Productivity and “Zoning” Your Activities
One of the easiest ways to instantly become more productive is to allocate activities that are similar into certain “zones.”
Each week you probably perform activities that are quite similar to one another or may even be the same activity but performed at different times. Grouping these activities together into one “action” means that you can accomplish the same or better results in a much shorter time.
A simple example is shopping. If you know what you usually eat on a weekly basis then you could take one trip to the supermarket a week, as opposed to maybe the three or four trips that you usually take. Not only is this a time saver, it’s also an energy saver because you only have to think about what to buy once a week.
This is a form of “time zoning.” You can also use this activity to accomplish more complicated tasks in a form of “productivity zoning”.
For example, if you had to write 7 articles in a week, you may choose to write one article a every day for the next 7 days. Alternatively, you could “zone” those articles together and do them all in one day. This is going to increase your productivity for a number of reasons:
1. When you are writing an article then you already have the tools available that you will need to write another article. If instead everyday you need to clean up, prepare, and then write your article, you are using time and energy that you would not have needed if you wrote all of your articles together.
2. The human brain works extremely efficiently if it can focus on just one task. If you are writing you can hit a writing “zone” and get into “flow”. Once you are in flow the activity that you are doing becomes much more fluid and effortless. Being in this state will allow you to write better articles in faster time, whereas if you were constantly being interrupted you would not be able to do this.
3. Zoning your activities is very motivating because of the reward that it gives you. If you hit your target of writing all your articles in one day, then you have the reward that you are finished. You can cross the activity off your “to-do” list and you will have more free time throughout your week to do what you wish.
4. Crossing the task of your list means that you can direct the same mental force to your next activity and use the same process. If you are constantly thinking of what you need to do then it can be very distracting. Unfinished tasks drain your mental energy. Getting things done by zoning allows you to mark it off and move onto the next task.
These are just some examples of how zoning can increase your productivity. Of course you will not be able to zone all of your activities, but when you can it makes your life a whole lot easier, and not to mention, a whole lot more fun!
