Maximizing Productivity on Your Worst Days

We all have them. Maybe you have insomnia like me or you suffer from migraines or some other issue that sometimes decides to visit you and attack your beautiful to do list. Maybe you don’t suffer from anything like that but occasionally just have an “off day”.

Well, yesterday was one of those days for me. I didn’t sleep well and I knew the second I opened my eyes that I’d be off my game. 😴

I realized as I was going through this process, that it was yet another system I rely on to run my businesses so I thought I would share the strategies I use to help maximize productivity even on your worst days.

1) Adjust expectations. Review your to do list to see if anything requires more brain power than possible under the new circumstances. If it does, move it to a realistic different day (notice I didn’t just say tomorrow!).

2) Make baby steps. Break down each task into overly tiny steps to reduce the chance of making mistakes.

3) Increase time budget. However long you think it will take, assume it will take longer (maybe a LOT longer). If you are a time blocker, bump them up or add buffer space between them. If you join us for virtual coworking, if you thought your task was the right size for one 25-minute sprint, assume it might take two or more.

4) Be kind to yourself with space. It isn’t always possible, but if it is, give yourself space. Today, I minimized what I had to do and gave myself space in the afternoon to be nice to myself. If you can carve out some blank space in your calendar, this would be a good time to do it. Sometimes, it’s the break you need to come back tomorrow and absolutely CRUSH it. 😊💪

5) Postpone realistically. NEVER just postpone everything until tomorrow. All that does is create an unrealistic and impossible expectation for “tomorrow you” and that can become a dangerous cycle. If you find even rescheduling things realistically is more than you can manage, at least flag your postponed items as in “review status”. In other words, you put them on your list for the following day, not to actually do, but to then reschedule appropriately with a fresher set of eyes.

Sometimes it’s not about pushing yourself but about the way you pivot and adjust. After all, self-awareness is our greatest productivity tool.

Do you have a strategy or tip to add? Let me know in the comments! 👇