How does journaling increase productivity?

It’s not always easy to be motivated and productive, sometimes it takes a little bit more than just turning up at your desk to get the day started. Carina Lawson explains how journaling can increase your productivity.

It’s well documented that the act of journaling can help you understand your emotions and improve your mental health- but it’s also an excellent tool for increasing productivity!

Staying productive at work can be a challenging, and feeling unsatisfied with your day’s accomplishments can be demoralising. All that can change! Journally can help in the following ways:

1. Cultivates a habit of daily gratitude
2. Helps you focus on one thing at a time – spending time thinking about your short-term and long-term goals and what you want to accomplish is extremely motivating
3. Helps you be in the moment and takes you out of ‘autopilot’
4. Gives you time to reflect and celebrate small victories
5. Helps you be even more organised!

The best time to start is before you even turn your computer on. Journal for a few minutes about the intention you want to set and the mindset you want to bring to your work that day. This only takes a few minutes and it’s an excellent technique in setting the tone to your day.

Some examples to think about:

1. What presence would you like to bring as you participate in a meeting today?
2. How do you visualise your perfect workday?
3. What projects inspire you?
4. What motivates you?
5. What do you love about your work?
6. Be thankful, write down all the reasons why you are excited for the day ahead.
7. Prioritise your most important tasks first. (Or the most boring ones-get them out of the way)!
8. List your top 3 goals for the day- this will help you focus on the most important tasks.
9. Organise your time- setting time limits on each task is a good way keeping motivated and energised on the task at hand.

Use your journal time to take regular breaks- these breaks make a huge difference to productivity and act as an energy booster.

Your journal can be the one place for all of your planning, prioritising, organising, reflecting, doodling, note taking and any other information that is important for you to capture. Being focused and organised is the key to being productive!

Carina Lawson, founder of Ponderlily.