3 Innovative Ways to Spend $5 to Boost Your Productivity
Underrated hacks to get more done in less time.
Underrated hacks to get more done in less time.
Some days, I wake up filled with motivation. I visualize the work to be done, time-block my day accordingly, and start attacking the tasks.
But not every day is so easy to navigate.
I’ve had days when I barely have the energy to turn on my computer to reply to emails. On such days, I resort to productivity hacks that I’ve perfected over the years.
I know we’ve all heard of the age-old pieces of advice like -
- Work during your peak productivity hours,
- Take a Pomodoro break,
- Plan your next day before going to bed,
- Maintain a to-do list, etc.
In this post, I’m going to list three innovative ways you can spend $5 to give yourself a productivity boost. You can use these ways on days you don’t feel your best. I hope they work just as amazing for you as they did for me.
1. Live the Llama Life
To-do lists are overrated. Let me introduce you to Llama Life — the fantastic tool that helps you track your time allotted to a task instead of an endless list.
For just $4 a month, you get the perfect tool for managing time-boxed working sessions. Llama helps you:
- Transform your dreaded tasks into bite-sized, manageable chunks of productivity.
- Assign time slots to each task. Then, let the task timers and countdowns spur you on to finish on time.
- Have white noise on while working so you can focus on the job at hand.
- Celebrate with on-screen confetti and sounds of accomplishment once your task is complete.
With its empathetic productivity tools, beautifully designed interface, and intuitive calendar view, Llama Life has fast become my favorite productivity tool.
You can try out Llama Life here.
2. Get a Nappuccino
We have all heard of how caffeine keeps you alert and naps help you recharge.
But what if you combined the two?
Let me introduce you to a Nappuccino — a power nap followed by a caffeine kick. This term was popularized by Daniel Pink, author of five books, including the award-winning To Sell is Human.
As Clara Spars writes in The Stanford Daily,
“Drink a cup of coffee just before falling asleep for about ten to twenty minutes — which is both an optimal amount of time for napping and roughly equivalent to the duration it takes for the caffeine to really set in — then, as you are waking up, you are both refreshed by the brief but uplifting encounter with the comfort of sleeping in your bed and also revitalized by a sudden burst of energy brought on by the coffee that is now in effect.”
I wake up from Nappuccinos with adrenaline pumping in my veins, ready to tackle my tasks. The next few hours are usually followed by deep work sessions that make me feel more accomplished than ever.
3. Work With Friends at a Cafe
A month ago, a bunch of my freelancer buddies started a new tradition.
Every week, we’d meet for a few hours at a cafe and have a competition who could schedule how much content for the upcoming week.
Last week, I wrote ten Linkedin posts and repurposed them into ten newsletter issues. The same content was then published as a Medium article as well.
My friends got even more work done.
This motivation boost and productivity spurt wouldn’t have been possible if we’d stayed home and worked alone.
The ambiance, company, and fun spirit of the competition helped us make more progress than we’d believed was possible. I’m so proud of our little “WFC Gang.”
On a side note, this is also an excellent way of making new friends.
Most cafes charge $5 or less for a cup of coffee. You can have fun with friendly competition and create content that can make you 10x or even more. Isn’t that the perfect win-win situation?
Final Words
There’s no one-size-fits-all guide for productivity. What worked for me might not work for you. But then again, adopting these tried-and-tested productivity hacks might make your life 10x easier.
Summarizing, here are the three innovative ways you can spend $5 to boost your productivity:
- Get Llama Life and break your day into bite-sized time chunks.
- Take a Napuccino — a cup of coffee followed by a quick 20-minute power nap.
- Work with friends at a cafe. Organize friendly competitions that challenge your creativity and push you beyond your limits.
What other underrated productivity hacks have worked for you? Do let me know in the comments.
Author’s note: Some of the links mentioned in this article are sponsored. But I love these tools so much, I would never have shared them with you if I didn’t think they can add amazing value to your life and journey as a content creator.
Want to leverage the power of social media to build a business online? Check out the Ultimate Guide to Building A Scalable Business on LinkedIn.
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