4 Counter-Intuitive Steps For Increasing Your Productivity

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Listen to my experiment…

the results of which were that I had the most productive 4 hours I have had in months.

The 4 hours was spent at Castlewood State Park.

I went there with my laptop and I was well aware that there was no Internet connectivity at the park.  In fact, that was the point.  Eventually I shut down the laptop altogether and pulled out the mighty pen and paper.

I literally sat in my car with a pen and paper knocking out dozens of tasks that didn’t require Internet connectivity.

I call it Working at the Park … creative name, eh?

I am begging you to try it… and here are four tips to ensure that you are as productive as possible:

Ditch Your Laptop

This exercise was an absolute revelation for me.

The Internet has awesome power.  It has the awesome power to connect us all virtually, provide information on anything in seconds and create low-cost execution and distribution of marketing for your tiny business.

The Internet also has the awesome power to INTERRUPT the bejesus out of you.

Unplug from the web and get away from it —- knock out those non-web related tasks without having to hear that curiosity inducing beep that indicates you have a new email.

Stretch Your Legs

I got some real thinking done when I got out of the car and went for a short hike through some of Castlewood’s trails.  I was gone about an hour.

After having worked most of the morning with no connection to the Internet, my mind turned to the long-term and not the “in your face” short term stuff that presses your thoughts when you are connected to the web.

I was able to think much more clearly as I was moving and I was getting some much needed exercise.  :)

Shut Off Your Phone

I’m not going to lie.

The first time I did this over at Castlewood State Park I had my Iphone turned on and continued to check email every hour or so and, sadly, my Twitter feed as well.  :P

But I have done this since at several other parks — and this time I shut off my phone.  Very liberating.

Bring Lunch, Water and… A Treat

You will need to eat.  You will need to drink water.  You will want a treat.

Call me crazy but when I take these little sabbaticals away from the world wide web I like to treat it like a little adventure.  Since the Castlewood experiment I have done days like this at Fenton City Park and Mastodon State Park (I love Mastodon by the way because of the trails.)

Pack like you are going on a little trip and ensure that there is nothing that you will want or need that will interrupt your ability to knock out some serious work.

What do you do when you want to increase productivity and get away from the interruptions?  Let me know if you try this and what kind of success you have with it.