Life in our time-strapped world has become a bit of a juggling act. Between daily demands, appointments, meetings and countless to-dos, it’s easy to feel as though you may drop a ball or two at any given time.

The good thing is, anyone can learn to juggle, even if you're clumsy like me! Whether it’s rubber balls or conflict calls, the trick to keeping all the balls in the air is learning techniques to work smarter, not harder and doing it all with grace.

If you’re like me, you long for simplicity and efficiency, and productivity makes your heart happier than you’d like people to know. To help you with your juggling act, I’ve compiled a little list of ways to help you be more productive and accomplish more in your working week.

WRITE THAT SHIT DOWN

When you become mindful of your thoughts and thought processes its really interesting (and somewhat astonishing), to realise how many of your thoughts are just your to-do lists replaying over and over in your head. My fave technique to capture all of the open loops I have floating around in my head, is to do a brain dump. Grab a piece of paper, or make a note on your phone (I think I have over 600), and empty your head of all of your to-dos. Get it all down. Even jot down things you’re waiting on, random ideas, commitments or open loops that are wreaking havoc on your brain space. Once you dump them, you’ll have more psychological bandwidth to be creative and think about bigger and better things.

ELIMINATE TIME ZAPPERS

In the world of social media, email, and phone notifications, the average person checks their phone over 150 times a day. We are all completely obsessed. Avoiding distractions in our modern day age is much easier said than done. We all know how distracting the world wide web can be and how easily it can become the poison of our productivity. To prevent my hand subconsciously reaching for my phone – I like to put my phone in another room, tackle all my to-do's THEN check my phone. It’s had a huge impact on the amount of work I’ve been able to get done.

PLAN AHEAD

A productive week starts on Monday, as long as you’ve done the prep before hand. Ideally, it would be great to sit down on a Friday afternoon and plan the following week out, but if you’re anything like me, Friday afternoon often disappears into the never-never void of deadlines and plans always end up changing. For me, I am a morning person and often find myself up at the crack of dawn, making notes and planning ahead. I check my calendar and block out anytime that I know I need to keep for myself, write a goals list, a to-do list and start to put the wheels in motion for a positive and productive week ahead.

STAY FOCUSED & CLEAR YOUR SPACE

Staying focused starts with having a clear vision, without any distractions. For me mess = stress! What you can do to keep some of those stress levels at bay is to clean up your space, not a quick tidy, but actually clear out all the crap. I know you’ve probably heard this tip 1,001 times, but if you really tidy up (Get rid of all that junk in your trunk you no longer use, clean the floors, dust etc.), this will allow your mind to give a big exhale and propel you into a state of control and allow you to stay focused, rather than that hot mess you so often find yourself. Next time you’re feeling like your stress is at an all-time high and your creative juices are at an all-time low, try tidying your surroundings and enjoy the instant gratification.

STAY PROTECTED

To be productive you need to ensure that you're on your A game and that you can be the best version of yourself. As you know, I've been wearing my Baxter Blue glasses since the middle of last year and have noticed a huuuuuuge difference. I.E. I no longer get headaches or sore eyes, which means I can work for longer and be more productive!

These glasses not only protect your eyes, but they look good on just about anyone. I have even just purchased my 4th pair (I like to switch it up with my different outfits) and got Trevor into wearing them too. What's great is that for each pair of glasses that they sell, they donate a pair of reading glasses to someone in need through their partnership with Restoring Vision!

Anddddddd they have been kind enough to give you guys a special discount on all Baxter Blue glasses. Yayayayaya! So do yourself a favour and protect your eyes against digital strain - I'm not even kidding that you'll notice a massive difference.

Simply use the code 'STAYPROTECTED' at the checkout of their website for the special discount 🤓