If you can nail this
one, I promise you
that your productivity
will increase so much
more than you thought it could.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So, maybe you first
got into minimalism
when you earned a
bit too much stuff.
And you're like, OK, and,
like, some of this has to go.
It's getting a
bit too overboard.
And now that you found
the benefits in that,
you're like, OK, cool.
Well, how else can I apply this
to other elements of my life?
Well, hey, my name is Rachel.
This video is part of
my minimalism series.
And by the end of
today's video, I'm
going to show you how you can
use minimalism to increase
your work productivity.
You can literally start
implementing it from today.
If you're new around
here, welcome.
Make sure you hit
the Subscribe button
if you want to receive more
of this kind of content.
And I would love to
know as well, seeing
as we're doing about
work and productivity,
you guys know what I do.
But what do you do?
What sort of line
of work are you in?
I'm actually really
interested to know.
Before we get
started, I just want
to thank Skill Share for
sponsoring this video because I
have used it myself.
So I'm really stoked that
they asked to partner with me.
And I can share the
benefits of using
Skill Share with you guys.
OK, it's afternoon and
I'm really just getting
started for the day.
I ended up filming a
video this morning.
I guess that kind of
counts a little bit.
And then I went to
the gym and then
I ran into a friend of the gym.
So we went out for
lunch afterwards.
And what I thought I
would do is bring you
guys along in the
process and show you
how I get a relatively
large amount of work done
in a very short space of time.
Alright, this may seem
like a really weird point
to start off on.
But I wanted to speak
about decision fatigue.
If you have had to
make so many decisions
before you even get
there, part of you
is going to be worn
down potentially
by around the middle of the day.
So you can use minimalism to
eliminate the decision fatigue.
Two ways that spring
to the top of my head
immediately are a more
organized wardrobe.
Because then in the morning
you know exactly what
you're going to wear going.
You're not going through
the whole rigmarole of,
what do I wear today.
You just get dressed.
And then secondly, I want to
touch on a morning routine.
Are they 100% necessary?
No.
Does everyone stick to the exact
same routine every morning?
Absolutely not.
I still think they are
incredibly beneficial to do
a majority of the time.
This way when you
get to work or you
start your work for the
day, you're still fresh.
You haven't been
bombarded by having
to decide on all these
things early in the morning.
And you're in a good head
space to start your day.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Now you're going to use your
magical powers of tidying up,
which I know you know
how to do if you're
looking for more things to do
when it comes to minimalism.
You already know how
to declutter and all
of that sort of stuff.
Use that to make
sure your workspace
is as efficient as possible.
Nothing lying around
that you don't need.
By eliminating some
of the clutter,
we can create a more
efficient work environment.
Now I am going to share
my calendar with you guys.
I'll do a screen recording.
While I'm getting this
ready and getting it set up,
I wanted to tell you
guys about Skill Share.
So I just recently did this
really, really great course
on there, which was called
productivity masterclass.
So when they reached
out to me, I was like,
oh my God, I need to tell
you guys about this one
because I know so many of
you would really enjoy it.
If you haven't heard
of Skill Share yet,
it's an online learning
community for creators.
So they've got something crazy,
like 25,000 different classes
that you can take.
And they all fall under
different categories.
Like, I saw some business ones
in there and some advertising
ones in there.
But I was really interested
in the productivity
and getting stuff
done kind of classes.
That's my sort of vibe.
It's really, really affordable.
So if you're someone
who just wants
to dabble in learning a little
bit about different topics,
I would say have a look at it.
Because the annual subscription
works had to be less than $10
a month.
So maybe you were thinking
about learning something new
to help enhance
your career or maybe
you just have a little bit
of a creative curiosity.
Or you just want to get better
at a hobby that you have.
Check out Skill Share.
It's the perfect place to
fuel that desire to learn.
I have a little
deal for you guys.
So the first 500 people to
click on the link in my bio
will get two months of
a free subscription.
So for any of those curious
little bugs out there,
like me, who love
learning and just want
to keep extending
their knowledge,
it's an awesome
thing to try out.
And I do recommend the
productivity master class.
That'll be the one
that will talk you
through how to set up your
email more efficiently, how
to manage your tasks,
and how to set up
a system that works for you.
This is the system
that works for me.
I'm just going to show you the
first few days in my calendar.
Let's get this screen
recording happening.
So as you can see, this is
how I set myself out now.
I love bullet
journaling but it just
wasn't working for me anyway
because my schedule can
change so much.
So for me, a huge
part is time blocking.
And I find that this
is really efficient.
I feel like having a
schedule is paramount.
And I don't mean you have
to lock things down to a T.
But you just have to know
roughly what you're doing when.
This is how it works for me.
I'll put a big time block
here of perching work.
As you can see at the
top, there's reminders.
So these reminders might be
things like changing something
on someone's meal sheet or
changing someone's training
plan around a little bit.
Just things like that.
I find blocking out
big chunks of time
so that I can get
any related work done
is really what works for me.
Because if I schedule
a little block of time,
little block of time,
a little block of time,
a little block of time, and
then something runs late,
it becomes very
overwhelming for me.
And I'm stressed for
the rest of the day.
Obviously, I work for myself.
So it's going to be a
little bit different.
You need to find
what works for you.
This is going to sound
like a weird one,
but I like to call
it trimming the fat.
This is to do with
my to do list.
Typically, this is what I'd go
through and do in the morning.
So I'm just going to quickly
go through it and be like, OK,
well what have I
already done today.
And I'm just going to check
off the things that I've done.
So I would say, do
this in the morning.
But what we're going to do
is anything that you've done,
take it off first.
And then, we're going to
essentially trim the fat.
So make it more realistic and
keep the important things that
need to be done or
anything that you
think is achievable
throughout the day.
And this is really
just about recognizing
time wise, what can you fit in
and being realistic about it.
Some methods that
you might find useful
are things such as
splitting it up into a list.
Maybe you work and study and
you need to specialize your list
into two different components.
Or maybe what would work for
you is a matrix according
to this sense of urgency
of what needs to be done.
And a huge tip that I have
to get more done in your day
is to collate your tasks.
So for example, don't
break things down
into tiny, tiny pieces.
Because then you're going to be
spending all day taking things
off thinking that you've
accomplished so much, when
in reality, you're only
doing the little parts.
It's easy to over plan
and it's easy to spend
a lot of your time scheduling
and planning rather than
actually getting the work done.
Now I wanted to touch on
an element of minimalism
called single tasking
or, as I like to call it,
funneling your focus.
So when you're sitting
down to do your work,
maybe you need to turn your
phone into flight mode.
I know I do because
sometimes I just want
to sit and check Instagram.
What also helps is
sometimes just logging
out of social media.
If you can nail this
one, I promise you
that your productivity
will increase so much
more than you thought it could.
Because this is about
really honing in on a task.
If we're flicking
between different things,
we're not fully focused
and it takes so much longer
to get our work done.
Whereas, if you can let yourself
mentally focus on one task,
you can get it done
so much faster.
And also, when I am switching
tasks, because like you guys
saw, I like to set
up those time blocks,
so obviously at some
point in the day
I'm going to have to
switch between time blocks.
So what I like to
do is either just
use the brief function
on my Apple watch,
or maybe just pull out
Headspace on my phone,
or even just get
outside for a minute.
And I like to be able to create
space between those tasks
where I deliberately mentally
break off the end of one
and the start of another.
Two words, inbox zero.
And that's it.
We're done.
Let's move on to the next topic.
No, but really,
clearing your inbox
will make a huge difference.
You won't feel overwhelmed.
It won't feel like
you're accidentally
forgetting something.
Because I know that's how
I used to feel before I
organized my inbox really well.
And if you can get from a
few thousand emails to zero,
you're going to feel
like a champion.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I feel like how
minimalism has let me
approach things is with
the attitude of slightly
less urgency because I know it
will get done at some point.
So if you do have all the
other points in place,
you're going to
get the work done.
It's fine.
So just move at
the speed you can.
Things that you're slow at,
you will get quicker at.
By pushing yourself to go
faster than you need to go,
you're creating
more room for error.
So just work at a
comfortable speed and that
will slowly increase.
And having some
boundaries helps too.
Learning to say no.
And I feel like
part of minimalism
is learning to reject
what doesn't serve you.
Whether that's a person, whether
that's things that you own,
whether it's things
that you're doing.
It's learning how to separate
what's helpful to you.
This is what's hindering you.
And I think boundaries are
a really huge part of that.
Now I hope I didn't
blabber on too much.
I have a tendency to do that.
I just kind of word
vomit at you guys.
I'm really sorry.
If you are new
and you don't mind
me rambling at you like this,
hit the Subscribe button.
Because I promise there will be
future rambles to come at you.
And if you've been
here for awhile,
hey, thanks for tuning in again.
Really appreciate it.
Feel free to come on over
on my Insta, urban invite.
If you DM, I'll probably
voice note you back
because I'm all
about time saving.
I wish I knew how to do
all of this stuff at once.
But honestly, these are things
that I've just slowly changed
over and into my schedule.
If you feel like time is a
resource that you cannot seem
to generate enough of, give
some of these things a go.
There may be some trial
and error involved
but it's always better trying
to be a bit uncomfortable
and try new things.
Rather than being stuck in a way
that might not work the best.
Alright, now I actually have
to finish doing my work.
So I'll catch you
guys in my next video.
Bye.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
