Monthly Bonus: Productivity Tips

Simple tips to help you work smarter so you can have more time for fun things.

I’m sharing this recent illustration I completed for a few reasons: A. Because I’m proud of it B. Because I used all of the tips I’m going to share with you to help me get this piece done in under four days and C. Because people like to read articles with pretty pictures and the rest is going to be text heavy.

Each month, our group Illoguild answers a different question. This month, we’re all sharing our best productivity tips. The deadline to submit our substack posts was February 1st. So, guess when I am writing this? On February 1st. Which brings me to my first and second tips:

1. Have a deadline - To me, there’s nothing more motivating than a deadline. If I don’t have a deadline, guess when it will get done? Never! Something shinier and new always comes by to push aside work on those projects without deadlines. Signing up for live classes and mentorships helps me make deadlines I’ll stick to because I will not miss a deadline.
   

2. Have accountability partners - But, if I’m accountable to only myself, it’s easier to not do the thing. Then, I always feel badly about not doing the thing I wanted to do. That’s not so great for self-esteem or leveling up creative work. So, in addition to scheduling classes, retreats, mentorships, etc. that have deadlines baked in, I’ve joined three accountability groups to make me look like I have my shit together.
   
   One is the Illoguild, where we work together and give each other deadlines and have scheduled critiques. One is a group run by my amazing friend and puppeteer Stacey Gordon (she has started running groups for other not-yet-friends too!), where we meet over Zoom every Sunday to talk about our weekly and monthly goals and plan our weeks. And the third is a small creative business group that meets on Zoom every Monday and is part social club, but also a good check-in to talk about what shows are coming up and reminders for show and artist grant application deadlines.
   

3. The daily top three things list - I start my day by looking at my calendar (It’s always in a place where I can see it) and listing the top three things I need to do that day. What I’ve also done is set this list up for success. I write one thing in each category for the following: My regular business Zooguu, my illustration career, and my personal health. If I do one thing for each of these three categories (even if it’s a little thing that only takes a few minutes!) I’ve moved closer to my goals. Then, I put other things on the to-do list when I’ve identified these top three.
   
   I put my personal health in there, because I’m a bit of a workaholic and not always the best at taking care of myself. So, sometimes that thing on my list is going for a walk, or riding my exercise bike while watching a Korean drama, or getting something tasty for lunch. I think taking care of yourself is a good thing, but also makes you more productive throughout the day.
   

4. Getting Things Done Tips - I read the book Getting Things Done a few years ago and found a couple of helpful tips that improved my workflow. There’s the brain dump exercise, in which you write down everything you have to do. The author recommends writing them down on individual sheets of paper, placing them in an “in” tray and tackling the list one by one until that tray is empty. That works, clearly, but I find that a big list where you can cross stuff off works too. For me, I use my weekly accountability meeting to make this list for the week. Often, hearing other people list their lists for the week reminds me of other things I need to do. And the great part about our brains is that once we get it out of our heads and down on paper, our brain thinks of other things. When it’s done worrying about the to-do list (since it’s written down now) that frees up the brain for creative work. Hooray!
   

5. The two minute rule. This is another tip from Getting Things Done. If a task takes less than two minutes, just do it and get back to the brain dump session. An under two minute task need not be written down, unless you have to do it in another location. But, yeah, this has been huge and helpful in my life.
   

6. Breaking things down into smaller tasks. If something stays on my list for longer than a week, that’s an indicator that it either needs to be done at a later date or it needs to be divided up into smaller tasks. Ask yourself that question if you have a lingering thing on your own list. Breaking things into smaller and smaller chunks will help you get started and often that is enough to break through the procrastination that sets in when a task is overwhelming.