Life itself sometimes can be a daunting task with lots of responsibilities in lots of places and it may seem that you cannot function at the rate you are supposed to. Being fast in life with productive days may seem like a distant dream sometimes but, fear not. There are some ways to be more productive and faster in life.
You can be fast in life by adapting yourself to three simple steps; prioritizing your day to suit your rhythms, learning to do simple things faster, and being disciplined. These steps have been derived from various research models which are tried and tested. Tweaking your daily activities according to this method will guarantee you productivity.
Adjusting one’s daily routine over a week or a month to adapt to these steps might be a herculean task. We have come up with simple, but efficient guides and tricks that will help you to adapt to these steps faster. Hence, this article will reveal everything you must and must not do to ensure the productive and faster life that you always craved!
How To Be Fast in Life: 3 Key Steps
Step 1 – Prioritize Your Day to Suit Your Rhythms
Each of us has many embedded rhythms of our own that we follow; some people might be early birds who get work done in the early mornings and some might be the exact opposite. Everyone has only 24 hours to follow these rhythms. Coming up with a way to prioritize your daily tasks to suit these rhythms will generate more productivity in you.
According to research conducted by science writer Jennifer Ackerman, our body produces hormones needed for productivity after 2.5 hours after waking up. This is the time when the functions of the brain and body are the highest, creating more productivity.
Tweaking your daily activities in a way to work after 2.5 hours of a good night’s sleep will generate more productivity in yourself.
As an example, if you go straight to work after waking up and do chores like cooking and cleaning afterward, change your routine to do the chores as soon as you wake up. This switch will put your work time in the 2.5-hour post-sleep window which will increase productivity.
Follow the following tips to make this plan adaptable to your routines.
Create a Basic Plan for Each Day
Admit it, we all have tried working to a plan and have failed miserably. This is not the plan that we are talking about, but a basic plan that will outline the agenda for each day. Formulating this plan to suit your most productive time will make you faster in life. Here’s an example of a normal workday at home;
| Key Task | Purpose | Ideal duration |
| Do daily chores right after you wake up | Cooking and cleaning right after a good night’s sleep will increase the brain activity, giving you the perfect platform to start working | 30 to 60 minutes |
| Freshen up | Washing right before work will make refresh your body and mind | 30 minutes |
| Start the day’s work with the most important task | Finish the most important workload of the day during this time when your body is at peak concentration levels | 90 to 120 minutes |
| Lunch break | Use this time to destress yourself while energizing your body through a meal | 30 minutes |
| Continue working on less important tasks | This time of the day can be the most challenging. Use this time to do the less important work like checking and responding to emails | 90 to 120 minutes |
| Break | Prepare yourself for the final work session | 30 minutes |
| Continue working and plan for the next day | Finish the remaining work for the day and prepare your plan for the next day. | 90 to 120 minutes |
| Destress | Finish the day by going for a run or by having a hot shower | 60 to 90 minutes |
This routine doesn’t showcase a specific timeframe, giving you more freedom to conduct the work according to your routine.
Set Smaller Goals Using the Domino Effect
One key reason for being less efficient and productive is the enormity of the task at hand. Managing big projects and assignments always leave us procrastinating and not getting any work done until the last minute. This can be averted by breaking down the big tasks into smaller chunks. Using the domino effect is the best way to do this.
The domino effect denotes the succession of each event which will initiate another connected event that must be done. Similarly, finishing a minor task of a project report or an assignment will initiate the need to do another task that is needed for the completion of the project.
Completing smaller goals will give you the confidence to finish the whole project, in the same way one domino tips the other!
Step 2 – Learn to Do Simple Things Faster
The average man loses a considerable amount of time by doing simple day-to-day tasks slower. Increasing these simple tasks like reading, typing, and responding to emails will significantly increase your speed and productivity. There are many ways to speed up these processes and we have listed the best of them;
Learn to type faster
Typing is something we all do in this day and age. An average person types around 40 words per minute. With the right techniques and skills, this speed can be increased up to 65 to 70 words per minute, almost double the average.
This will give you a significant advantage in your workplace and will increase your overall speed and productivity too. There are many typing methods to follow like the hunt and peck methods and touch typing. Overall, learning the touch-typing method will increase your productivity where you will learn to use all 5 fingers while typing.
A touch typist follows a procedure where specific fingers will control a specific set of letters. This technique aims to create a muscle memory of the fingers and the letters. The two bumps found on the ‘f’ and ‘j’ letter keys in modern keyboards help in this method.
You can take free lessons by clicking this link;
https://www.how-to-type.com/touch-typing-lessons/how-to-type-home-keys/
Learn To Read Faster
Same as typing, reading is also something we all do continuously; be it reading books or emails. Learning to read and comprehend faster would also result in higher productivity.
There are many fast-reading methods designed to achieve an increased rate of reading. These methods should be treated as learning a new skill that will take some time to master.
The scanning and hand pacing techniques are most suitable for new readers. Use the scanning technique to preview the contents of the book by reading the introduction, prelude, and author note.
This will give you a basic insight into what the book is about. You can then start skipping some lines to find tables, text boxes, and headings where you will find the information you need.
Alternatively, you also can use the hand pacing technique to read faster. Use your fingers to guide you through the lines you read as you did in school. Regularly increase the pace of the finger, making you read faster. Once you get the hang of this technique, you can follow more advanced methods to speed read.
Use this website to test your reading skill;
https://www.englishclub.com/reading/test.htm
Avoid Multitasking
This may come out as an unpopular opinion, but multitasking doesn’t help in productivity! Although some studies in the past hailed multitasking as a productive tool, the modern entrepreneurial world advises you to avoid this. Here’s why;
- Multitasking creates an unnecessary strain on your brain which could lead to stress and depression
- It distracts your focusing abilities. Though you may seem to be an excellent multitasker, you may find it difficult to concentrate on a fixed task
- Long term effects of multitasking include getting tired often and not being able to enjoy a peaceful sleep
Step 3 – Be Disciplined
Discipline is one of the most important traits one can have which is also the final step of this model. The word may sound dull to many, but it also means being inspired, true to oneself, and being realistic about your short-term and long-term ambitions.
Though this step isn’t completely practical like the previous steps, having this philosophy will take you a long way in terms of growth and productivity. Follow these few steps to ensure you are well disciplined by each passing day.
Be Inspired
Inspiration is typically hard to come by with the rat race that we’re all a part of. However, it’s vital to seek our true purpose for doing the things we do and the reasons behind it. Knowing this reason might just give you that extra emotional boost to start a stressful day. Ask yourself the following questions every morning you wake up;
- What is the biggest task I must do today?
- What makes me do this particular task?
- Will the completion of this task bring me happiness? If so, why?
Alternatively, ask yourself the following question thrice a week;
- What is my ambition in life?
- Am I working towards it?
- If my life ends today, will I die content?
You may not directly know the answers to all these questions. Asking these questions regularly will make you realize what you should do to be inspired, which in turn will increase productivity and will make you faster in life.
Pro tip: Money may be a recurring factor in the above answers and don’t treat it as a negative aspect. Rather, ask yourself the question, what would money get me? This would solve most of the financial worries about your head which is a recurring theme of low productivity.
Be Kind to Yourself
Face it, we are not miracle workers, and we certainly cannot work and act like robots. We as human beings need constant care for both our physical and mental wellbeing. So, when you plan your daily routines and set clear goals, always leave time for a cool-down time. This can be achieved by;
- Taking small power breaks during your work
- Finding a new stress-free hobby to get back to after a full day’s work
- Have a morning and an evening routine to stick by to
- Put yourself first and have some alone time by doing something you love
- Create a rainy-day saving account, giving you that extra buffer zone in case something unexpected happens.
Alternatively, you can watch this ASMR video on YouTube whenever you feel stressed;
Be Realistic About Your Goals
Ticking off those boxes in the to-do list may seem like one of the best feelings in the world, but there can be unwanted goals or things to do that may affect your overall productivity. Having a clear set of goals while managing your mental and physical health is the clear forward to being faster and more productive in life. You can achieve this by;
- Not treating everyday tasks as a priority. For example, cleaning and doing the dishes doesn’t need to be on the list as it is an everyday task.
- Using the list only for important tasks for the day. Using a to-do list in this way will shift your focus on the most important task needed for the day
- Not adding unnecessary tasks so you can have the pleasure of just ticking them off!
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I be more productive at work?
You can be more productive by taking constant breaks to alleviate your focus and by learning to do simple things faster. Learning keyboard shortcuts and downloading some addons to check spellings, prioritize the work, and track your time might just give you an edge.
- How can I make a boring day go fast?
The key thing here is to stop looking at the clock! Instead, try to focus on the key tasks for the day and catch up on a long-overdue task. If you are at home, try taking a cold shower to boost your brain stimulation, making the day less boring.
- How can I get out of a work block?
Breaking down key components of a bigger project and working on simple tasks is the best way to overcome a work block. You also can try switching the task to another one or get a break by doing something less important like responding to emails.
Conclusion
We hope this article has answered most of your questions and has given you some sound advice on ways and means to be faster and more productive in life. Following the three steps of prioritizing, doing simple things faster, and being disciplined will give you the edge in the world of productivity. Don’t forget to take good care of yourself while being fast!
References
Avoid multitasking https://www.today.com/health/mind-body/multitasking-bad-productivity-monotasking-rcna26968
Speed reading techniques
How to do everything faster
https://lifehacker.com/top-10-ways-to-do-everything-faster-1533446073
Touch-type
https://www.ratatype.com/learn/
Increase productivity at work
