could not get settled. There was no way any work was going to get done that morning. I was completely distracted. 

Then I had an idea. 

I made my way to my boss's office (he was a great guy) and explained that I was not having a very productive morning. I was working on a PR proposal due the next day and he knew I would complete it by then - I always got my work done. So I thought, what the hell, I'm asking him. 

"Hey, Bob (not his real name). Would it be OK if I take a quick trip to IKEA this morning? I'll be back in an hour or so - and you know that proposal will be finished by tomorrow."

When he answered my question, I KNEW I needed to be my own boss. He said, "Sorry Kim. I need your butt in that seat."

I had always struggled with the 9 to 5 - turns out my most productive hours were between 8 pm and 2 am! The idea of needing to be sitting in that seat, during those hours, made me claustrophobic.

Now that my butt is firmly planted in my home office chair - wherever that may be - and only when I have work to do, I thought I'd take a couple of minutes to offer some advice on improving productivity to anyone who is working from home, temporarily or permanently, or who has an office situation that threatens to crush their productivity.
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• Do yourself - and your back - a favour. Get an ergonomic assessment by an occupational therapist (OT). I was set-up by an OT in that big tech company and took all the tips with me when I set up my own workstation. Lindsay Hall offers a virtual office set-up in the Saint John area. Getting this assessment can reduce work injuries and sick time by making work-from-homers comfortable and supported while they work. Small changes can make a big difference!
   
• Get Toggl installed on your laptop & phone. You can easily track your time and get cool pie charts at the end of each week showing where you spend your time. Or maybe you don't want to know? It really helps me keep track of client project time and I track my exercise, writing and business planning time too. 
  
  
• Get a good set of headphones. Or a door that closes. Or both. If you need to concentrate, you'll need to create your own bubble to block out the world and hear yourself think.
  
  
• And while you have those headphones on, you might as well be listening to some playlists that you created yourself on Spotify. I have one big playlist that I go to for writing and reading. But I know most people create specific playlists for each activity. 
  
  
• And if you need a change of scenery and want to look out a different window while you work, check out window-swap.com and enjoy the sights and sounds from windows all over the world. If you have a great window view to share, you can take a 10 minute video and submit it. (Let me know if you do this - I want to see your view!)
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Now get your butt out of your seat. That's an order.


Discussion Questions:

1. What distracts you as much as IKEA sales distract me?
2. Are you bending yourself like a pretzel to get comfy at your desk?
3. What do YOU do to get focused and productive?

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