I have 2 young boys aged 3 and 7. My wife has a full time job. Working productively from home has been a challenge for both of us. It’s taken us a couple of weeks to get into a rhythm that includes managing the housework and keeping the kids engaged.
Work productivity has tangibly gone down. I struggled with this but finally accepted that I’m not going to have the same level of output during the COVID-19 lockdown phase.
But just because I can’t be as productive as before, doesn’t mean I can’t achieve something meaningful during this period.
Here are 3 hacks I’ve implemented to make sure I achieve something meaningful during the lockdown.
- Pick 1-3 Most Important Tasks (‘MITs’) for the day and work on those before everything else. Make sure to keep this list to 3 or less.
- For 1 hour a day work with your phone on airplane mode and no other distractions (preferably when kids are asleep). This is your ‘Focus Hour’.
- Less is more. For more impact, scale down your goals if possible. Direct your focus hour and 3 daily MITs towards a maximum of one or two big goals or projects. Park some of your goals or projects for later.
Now combine the above 3 hacks:
- Pick just 1-2 important projects or work areas
- Pick 1-3 daily MITs from these 1-2 important projects
- And work on just these 3 MITs during your ‘Focus Hour‘
Do this for a week and you just may end up getting more meaningful work done than in a regular week at the office.