I always feel better when I’m on top of my to do list. Unfortunately life often gets in the way and I fall behind and feel stressed. With a family of five, plus work, I have a lot to do. So I have a very organised system for staying on top of everything. Here are my five tips for increased productivity.

Five Ways To Increase Productivity;

-Develop a system for your chores. I use my phone to stay organised.

I use Fantastical calendar app to keep track of my appointments. I put everything (even school runs) into my calendar so I know exactly what I have on each day. I also assign family events so they appear on Mr Purple’s phone so we are all aware of what is happening day to day.

I use the iPhone list app and have several lists. Firstly I have a daily schedule working through my day, which lists all the daily chores like feeding the cat, doing my yoga and helping the children with homework. It also shows free periods in the day which helps me to see how much time I have available, once I’ve checked my calendar for appointments that day. I also have a todo list which I add any other tasks, and a future todo for tasks which can’t be done right now but I need to know about in future.

Finally I use Evernote for additonal information, such as planning events (specific jobs will then be added to the to do list), packing lists for holidays, and my blogging schedule.

-Start each day with a (realistic) plan.

Each morning I look at my day and what time I have available. Then I check my todo list and assign a realistic number of tasks to my day in a written list. If something unexpected happens then I simply move a chore back on to the to do list.

-Don’t overbook yourself socially.

I find that sometimes when I overcommit socially I can’t stay on top of my chores and get a little snowed under. So before you make social plans look at your lists, and time available and commit or don’t accordingly.

-Get tasks done online.

I shop online, bank online and pretty much organise everything that I can online. This saves me lots of unnecessary trips out of the house and ultimately saves me time.

-Avoid time wasting.

It’s so easy to waste time. I sit down to write a blog post and get sucked in by Facebook, or give myself a break to play video games and before I notice it my short break has become several hours.

You will have your own personal time wastes. I’m not saying don’t do them, but stick to the task at hand. Be disciplined with break periods and be focussed on the task at hand. Ultimately this will help you to become more productive and will also help your stress levels as doing only what you intend to do is mindful.