How Clarity Drives Better Productivity

I often have those days when I feel like I've had an unproductive day. I'd wake up early, as usual, and then move on from one task to another, blazing through a lot of things—sometimes at the same time—and then still feel like I hadn't done anything for the day yet. Some days are truly so, though, as I could just choose to laze around.

What I found to be the reason why I would actually have an unproductive day or feel like that even after doing a lot for the day was just one thing—lack of clarity.

I am a rather spontaneous person on most days. Sometimes, I just run through what comes to mind when I can and go with the flow. In some sense, it is an inefficient way to go by one's day every day. although it has its own benefits. And the biggest issue with that is that I either spend too much or too little time on a task, or even forget to do it at all.

So my hack for staying productive is simply providing myself with clarity early enough by having things like a to-do list, setting up my calendar, and putting a time limit on certain tasks, especially the mentally draining ones that could cause fatigue. And fatigue causes me to lose enthusiasm and energy.

"To-do lists, you say?" I know. I know. I know there are many of us who set up to-do lists and hardly see them through. I think that the issue could be that some of us actually create to-do lists the wrong way. At least, that's what I found about myself.

In short, to-do lists aren't for things that you're definitely going to do or that wouldn't necessarily make the day feel unproductive if they aren't completed. For example, what are the likes of brushing your teeth, waking up, cooking, and other usual daily things on your list? Or the likes of "Do house chores."

One, you clog up your to-do list with so much to do, making it look so long that you already become discouraged just by looking at it. Keep it short and simple. Two, if something is going to be on your to-do list, it should be clear and concise. Now I try not to write "Do house chores," even though I'd do them anyway. I would have the exact chore to do for that time written down if I really had to keep it in mind. Like chores that don't recur, for example.

That way, there's a sense of clarity, and the to-do list becomes simpler. The chances that I will cross everything off become high, too.

It's not just about to-do lists, though. It's about clarity. Even when I want to do things, the most efficient way to get started is to make it clear to myself what I would like to achieve at that time. When I do things this way, I become a well-oiled machine.

Also, having clarity on what you'd like to achieve helps you recount the day's activities and actually see the day as productive indeed.

And, yes, my calendar. I am taking it a lot more seriously these days. It's flexible, though, but the idea now is that what was never in my calendar and isn't urgent should be put somewhere in the calendar or should be delegated to someone else if it's possible. What this helps me do is not have to process more than one task at a time, which often leaves me underperforming.

I'm not a sticky note guy, nor am I a write-with-my-hands kind of person, so what I do is use a few apps that help me keep myself on track. A few of them are Todoist, Notion, Google Calendar, and Notes.

Todoist is probably the best to-do list app I have used. It's not only intuitive to use but also actually pretty smart. I get to set up to-do lists in a very exciting and intelligent way. Notion is a powerful productivity app that I mostly organise my thoughts on. I'm still learning how to use it as a second brain. And Notes is where my unprocessed thoughts often go.

One of the most efficient productivity hacks for me is clarity. With a good view of what to do and a structured agenda, things most likely go well for me, and I feel like I have been productive.