Don’t let anyone waste your time — including yourself. 🙅🏾‍♀️

It’s easy to lose what feels like just a measly hour here and there, only to realise that the entire week has flown past, and you have not really got anything done - don’t let that be you.

Peak productivity comes with excellent time management, a realistic schedule, honest communication, and the perfect set-up to accommodate your brilliance — tap into it.

With there being no time like the present, here are a few of our favourite ways to stay in control of our creativity over at New Comma…

1. Declutter Your Workspace 🧹🧹🧹

A great workspace is one where you can focus on what you’re doing without distractions.

Is there rubbish you’ve been meaning to take out? Bin it.

A work desk swamped under everything and anything? Clear it.

No floor space to walk up and down without stubbing a toe? Clean it.

Start with a well-kept space and take it from there.

You know how the phrase goes, ‘a tidy space is a tidy mind’

Here’s the dustpan and brush, get to it…

2. Identify the Tasks You Need to Get Done ✅

Contrary to popular belief, creativity isn’t solely based on a whim.

That’s right, it’s not all just going with the flow and seeing where the day takes us.

As creatives, it’s necessary to organise ourselves to make the most of our brilliance.

Creating a to-do list based on tasks you need to complete ensures just that.

A to-do list gives you a sense of direction in what can only be referred to as The Madness of Creativity.

Identifying tasks beforehand creates the opportunity to come into the day mentally prepared to take it all on,

plus the peace of mind you get from checking off what you’ve done is truly second to none.

Who wouldn’t want a bit of that?

3. Prioritise Your Tasks Using the 80/20 Rule 📐

As a creative everything is pulling you left, right, center, back and left again.

It is essential to prioritise so that you know what tasks need you now and what tasks can be saved for later.

It also means that you don’t lose your head. and you can give your undivided attention to what matters most here and now rather than trying to do everything at once.

Go with our, 80/20 rule.

The logic behind it is that 80% of outcomes are a direct result of just 20% of inputs, AKA checked-off tasks.

By identifying and prioritising that really significant 20% you reap the 80% of benefits and forward direction that comes with focusing on them.

You’ve got this!

4. Set Screen time Limits on Your Phone 📵

Today, the biggest distraction to our crafts has to be our little screens.

Devilishly tantalising in their allure, it can be really hard to put them down and get on with what needs to get done for the day.

“Just ten minutes online” becomes “let me check what’s going on Twitter these days…”

And before you know it, you’re screaming like a banshee because you’ve been on your phone for a regrettable 3 hours.

Don’t be that person…

Your craft deserves more respect than that, and you know it.

Start small.

Progress begins with setting time limits on those distracting apps on your phone to minimise the countless hours you spend scrolling instead of getting your work done.

It’s all uphill from there ;

5. Set Deadlines for Your Tasks 🫵🏽🫵🏾🫵🏿

Put simply, if you stick to your deadlines, you won’t have to rush to meet your next one.

You have a rough idea of how long you need for a task, so pencil that into your calendar,

refer to it when you’re in the process of getting said task done, and then move briskly on to the next.

Creating deadlines provides that much-needed momentum you need to swiftly check things off your list and not stop dead at one or overdo it when you don’t need to.

Onwards and upwards.

1. Communicate 🗣🗣🗣

We’re all guilty of it; piling on the workload and forgetting to be realistic with our time and capacity.

Every so often it’s okay to say you need more time to get things done instead of trying to cram loads of activities into a teeny tiny time frame.

Remember: before you are a creative, you are a person.

Be gentle with yourself and accept the reality that working yourself to the bone just won’t work.

Accommodate your mental and physical capacity by communicating your capacity.

Now go be a star, you Genius.

Part of being a creative is being realistic with your time and creating situations that best optimise your use of it.

Being realistic doesn’t mean we’re cutting the fun, it means we’re protecting it. Whether it’s having a clean workspace to make room for your productivity, setting deadlines that work for you, or even communicating a schedule that works for you it all feeds into furthering you and making your time stretchhhhhhhh...

The only thing you can blame us for is bettering the chances of seeing you ON TOP. In which case, Guilty as charged.

For more hard-hitting tips and posts tailored specifically for our Creative Geniuses be sure to head over to the New Comma page on Instagram @new.comma 🫶🏿🫶🏾🫶🏽

If you’ve come this far but have yet to sign up to New Comma what are you doing?🤯

Get into it and sign up over on the New Comma site to become the latest newcomer at New Comma

(See what we did there!😉😉😉)