5 Weird Ways I Increased My Productivity in 2023

I hate schedules.

I hate having to be on time, meeting deadlines, and feeling rushed. Don’t get me wrong—I can handle them most of the time. I’m a writer! Deadlines are kind of a big deal, and it’s pretty hard to get by professionally without being able to stay on task and finish old projects before you start new ones.

Except that it’s even harder to finish projects when ideas for new and exciting ones keep popping into your head. I’d also venture that it’s nigh impossible to do your best work when you’re constantly looking at a clock and gauging what you do or do not have time for.

And that’s why I did things a little differently in 2023. Some of it was intentional, and some of it was a natural progression (or regression, depending on how you look at it) based on the way my brain works. In a world in which neurodiversities are becoming something we try to work with rather than “fix,” it makes sense to change the way we look at the concept of productivity.

It’s time we challenged that concept. So, while I’m not a person who is neurodivergent (I don’t think, anyway), I’ve challenged it. Here are just a few ways I changed the way I approached productivity in 2023—and how they helped me create some of my best work yet.

#1: I procrastinated

That’s right—I leaned right into it, too.

I’m a freelancer, so this is easier said than done, but on days that I didn’t want to produce a single thing, I didn’t. I waited. I mulled. Deadlines were approaching, but most of them were set by Yours Truly, I wasn’t too concerned. But you know what?

I didn’t miss any of them anyway, and the work that came from the various bouts of procrastination was way better than if I’d just dove right in and pumped out something mundane. To make this productivity hack even better, I can back it with science:

According to a study that appeared in the NY Times, people who procrastinate produce work that is more creative than their pre-crastinating counterparts. So there!

To be clear, I procrastinated because I’m lazy, but since science backs my laziness, I’ll pretend that it was intentional.

#2: I moved my computer

That’s it. Easiest hack ever.

I work on my little Chromebook, and therefore I have the option to work anywhere, but like so many Chromebook users, I have a “spot” where I work the most. For me, it’s my kitchen table.

This hack is a two-parter, actually, because I also added some hardware to make my writing experience more enjoyable. Let me explain.

First, I bought a laptop riser and wireless keyboard so that I was more comfortable when typing (and my keyboard sounds like a little typewriter, so that’s pretty cool.) Because of this, I stopped having back or wrist pain, and those small purchases increased my creativity and productivity.

I then switched seats in my kitchen. When I’m working, I move my little computer set up to the chair opposite my usual spot, and that slight shift in my perspective was just stimulating enough to throw me into the beginnings of a flow state.

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that make all the difference in the world.

#3: I stopped tracking my time

There was a period in my professional life in which I felt the importance of tracking my time spent doing virtually anything.

Truthfully, I do, still—but my approach and attitude towards the concept of time are totally different. For example, my new writing process is to write in bursts of about twenty minutes, and then I take a break. Sometimes that break is five to ten minutes, and sometimes it’s several hours.

That twenty-minute burst is my best work, when I throw on some ambient music and sit in my little nook, and the work starts to just flow. After that, there’s a natural lull in my creative process, and often that comes in the form of my boistrous three-year-old son (who clearly also plays immersively for twenty-minute stretches, too.)

Then I spend some time with him; maybe I make him a snack, and we liver our lives for a bit. When he eventually reverts to playing independently, I slip away for another twenty-minute burst of writing, immersed once again in my own little world.

There are days when I can do this for hours on end. There are days where all I get is twenty minutes. But the work I produce is so much better, and I still get to enjoy my life outside of work without constantly worrying about how many hours I’ve spent writing.

It’s incredibly freeing. Highly recommend.

#4: I stopped writing to-do lists

Confession: I love to-do lists.

I actually write them all the time. My most common to-do list is for my daily cleaning (as a stay-at-home mom, I spend a fair bit of time keeping the house livable). I also flat-out need a to-do list to pack for a trip or ensure that my daughter has whatever she needs for school the week.

But for work, I’ve ditched them.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have goals—I do. I have a goal to finish my book this year, and when I reach that goal, I’ll jump to the next step (publishing!) I have a running list of work-related tasks, such as making sure I get a few articles out a month on Medium and reaching out for freelance work in between.

But I don’t keep those lists anywhere, and the result has been entirely positive. While I love the feeling of checking off tasks and getting things done, I absolutely don’t love staring at a list of things that I’ll have to put off day after day, thanks to life creeping in and stealing my time (something I’m not mad at, by the way, since it usually involves my kiddos.)

I don’t know anyone who likes seeing all the things they want to do with their days get stale on a list that will never be fulfilled. It’s depressing.

So I don’t do it, and I don’t miss it.

#5: I scrolled my social media (a lot)

I used to download apps that purposefully kept me on task and blocked social media. It’s a great idea, in theory—distractions might be detrimental to one’s productivity.

In practice, however, I’ve discovered something interesting that negates the intended effect of those focus tools: I need distractions to inspire my writing. I need to scroll through social media to see what people are doing, what they’re saying, and how they’re approaching our ever-changing world.

Ignoring those things leaves me in the dark about the human condition. Ignoring those things prevents me from finding bizarre inspiration, which is where 90% of my article ideas come from. So I scroll. I stop what I’m doing and scroll. Sometimes I watch random things, like paranormal or urban exploration content. Sometimes I listen to podcasts—often totally random podcasts, like my latest binge, prepper podcasts—that can inspire unique, interesting ideas that would never have occurred to me if I’d blocked media.

It just helps to break up the monotony of just sitting there like a lump and writing like some kind of machine. Doing so isn’t what I would call creative, and unsurprisingly, it isn’t conducive to writing great content.

Maybe it’s all a little upside-down, but it works.

I think sometimes just the act of shifting your typical routine can help you break out of a rut, whether professional or otherwise. For me, figuring out what doesn’t work for me and my writing style was the best way to break out of the mundane trajectory I was stumbling down.

My challenge to you, fellow creatives, is to mix it up a bit. Try something new; go against the curve. That’s how we carve new pathways, anyway. You never know how it will change or improve the way you work.

And if there’s one absolute truth about productivity, it’s this: Nothing will change if you don’t try something new.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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