7 Out Of The Box Productivity Hacks That Transform Your Life

Hey, you.

Are you fed up with procrastination? Is it true you feel disappointed after realising you didn’t do all the work you intended on doing? You are definitely not alone.

You want to make the changes and it’s in your power to boost and maximise productivity. In this post I will cover some out of the box, maybe controversial, best productivity hacks I learned over the years that you can implement in every task that you do throughout the entire day.

And this is just because sometimes – if not in many or in all cases – all you need is to think outside the ordinary for things to work for you.

I will cover these 7 Productivity Hacks:

1. Parkinson’s Law.
2. Detachment.
3. Polarity Thinking.
4. Ownership.
5. The Placebo Effect.
6. Give Up.
7. Forget the Clock.

But in the end, you are the only limit, it’s all in your human mind. You can only go as far as you intend on going.

Productivity issues are – in most cases – caused by limiting self beliefs and fear. Maybe you think it’s too difficult, too comprehensive or you think people will have an opinion about what you’re doing. A change of mindset is the ultimate game changer in productivity.

Let me tell you this. Don’t let anybody tell you you’re not good enough and don’t let yourself believe that it’s too difficult to achieve that which you desire to achieve.

What I want you to do is this. Lean into that gut feeling and don’t let fear and anxiety dictate how you think and feel, and therefore act upon those emotions. Instead, embrace the feeling of discomfort and channel your thoughts not through fear, but through love.

And to put a bow on this preach, I like to quote Dale Carnegie:

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”

What Are The 7 Productivity Hacks?

I’m not here to discuss the expected (that isn’t to be thought less of). Do set your goals, enlarge your motivation by listening to music for example and cultivate a few habits by using the 2-Minute Rule, but let us now face a deeper layer. If you’re aware of these techniques and they’re right in front of you to use, and I’m sure you tried them all, then why are you still lacking in productivity?

It’s your awareness I’m going to touch on, as it’s the very core of the problem and therefore your solution.

You will find that these hacks can be used in any aspect of life: professionally, on a personal level and in a relational or social context, meaning you can make a serious, lasting impact on your life.

Now, that’s enough with the rambling. Let’s go.

1. Parkinson’s Law

In Parkinson’s Law, it is stated that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. To put this into a simple example: a person who’s got one task per day, could take the full day to complete this task. Whereas a very busy person knows the same task needs to be done in a few minutes, so it’s possible to then continue with the other tasks.

It’s an easy law to fall into, which is why it’s important to become aware of this intriguing mechanic. I’m sure you recognize falling into the traps of procrastination and self-sabotage, causing you to leave tasks undone for days, weeks or even months. While deep down, you know you could’ve finished it in a (way) shorter amount of time.

Made by: Anne Diederiks (2022)

How to tackle Parkinson’s Law to improve productivity:

Get clear on your vision: It’s the same principle with driving a car, flying an airplane and setting the sails of your ship: you’re looking towards the direction you want to go and not the ‘don’t crash into that tree’, as the latter is destined to turn into disaster. Find and connect to your vision, that is the desired outcome and you will then be drawn to that end result. Be persistent in holding onto it, as it will be the urgency driver that pushes you forward.
Time division awareness: Take a few moments to think about the amount of time it took to get started, the amount of effort and time that passed in the midst of doing a task or multiple tasks and the total amount of effort and time there was when you finished. Actively thinking about this will provide you the awareness behind the behavioral pattern you demonstrate. You will also see the points where you seem(ed) to get stuck on, which is valuable information in regards to solving those particular issues.
Prioritizing: This goes hand in hand with your vision and the time division, so as you are aware of your behavioral pattern in the approach to get things done as well as putting that vision upfront, you can experiment with prioritizing. Create your criteria for what makes something more important than the other, you prioritize tasks, and see how this plays into the formula of productivity: time and effort.

2. Detachment

Detachment is about completely, but usually temporarily, distancing yourself. Maybe from something you’re stuck on, from something you need to have time to think about and it’s possible you may want to detach because the frustrations are building up.

While the term detachment suggests you’re going to do something that’s completely outside of what you actually should be doing, it is in fact not. Detachment is about distancing on purpose by doing an activity that triggers your solution oriented thinking; you can give yourself again the space to think in creative and empowering terms, for you to continue where you left off.

I am not here to simply advise you to get your mind off things by saying go and do something else, with no specific activities given. You are here for the hacks, so I will provide them for you. But remember it is you who has to do the work.

So, what can you do in this productivity hack?

Get in touch with nature: Nature allows you to reconnect to your inner nature and all opportunity that’s governed by it. Nature is pure consciousness and so are you. And consciousness is the infinite source of everything that exists in the physical realm. Align with the power of this by stepping into nature, preferably every day.
When you get distracted: Place a chair in the middle of the room. You’re not allowed to take anything with you while sitting on that chair (this is non-negotiable). Remind yourself this is exactly what you’re doing when you’re distracted: you’re doing nothing and leaving the important tasks undone. Allow this realization to come your way and see how this plays into a renewed, more intense focus.
Read your book & walk at the same time: It’s scientifically proven that physical activity has an influence on the quality of processing information. Now, you can go for just a walk, but take that book (about productivity, mindset and/or mental development) with you as well. You will find it has an enormous effect on taking in the information, as well as getting a broader experience of aligned emotions and thoughts (motivation, willpower, purposeful and direction focused thinking). Something extra you can do is reading out loud. This increases your attention span and when you continue with your work again shortly after, the increase in attention will carry through. Win-win.

3. Polarity Thinking

For this productivity hack, I want to talk about polarity thinking. In polarity thinking, I’m touching on connecting the two sides. One side is your desired productive state and the associated behavioral patterns (like intense focus, devotion, effort, decisiveness, etc.). The other side of the coin are the behaviors that you’re also familiar with, but you do not wish to show (like procrastination, limiting self beliefs, lack of concentration).

It’s a natural thing to shove away the negative behaviours, but what happens then, is that they will always find a way back to you. The reason for this is that you haven’t embraced them enough as them being a part of you, of the whole human being you are.

And it is possible to raise your vibrations to go from one to another. With that being said, your lowest point can actually be your greatest potential after all.

Discomfort, procrastination, lack of focus, limiting beliefs, dealignment, they are all part of the human life experience and instead of denying, ignoring and fighting against it, try finding them (by becoming aware) and then connect to them. Accept it as they are your own.

By doing this, you create wholeness and oneness; you connect with both polarities as part of you. You lift off the pressure of being ‘perfect’ and you can let go of having to fight against behaviors and thoughts you don’t wish to have, as you will only feed them in doing so. Instead, embrace it and train yourself to sustain your acceptance.

Here is the step-by-step approach:

Go to a place where you can’t be distracted, sit down for this moment and close your eyes.
Search for the desired behaviours and thoughts in your ideal state of productivity.
Allow yourself to dwell and invite visuals by your choice to show.
When fully immersed, you can start searching for the polarity or polarities.
Find the behaviours and thoughts you don’t wish to show; that are unsupportive in your flow of productivity.
Invite them to fully show up and allow visuals to make it as real as possible.
When you’re entirely immersed, connect to the feeling of wholeness, of being one with both polarities.
Sit in this state until you’ve lost all resistance, or at least for the most part, as it’s something you need to mentally rehearse (just like muscle training).
Take a moment for this every day that you want to implement productivity flows.

4. Ownership

The next one in productivity hacks, is about taking ownership. When talking about taking ownership, you are fully responsible for the process and fulfillment of that you wish to achieve. If not taking full responsibility, then why would you be indulged in getting productive? Aside from having a dedicated workspace and making a to do list for example, it’s for you to add purposeful meaning to your state of productivity, by claiming that ownership, taking what’s yours to achieve. This involves a mental shift.

Mental visualisations and thoughts that help triggering ownership and responsibility:

Picturing having a dragon put behind you that pushes you towards moving forward.
Picturing gaining muscle and gaining strength when thinking about learning in the midst and seeing it pay off.
Picturing the (personal/professional) opportunities to explore when you collect your victories.
‘If not today, when?’
‘What’s out there for me if I start now?’
‘I am my only limit. I am one step away from changing my life for good.’

5. The Placebo Effect

Another effective productivity hack is creating the ‘placebo effect’. You may think this is the ‘fake it until you make it’, but the difference here is that – with creating the placebo – you are actually believing entirely in its fulfillment, despite the fact there is no realization just yet.

In this approach, you use your imagination and the power of assumption. You are assuming you’re incredibly productive, on fire with everything that you do during the day and you give that imagination all tones of reality.

How can you do this?

Before going to sleep: Visualize the assumed and desired productivity and what it feels like in the end. Feel the fulfillment and feel the acceleration of emotions in succeeding. In a drowsy state, you’re the least suggestible to over-analyzing and you’re then impressing the subconscious mind into believing that what it is you want, has already happened. If persisted in enough, it will harden into fact, into your physical world. As the body doesn’t know the difference between the past and the future, it will follow the mind.
In awake times: With your eyes open, live in the state of being productive. Even when you’re not as much as you like, push yourself towards that state by leaning into the desire of wanting to get something done. Things that may help support you in getting into that state: music, affirmations, visuals and physical activity beforehand (activates the creative brain and memory).

In conclusion, the point of the placebo is to fully assume that which you want to be doing, you are doing. By doing this, you embody the desire with an aligned thought and vision, and it will therefore manifest the desired behavior into achieving a sustained, productive state.

6. Give Up

You may think this is the same as detaching, but the difference here is that with giving up, you’re literally walking away from it and in its entirety. You leave behind the work you’ve done and haven’t done and you therefore cut the cords with frustration, lost energy and meaningless actions.

I’m sure you’re wondering about something here, because: how does this play into productivity?

Try to think back of a moment where you’ve given up on something and a while later, you suddenly realize or feel the genuine urge again to get back to it. This is because giving up plays into a psychological game where denying yourself something actually feeds the desire to do it anyway; it (re)grows your curiosity and you feel as if you didn’t explore all possibilities for its achievement.

Pushing yourself forcefully will only make you want to quit even quicker, but with judgment, frustration and guilt. So, what I want you to do is this instead: you give up lovingly, you are judgment-free and you surrender to the idea it will either come back with bigger reasons and larger purposes to continue, or it won’t and it will be for good reasons.

7. Forget The Clock

Quick disclaimer: I do not stand responsible for ruining your sleeping schedule (*jokingly said*). However, we are all familiar with the phenomenon of our thoughts getting so incredibly rich and creative in the late hours and it makes me want to say this: do make use of these moments.

Get out of your bed and make it a first priority to use this flow of productivity. Perceive it as a gift or maybe a sign, but don’t blame your incredible brain for trying to show you something. Everything happens for a reason and instead of being disappointed the morning after, you can feel fulfilled instead, because you didn’t give in to the easy way.

Triggering questions you can ask yourself in that exact moment:

What if I don’t use this moment that is filled with a genuine flow of creativity?
What if I do use this moment? How would I feel?
How is this going to serve me?
Where would I be tomorrow if I just went back to sleep?

Triggering things you can say to yourself in that exact moment:

To your body: ‘Yes, I know you’re tired and I will give you back your sleep as a reward after I’ve done this. I will sleep so much better then.’
To your mind: ‘I am going to feed you with this flow of productivity and I am grateful for having created this for myself.’

The Depth Behind – What Is Productivity?

Like I mentioned before, I’m here to touch on the awareness. Simply said, productivity is about getting X amount of work done with a particular amount of effort and an amount of satisfaction, that answers the question whether you’ve been productive enough or not.

But, while we can talk about quantity being the determining factor in productivity, it is in fact not. On the outside, you may be spending hours on something and you have set some goals on how to achieve that which you want to achieve, but there are many underlying factors that have a significant influence on creating and sustaining a productive flow.

The Iceberg Model – Productivity

Made by: Anne Diederiks (2022)

When you take a look at The Iceberg Model, you see a model that shows the visible behavior, knowledge and skills, that is the top, and the invisible, which is at the bottom, there you will find the underlying, subconscious or even unconscious, deeper layers of a person.

You may have set some strong, solid goals and you may have been spending time on creating an environment that doesn’t distract you, but there are deeper layers causing you to be accountable for what happens at the top.

I shall again take the example of goal setting. A goal system is a compass to success, but for goals to be achieved, you need to be aware of your limiting beliefs, you need to have a vision and you need to know your purpose: What makes you want to breathe life into it?

It is your decision making, your power to overcome procrastination and the embrace of discomfort when it comes to complexity. And it is prioritizing, devotion and effort into achieving manageable time division and variety.

But always remember, the top only stands a chance of being valuable when you persist in paying attention to quality, the bottom. Productivity lies in the hands of integrity – that is your honesty towards what you believe in and authenticity – your congruence in thinking and doing.

The Endnote.

And there I have them for you to explore. Get creative and take on the journey of finding ways to create, boost and sustain your productivity. To stay productive, means to stay focused.

Productivity is less about what you do with your time and more about what you do with your human mind. Whether that be in urgent tasks, group tasks, individual tasks or in life tasks, it involves working to boost productivity.

It’s yours to take.

From my heart to yours,

Anne