What does your workflow look like? 

You can learn a lot about someone by examining how they approach tasks. Kick this up a notch and we can even say that you can model your own workflows to match the people who you admire. If you look at how someone that you would define as successful - be it a mentor, boss, or even influencer - handles their work, you can integrate those tips and effectively mirror those awesome results.

I’m always looking for creative, fun, and exciting ways to spice up my workflow. What can I say - productivity inspiration is my thing.  

My top-performing strategy at the moment is chunking. As I’ve been working from home and living life remotely, balancing it all under one roof, I’ve found that chunking really helps me get everything done efficiently and painlessly. 

Chunking Explained

If you’re new to the term ‘chunking’, I’d love to introduce you to this powerful tool. Chunking has been a popular method of optimizing your time and efforts, helping people get more done in less time. Chunking is about grouping together similar items so our brains can more effectively dive in. 

Chunking applies to work by making the ‘jump off’ point easier. Just thinking about a long to-do list can prevent us from starting, and this abstract view can be more stressful than actually doing the work. Chunking is about grouping tasks by a common point, breaking up big projects, and diving right in. 

How I Do Chunking 

You all know I’m a big fan of ‘gamification’, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I choose my tasks with a game. I actually have a dartboard that I pin three important tasks to, then I throw a dart at the board to decide which order to tackle these to-dos. I literally make a game out of productivity - keeping me motivated, lighthearted, and excited to get my stuff done. 

Plus, I don’t have to waste time with planning or strategizing - which can actually be a block on productivity. When we think too much, we get lost in our complex minds and just end up wasting time. If it doesn’t need a strategy, don’t make one. I like to do this by passing the choice onto fate (in the form of darts, of course). 

My Daily Not-To-Do List 

I have a not-to-do list, too. I write down the things I should not do today - what I need to avoid at all costs. This mentally frees up so much space and acts as an instant de-stressor versus writing a long and anxious list of things you need to do. 

I’d choose micro-tasks over giant projects any day. By adopting the chunking strategy to boost productivity, those big tasks become bite-sized tasks that we can feel comfortable about starting. It takes the edge off, cools down the pressure, and lets us ease into that flow-state - where work is painless and we’re just blazing through our to-do lists. 

Life is all about how you view things. Feeling productive is as important as being productive. If you change your outlook, things can suddenly look brighter - and that’s what chunking helps me achieve: I make an end goal and I tackle it.