Every since I got serious about managing and running my own blog, my summers have been focused on generating as much new & exciting content as possible. I consider blogging to be a full-time job of mine during the summer months and try to do as much as I can to provide my audience with new things to read and to network with others to grow my brand, too.
That being said, in trying to grow my blog, things can get pretty hectic in my life pretty quickly. I find myself easily getting frustrated because I am unable to do everything I want to do in a day but most of them time this is due to small distractions or distrubances in my day.
I've come up with my top five ways to simplify your summer so that you can be as productive as you want to be. These tips have worked for me and have greatly increased my productivity and I've found that since making these simple chances to my daily routines, I've been able to cross so much more off my to-do lists and even leave myself with ample amounts of free time each day, too.
Stop Multi-Tasking
I always used to think that I was a good multi-tasker. Sure, I could do two or three things at once but in doing so, my attention was scattered which resulted in a lower quality of work. I've found that by focusing one one thing at a time, I'm able to produce higher quality things and also be more efficient because my mind is focused on one thing instead of several different things.
I'll be honest and admit that I spend most of my day on my phone or my laptop because I'm constantly working on blog posts or networking on Instagram. Whenever I would unlock my phone and saw that I had that little red notification on an app, I would immediately open that app and check to see what new alert was waiting for me. This, in turn, would lead to me getting sidetracked and shifting my attention to something that didn't need it right then. One day it got to the point where I couldn't stand to see that red notification bubble so I turned off all my notifications. Aside from my text messages, all other notifications are turned off. I also turned off my Instagram DM notifications, too. I check my DM's every evening and if any new ones have come through, I respond to them when I actually have dedicated time to responding to them rather than immediately sending a response 5 minutes after receiving it.
One of the first things I do when I wake up every morning is grab a stickie note and write down everything I need or want to get done that day. When I write things down, I am so much more likely to do them and I also like having one place that I can refer back to all day to see what needs to get done next. I like to make my to-do lists with pen and paper rather than on my phone or laptop reminders app because there's something about physically checking something off that makes me feel that much more productive.
When my room is cluttered, my mind is cluttered and I can't focus on the important things. I've been making it part of my morning routine and night routines to tidy up my room whether it's just by making my bed, putting away my laundry, or just straightening up my work area. When everything is put away and organized, my mind is too. I also love taking a giant trash bag around my room and going through all my desk drawers and my closet and getting rid of old things I don't need and making a pile of clothes to donate.
Unsubscribe & Unfollow
Once a month, I sit down and go through my social media sites and unfollow any accounts that I don't care to follow anymore, and I go through my inbox and unsubscribe from any email lists that I don't want to be on or that aren't relevant to me anymore. I enjoy social media so much more when my feed is full of things I actually want to see so by unfollowing the things I don't enjoy seeing, my time spent on social media is a lot more enjoyable and I don't find msyelf scrolling past a bunch of pictures or tweets.
What tips do you have to simplify your summer?
xoxo,
