Those of you who watched my most recent Sunday Post vlog are aware of my new meme, "Sanity-Saving Saturdays". For those of you who haven't watched the vlog, here's what this is about:
In the fall, I travel for about 11 weeks from Sunday or Monday until Thursday. Needless to say, I tend to go a little insane. I've got some tips that help to keep me a little more on the sane side, so I thought I'd share them with you, since we're all pretty busy. This meme will run every Saturday for the weeks I'm on the road. Please feel free to join in, too, if you'd like.
Today's Topic:
Maximize your Caffeinated Productivity
It's no secret to you all that I'm obsessed with coffee. Aside from loving the taste, there's another reason: I get a productivity high. With coffee, I get a superwoman boost for five hours that I wouldn't have gotten without coffee.
The trick: Whatever caffeinated beverage you enjoy, time your consumption of it to when you're able to work. For example, if you are watching your children's soccer games until 2 pm and can't do anything on your to-do list, delay having your caffeine until closer to 2 pm. If you had your caffeinated beverage at 8 am and don't have free time for your to-do list until 2, you're going to be on a caffeine crash by the time you're able to accomplish anything. This leads to watching TV for hours on end, taking a nap, or other less-productive tasks. By strategically consuming your caffeine, you're able to accomplish more when you have the availability to do so.
I have discovered that I work best in the mornings. Once 2:00 hits, I'm practically worthless--caffeine or no caffeine. Therefore, I try to have my coffee as early as possible. At work, I schedule meetings in the afternoon if I can, since I won't get much paperwork done in the afternoons anyway. I set aside at least one hour every morning at work to work on the to-do list, bit-by-bit. This is often at the beginning of my caffeine high, which doesn't end until around 2:00. By then, much of the to-do list has been taken care of.
Even on weekends, I consume my coffee the moment I get up. I spend this time doing homework for Graduate school, blogging, or cleaning the apartment. While I would much rather spend my mornings lazily reading and lounging around, I reserve that for my afternoons, when I'm off my caffeine high.
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| 'ello, love... |
I hope this helps you, readers, in saving your sanity. It seems to get harder and harder to do so as the years go on...
What are your Sanity-Saving Saturday tips?
I'm totally addicted to caffeine and agree with your tip to plan your day around the extra boosts! When I really need to be productive, I reach for an energy drink (I like Monster). Have to be careful I don't drink it too late in the day, or I'll be bouncing off the walls all night! *L*
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