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If you can master these 15 skills, your productivity will skyrocket
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If you can master these 15 skills, your productivity will skyrocket

Have you ever wondered how some people seem to almost effortlessly accomplish an obscene amount of creative work, while others…struggle to achieve barely 5% of it? No one is saying that it shouldn’t take drastic change to make a huge impact.

I am not always prolific. It was up and down. I wasn’t always productive and I would often sulk for weeks and watch mindless shows on TV. These tips changed my creative life—and my productivity—and they will for you, too.

If you can master these fifteen skills, your productivity will skyrocket:

1. Stop looking for focus

It’s overwhelming. All you need to create is momentum. That means getting moving.

As cited by the American Psychological Associationthe key to productivity is fewer interruptions, but this may be unrealistic for most adults. When you’re balancing everything, the never-ending list of obligations makes it difficult to maintain an attention span on one thing long enough to complete the task.

2. Be relentlessly intolerant of negative and doubting thoughts

Thoughts are not to be respected or trusted. They may nag, but you don’t have to listen. You can just go back to work like a badass work warrior – and when you do, those thoughts fade away.

Negative self-talk is consistently linked to a number of negative consequences, including increased stress, anxiety, depression, decreased self-esteem, and impaired cognitive performance. According to one study 2021the more frequently someone engages in negative self-talk, the more likely they are to experience detrimental effects on their mental and emotional well-being.

3. Create a ton in the beginning

two people sitting together and painting ceramic cups KoolShooters | Pexels

Most people are dead avoiding work because it’s too much like hustle and seems like a waste of time to them. But you see things differently. You have chosen the thing that you can enjoy and make money from and now you are fully into it.

Fall in love with ten X and volume. Picasso did about 50,000 paintings and sculptures for God’s sake. Be like Picasso and fall in love with producing ridiculous amounts of stuff.

This also removes the pressure of trying to make every piece brilliant. Create, then continue. There are a thousand pieces left.

Passion and purpose have a significant positive impact on motivation, with individuals who feel passionate about their work and have a clear sense of purpose demonstrating higher levels of effort, engagement and performance than those who lack either element. Essentially, aligning passion with purpose leads to the strongest motivation, according to a 2022 study by Frontiers in Psychology.

RELATED: 15 Cheat Codes That Give You an Unfair Brain Advantage, According to Psychology

4. Stop complaining

According to research published in 2015 in European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychologycomplaining can make you feel worse, prolonging the negative emotions associated with the event. “Discussing events immediately during or after they happen forces the brain to relive or ‘replay’ negative emotional response“, the researchers write. “This creates a stronger association in memory, exaggerating the influence of the emotional episode.”

5. Take long walks without music every day

Look at the rich beauty of life. Make this a non-negotiable session to get your health straightened out and your confused brain in order. What, I’ve never heard of Charles Dickens and his crazy five-hour daily trips to London? A clear brain equals a happy, creative brain.

6. Create a safe space for mistakes when you work

creative woman in her studio Michael Burrows | Pexels

If you hesitate, you will hate the creative process. Don’t be the guy with a negative attitude when you work.

Research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology suggest that a personalized workspace can significantly improve productivity by increasing feelings of control, comfort and satisfaction, leading to better focus and motivation, especially when individuals can personalize their environment with personal items such as plants or photos. Studies have shown that employees with more control over their workspace tend to be more productive and engaged.

RELATED: 7 Habits of the Most Insanely Creative People

7. Link your production to a public arena

Leave people on hold waiting for your work. This means building in public. Creating videos and content about your work Be held accountable by others so that you can be more driven to create more.

8. Fall in love with your craft

See your work as a craft to be mastered rather than a means to an end. You have to learn to love learning about the finer details to become the best in the world at what you do. This will motivate you like little else.

2010 research indicated that the act of creating, whether through art, writing, crafts or other forms of expression, can provide a range of benefits, including improved mental well-being, increased self-esteem, reduced stress, cognitive enhancement and even physical potential. health improvements. Studies highlight the positive impact on mood, anxiety levels and overall quality of life when engaging in creative activities.

9. Spend a lot of time studying the things other people have created in your field

man studying a painting in a museum Jill Evans | Pexels

No idea is truly original. You must consume to feed the ongoing and fresh creations.

RELATED: 10 Ways The Most Creative People Inject Sparkle Into Their Lives

10. Find a way to have fun with everything you undertake

Often this will be found just by taking a step and going from it without thinking too much about it. Research published in 2022 show that fun can positively impact motivation in several ways, including increasing creativity, improving mood, promoting goal pursuit, and improving resilience.

11. Use music, dance and physical release as creative allies

Being silly and shaking our hips to some wild beats will awaken the dormant madness in all of us. This is it good for creativity.

12. Reflect regularly on your dark side

woman keeping a diary George Milton | Pexels

Your darkness is lurking, wanting to come out and make noise. What do you do that might polarize? Don’t be a fool. Go there.

Embracing negative feelings can improve creativity and, by extension, productivity by promoting deeper analysis, critical thinking, and perseverance, which can lead to more refined and innovative solutions to problems, especially when negative emotion is channeled constructively rather than overwhelmingly. research 2022 found that a mild negative mood can push individuals to work harder and think more critically to overcome challenges, resulting in higher quality outcomes.

RELATED: 13 Tiny Habits of the Most Productive People on the Planet

13. Become a brainstorming buccaneer

Write down ten ideas for solutions to problems each day. Over time, your noggin will be swimming with ideas, many of which you can throw together to spawn new ideas. Ideas are like the fuel for a prolific creative setup.

Research by the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology indicate that brainstorming can positively affect motivation by stimulating a sense of creativity, encouraging participation and providing exposure to diverse perspectives, leading to increased engagement and a desire to further contribute to the idea generation process. In essence, seeing others generate ideas can act as a motivator to produce your own new thoughts.

14. Tap into the part of you that loves to become obsessive

Most people avoid obsession. But there is a healthy obsession, and this is an atmosphere that you can use as a mode. Find something you’re interested in that you can develop a long term obsession for.

15. Before you can create big, start small

woman modeling a small clay plate Anna Shvets Pexels

This may be something you need to repeat every day. What is the first small step to get the ball rolling? Remember folks, momentum will give you that unfair advantage. Create it.

Making art can provide various mental health benefits, including reducing stress, improving mood, increasing self-esteem, better cognitive function, and potentially helping with emotional processing, especially when used as a form of self-expression. 2019 research showed that even short periods of art can significantly lower cortisol levels and increase dopamine in the brain.

RELATED: 12 Tiny Habits That Will Quadruple Your Productivity at Work

Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a personal brand that monetizes your knowledge and skills while maintaining mental toughness.