Create The Best Environment For You to be Productive At Will

tifaong (54)in #writing • 6 years ago

Wanted to create contents daily on Steemit but you're just being too busy? Can't find the time? Distractions all over you? You're definitely not alone in this. I am still struggling to write really quality posts daily on Steemit. Honestly speaking, Steemit has taken 20% of my time, daily! That's 5 hours!

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But #teammalaysia's BoilerRoom has allowed me to prove to myself, that I can be productive at my 110% when I have fulfilled certain requirements. When I've managed to write 3 posts in 3 hours, I began asking myself 3 big questions,

What's the difference between BoilerRoom and my usual writing time?

Why is it I can be productive in BoilerRoom but not during my usual writing time?

How is this possible?

I questioned myself after BoilerRoom. My consciousness began to return to MADE by Illy Cafe and saw myself sitting at a table writing intently. I saw myself entered a zone where nothing distracts me anymore. That zone is my best environment. BoilerRoom made me realize this by chance and I'm not leaving to chance to create my best environment. When I want to, I can re-create the most conducive environment that works for me.

But why is it important?

So that you can take control of creating a conducive environment perfect for you to be the best at something. To not let productivity happen by chance, but by creation. To be productive at will. But your environments could be different depending on what you want to achieve. For me, instrumental music works best when I'm writing, and motivational music works best when I'm working.

How did I create the best environment?

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I began experimenting. I mixed and matched different combinations and measure my emotions and results. That's how I realized a pattern, a guide for you to find your most conducive environment for different actions.

I call it The 6 Senses of Productivity. The 6 senses are sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell and being. Each sense perceives your environment as conducive or not conducive to your brain.

The setting in this context is working with a computer.

Here are a few examples of sub-categories for each sense.

1. Sight

The entire scene you see through your eyes. Is there anything that annoys you?

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Could it be the arrangement of the books?
Could it be a phone with notifications flooding in lying beside you?
Could it be anything that could potentially capture your sight (or focus) away from your computer or your task?

If there is, get rid of it, or face somewhere till you can't see it.

Going to a smaller view is your computer. Some of the aspects that you can control are,

Screen brightness level
Screen color intensity
Font sizes
Background color
Wallpaper

Do the screen brightness and color hurt your eyes? Do you see the words clearly, even from an arm away? Is your wallpaper distracting you?

Tools to help you,

f.lux is an app that adjusts screen color and brightness. It has a few presets that you can easily choose to reduce eyestrain, recommended colors, and etc.

Using more than 1 monitor can boost productivity as well.

My Preference

When I am focused on my laptop, I don't see anything else, so the background doesn't matter to me. That's why my laptop screen is very important. I use f.lux pre-set settings which is to reduce eyestrain. There are many more settings for you to experiment on.

2. Hearing

Sounds, noises, and music play an important part in adjusting your concentration. Some are repetitive, some are static noises, some are complete silence. This table shows most of the types of hearing environments that you can experiment.

Your objective is to find the right sound or music that helps you focus but they will not distract you, at all. Repetitive sounds might work for you too.

Tools to help you,

Noisli helps to block annoying noises, gets you quickly into the zone, increase productivity and reduces stress.

Lifehack.org has an article featuring 5 Wonderful Background Noise Resources That Will Boost Your Productivity

My Preference

The sounds that get me quickly into the zone yet doesn't distract me at all (even during the turning) are Anime or Game soundtracks without vocals. The genre is typically Battle and Emotional. I was listening to this while writing this article.

3. Taste

For some, eating certain foods or drinks sends signals to their brain that it's time to be productive. The most common type of drink is Coffee or Milk. The common type of food is snacks, like chips, nuts, or fruits.

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Your objective is to find the right food that keeps you awake and focused.

Tools to help you

Almonds
Green tea (alt of coffee)
Banana
Egg
Dark Chocolate
Water (my favorite!)
Apple and Peanut butter

My Preference

Water is my to-go menu to keep me productive and hydrated. When I am dehydrated, I'll be fidgeting and unable to focus, sometimes unable to sleep.

4. Touch

Everything that you touch when you're working. Your objective is to get a space that doesn't distract you via touch, such as keep adjusting the chair/table height, faulty keyboard or mouse, etc.

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Do your keyboards and mouse annoy you?
Is your table at spacious enough, or cramped enough?
Is your chair comfortable and at suitable height?
Is your headphone/earphone hurting your ears?
Are your elbows well rested?
Is your posture right?

Tools to help you

Be in your usual working state. Name each thing that you need to touch or feel. Touch or Feel them one by one and ask yourself,

Is this distracting or annoying me?
Do I feel good about it?

My Preference

I work with laptops most of the time. My keyboard and mouse must be working perfectly. The chair must be at the perfect height where I can rest my elbows while I am typing. The chair must be big enough for me to lift one of my legs up. Headphones and Earphones are not too tight.

5. Smell

Aromatherapy is one of the methods to boost productivity or relaxation. Of course, you wouldn't want to work in a smelly place or smells that will make you wonder what it was, pulling your focus away.

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Tools to help you

Smells that will help you boost productivity are:

Peppermint
Lemon
Cinnamon
Eucalyptus

My Preference

As long as I am in a place that doesn't have any bad smells, I'm okay. But if there's suddenly a strong smell, my focus was shifted from my laptop to the air, wondering where it comes from. Sometimes, my inspiration disappeared and I forgot the idea, DAMN!

6. Being

Last but not least, the most important sense is a sense of being. The space that you're in and the state of body that your consciousness is in.

Space encompasses a perimeter around you that you feel safe. It can be filled with strangers, close friends or nothing. Space also includes the time that you've blocked specifically for you to achieve something. Body encompasses your state of body, mind, and emotion.

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Tools to help you

Test out which space is the most conducive for you - filled with strangers, close friends or nothing.
Block a specific time frame just for that task.
Ensure your body is pain-free and feel comfortable.
Set a purpose to achieve in that time frame. Anything unrelated must be put aside.
Focus on your purpose. Let go of thoughts that don't serve your purpose. Say "Thank you and I let you go" to your thoughts.
Be mindful of your emotions. Identify your current emotions and your level of productivity based on the tasks you're doing.

My Preference

The spaces that I feel safe are my room and my office. I stretch when my shoulders and neck feel sore and tired. When I focus on my purpose, there isn't any space in my brain to think of other stuff. But I can't focus for too long, so I capture unnecessary thoughts and say "Thank you and I let you go". The emotions that I can work best with are excitement, curiosity and emotional.

Do I need all of the 6 Sense of Conducive to be in place in order to be productive?

Yes and No, depending on your senses. I prioritize each sense based on the level of effectiveness. For me, this is my priority list,

Sound
Sight
Being
Touch
Smell
Taste

For me to be productive, my top 3 senses (sound, sight and being) must be in place because they are the most effective senses for me to enter my "zone" quickly and for long period of time.

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 SENSES?

I am open to new information related to this topic, so feel free to comment.

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