Cheryl Zhao

We all need time off, so a vacation or even a long weekend are golden. Since we’re not robots, just working all day and having no fun or time off will eventually ruin our productivity. But, how ca we get back to a productive workflow, after few days of plain relaxation? Here are some proven productivity tips to get back in the saddle and make a difference: Set your schedule the day before. It’s not fun to think about work the night before, but waking up in the morning, not knowing what to do and having no clue about how to best manage your work will clearly work against you. This is why a bit of planning for the day after won’t hurt. Before you go to sleep, think about the tasks that are URGENT and IMPORTANT (we’ve already learned about Eisenhower’s Decision Matrix), so you’ll choose exactly what matters most and will have the biggest influence on your career/business. In the morning, as you’ll drink your coffee or whatever you do to start your day, you’ll know exactly what task to tackle first. Instead of wasting time and just finding it difficult to concentrate, you’ll go through your tasks list like a rocket. Keep your smartphone away from you As you concentrate on your tasks, having your phone near you will clearly distract you from work. You don’t need to follow that Facebook notification now or respond to that retweet. In most cases phone calls are not really emergencies, so they can wait for at least 25 minutes (if you choose to the Pomodoro technique for instance) until you finish one work ‘chunk’. Use the Pomodoro Technique to break long tasks When I have to create a website for a client, it’s a pretty big task. I have to prepare […]