Here’s how to take control of your life and your time so you can be the queen of productivity in the coming year.

We’ve all been there. We designate a certain amount of time to complete a list of tasks and by the end of the day we haven’t gotten through the list. We end up wondering where all the time went. Why do work tasks and home chores take longer than we think they will?

1. Document your time use.

In order to truly understand where your time goes, you have to document it. While you might think that checking email, texting, or scrolling through Instagram only takes a few seconds or minutes, in the end, that times add up. Take a day or two to write down hour by hour how you spend your time. If you’re checking email every few minutes or scrolling through social networking sites, you’re spending time here and there that should probably be devoted to your chosen tasks.

2. Have designated times for checking email, social networking, etc.

Once you realize where your time is going, trim the fat. Even if checking email, social networking, or texting is important for your job, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it throughout the day. For example, I like to check my email first thing in the morning from my phone so I don’t have to check it when I sit down at my desk. Additionally, I allot a few minutes in the afternoon to do any social networking that needs to be done. That means I don’t break up focused energy on mindless tasks.

3. Use your golden hour wisely.

For the majority of us, the first three hours of the workday are the most productive, and as a result, they should not be used on administrative work. Spend the golden hour on the most thought-provoking work, whether it’s a new project, a complicated article, or a brainstorming session of ideas. It’s when we tend to be the freshest and the most focused. However, some of us are actually the most focused late at night, and if that’s the case with you, no worries, just take advantage of that time.

4. Cut the chatter.

Workplace chatter is important because establishing good relationships at the office can make your job more enjoyable. But at the same time, don’t waste too much time chatting with coworkers. And if you’re on deadline, don’t be afraid to walk away. If you go to a coffee shop or work at a co-work space, wear headphones to signify that you’re busy or excuse yourself after you’ve spoken for more than a few minutes. Remember, your time is valuable and it should be treated as such.

5. Stop multi-tasking.

The brain is only capable of focusing on one task at a time. That’s why when you end up trying to do more than one task at a time, you’re using the same amount of energy but simply fractioning it out. In order to ensure you’re putting your best foot forward, write your to-do list from most important to least important and do one task at a time.

6. Get focused.

Spend the beginning of each day getting focused and simplifying your to-do list. Each morning, I decide what three to four tasks need to be done first. Whether it’s writing an article, editing an article, brainstorming pitch ideas, or sending out queries, I decide what’s most pressing before I even start my day. I start with the hardest tasks first and do the most mindless tasks in the afternoon when thoughts are less on point. Meditation is another important tool for getting focused. While meditation does take time out of each day, it also keeps our mind from racing and keeps you on task so that you end up making more out of your day.

7. Pretend you’re billing hours.

This is especially helpful for freelance workers, but it’s also really good for employees. Lawyers, consultants, and public relations executives all bill their time. This helps them to understand exactly where it’s all going. If you were billing your day out, how much of your time would actually make you money? This is another tool for ensuring that you’re not wasting time. In my case, admin work is not where I dwell, because it takes away from my income.

8. Get enough sleep.

You’re more likely to waste time in your day when you’re not at 100 percent. If you’re tired, you’re more likely to get caught up in mindless conversations, take too long at lunch, or look at pictures on Facebook. The mind is less focused and more likely to get lost. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep every night so that you’re ready to take on your day with vigor.

9. Say no.

As I mentioned above, it’s a great idea to choose a few focus points or tasks of the day. But at the same time, you don’t want to let someone else get in the way of you getting them done. If someone asks for your help on a task or invites you to get together when you don’t have time, learn to say no. Your time is sacred and the only way to ensure it is to guard it carefully. Outside of work, decide the activities that stoke your passion and dive right in. Don’t be afraid to say you can’t do something when it’s not appealing and don’t schedule too many activities outside of work that throw you off your schedule. Over-scheduling  can throw the balance off and reduce productivity.

What tips and tricks help keep you on task? Are you a victim of the time suck? Where do you waste your time? We want to know! Drop us a line via Twitter @EcoSalon

Related on EcoSalon
How to Declutter Your Desk and Increase Productivity
7 Clever Productivity Apps to Help You Get More Done
9 Career Mistakes Women at Work Make a Lot (but Don’t Have to)

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How to stay focused, no matter how restless you are, is an important and helpful skill.

When it comes to distractions, I’m like Dug from the movie “Up!”– “Squirrel!” – and thanks to today’s “always on” lifestyle, more often than not my professional and personal lives collide like a train wreck. Mindfulness has become a crucial skill: It helps you stay focused throughout the craziest of days, but it’s like a muscle that needs to be worked out. The more you practice, the better you get.

Here are 11 mind-over-matter techniques to help you stay focused in the face of distraction:

1. Define the problem
What specifically causes you to lose focus? Is it noise? The Internet? Phone calls? Your Twitter addiction? You won’t know how to stay focused until you know what veers you off course.

2. Visualize
I used to be so distracted, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy: I’d go to work with the assumption that I’d barely get anything done, and that’s exactly what happened. Before getting out of bed, I now visualize how I’d like my day to go. I specifically picture myself focused and centered, and my reality is finally matching up.

3. Set limits
There are tasks that will technically never be finished, like replying to e-mails or maintaining your Twitter account. Instead of getting sucked into the vortex, give yourself a certain time frame for your online maintenance. For example, give yourself 30 minutes to reply to e-mails, instead of forging ahead until your inbox is at zero – otherwise, you could be sitting there for the next decade.

4. Take more breaks
The number one thing that helps me stay focused is – ironically enough – taking more breaks: Chopping up my workday into shorter, more concentrated bursts with small recovery periods afterwards has made all the difference to my life as a whole.

5. Wear headphones
Enforce a headphone rule: If you’re wearing headphones, that means you’re working on something important and don’t have time to chat.

6. Start small
Starting is always the hardest part. If you’ve got a huge project to tackle and you’re procrastinating, simply say to yourself, “I’ll work on it for the next ten minutes.” No big deal, right? After the ten minutes are over, you’ll have picked up enough momentum to keep going.

7. Make a promise
Set a lunch date, take your beau out to the movies, or – if you’re really desperate – make a doctor’s appointment. Knowing you have to leave at a certain time might help you stay focused and get through your work as efficiently as possible.

8. Take five
It’s just as easy to do something as it is not to. It’s just as easy to leave your mail in pile and deal with it later – until there have been so many layers that you can’t see your desk anymore. Any time you’re about to put something off that only takes a few minutes, just picture the junk heap your life will turn into.

9. Reverse your to-do list
Much of the time, we start our day with mindless work first and work our way up to tougher tasks – but by the time we reach those tasks, we’re pooped. Complete the tasks that require the most mental energy first thing, and leave the mindless work for… well, when your brain waves aren’t waving.

10. Single-task
Even though multi-tasking is emotionally satisfying in the moment, it’s certainly not when the day is over and you’ve only accomplished a fraction of what you set out to. After years of multi-tasking and feeling perpetually distracted, learning to single-task feels impossible – but once you do, you’ll be surprised at how well you breeze through those to-dos.

11. Test the waters
While there are hundreds of productivity tips out there; you won’t know which ones will work best for you until you give them a shot. Remain open to the experience, learn from your mistakes, and you’ll be the most productive chick ever to grace an office.

What techniques help you stay focused?

Related on EcoSalon

5 Good Reasons More of Us Probably Should Be Working From Home

Could a Four-Day Work Week Make Us More Productive?

How to Declutter Your Desk and Increase Productivity

Image: Mark Hunter

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By Monday morning, most of us are already longing for the weekend. Could shrinking the work week help us to be more relaxed, and thus more productive?

As a culture, America is obsessed with work. We go on fewer vacations than almost any other nationality, with millions of hourly workers without any paid time off at all. Even when we’re not physically at work, we’re scanning emails or practicing presentations. We’d like to think that a 60-hour work week brings us that much closer to success, but some research suggests being on-call 24/7 is doing just the opposite.

British architect Irena Bauman recently told BD Online that she’s closing her offices on Friday and shifting the firm to a four-day work week. “We are working a “five days in four” week because how we live as individuals has consequences for everyone else,” Bauman said. “We are not waiting for anyone else to resolve our problems. We are looking instead for how we can make our own small changes, which, if made by others too, could have a significant socially and economically beneficial impact. One of these small changes is to alter the balance between work and private life.”

Lots of companies talk about wanting employees to have a good balance between professional and personal activities, but few of them actually go the extra step by giving you more time to yourself. But forcing workers to juggle too many responsibilities within the tight parameters of a 40-hour work week almost always means a decrease in productivity, not the other way around. While counter-intuitive, businesses looking to get the best from their employees all eight hours of the day might want to consider shrinking the work week.

A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal — including more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations — boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health, according to the New York Times. “Spending more hours at work often leads to less time for sleep and insufficient sleep takes a substantial toll on performance, writes Tony Schwartz. “In a study of nearly 400 employees, published last year, researchers found that sleeping too little — defined as less than six hours each night — was one of the best predictors of on-the-job burn-out. A recent Harvard study estimated that sleep deprivation costs American companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity.”

Adventurous bosses like Bauman hope downsizing from a five day work week will push employees into using office time more efficiently. If you have a deadline looming, but don’t want to sacrifice any of your “Friday free time” you’re more likely to find a way to get it done by Thursday. Likewise, the dangling carrot of a three-day weekend every week is more in tune with the way humans are programmed to operate. As Schwartz explains, “Human beings aren’t designed to expend energy continuously. Rather, we’re meant to pulse between spending and recovering energy.” More time to recover means the ability to give full effort when it’s time to perform, rather than constantly operating at half-steam.

Have you ever worked for a company that utilized a shorter work week? Tell us about it in the comments!

Image: Glen_Wright

The post Could A Four-Day Work Week Make Us More Productive? appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

IKEA addict? Maybe you should put all those blue bags with yellow lettered handles to good use. Like in a dress. [Via Inhabitat]

What is the definition of a “Real Woman”? Whatever it is, please stop calling me one. [Via Thought Catalog]

Haven’t joined a CSA yet? You should, and if you’re wondering how to go about it, here’s a great guide to help you navigate.  [Via Small Kitchen College]

Keeping an eye on the indie designer scene in Beijing? Here are nine to pay attention to. [Via Afar]

McMansions out and tiny homes in; we approve of this minimalist trend and will always take more micro-home eye candy like this one. [Via Curbed]

Finally someone has a good recipe for making gluten free sandwich bread at home. [Via Saveur]

Outdoor backyard movie night? There really can’t be a better way to spend a late summer evening. [Via CasaSugar]

The U.S. has no national vacation policy, how is this affecting productivity and why are we so bad at checking out? [Via The Atlantic]

A diet that’s high in sugar can lead to memory loss. [Via Organic Authority]

Image: Gewerbemuseum

The post Link Love: Making Dresses Out of IKEA Bags and How the Lack of U.S. National Vacation Policy Affects Productivity appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

Eating consciously does not have to be expensive. As it turns out, you can eat like a vegan and be on food stamps. [Via Ecorazzi]

Looking to decorate? This line of reclaimed lumber can be used on walls, on floors and even on your ceiling. [Via CasaSugar]

You can stop looking for the perfect summer project; DIY lighting it is! [Via Curbly]

$500.50 for a pound of coffee beans? Sure, that seems reasonable. [Via New York Times]

It’s good to have daily reminders of happiness. Some of the best? Children. [Via Elephant Journal]

Mixed drinks do add up; for every $100 the average American spends, about $1 of it goes to alcohol. [Via NPR]

There are things in life you should worry about, like courage. Then there’s a lot of other stuff that you really should just let go of. [Via Lists of Note]

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you were just a little more anxious. [Via Jezebel]

Image: puuikibeach

The post Link Love: Being a Vegan on Food Stamps, $500.50 for a Pound of Coffee, and Things You Shouldn’t Worry About appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

How email, IM, Twitter, and Facebook are keeping you from what’s really important. [via Harvard Business Review]

As one college senior prepares to enter the adult world, she’s asking herself big questions – like which cast iron pan should she buy for her first kitchen? [via Food52]

Both men and women objectify women, according to a recent study. [via The Atlantic]

How one doctor-cum-street-artist is bringing art and inspiration to a Navajo reservation. [via Adventure Journal]

Researchers tested how the brain reacts when you love someone with all your might. The results may surprise you. [via The Frisky]

Behold, the perfect tofu sandwich. [via Big Girls Small Kitchen]

Image: A . FRST

The post Link Love: Twitter and Tofu appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now.

If you can’t take an actual vacation this summer, the next best thing is dreaming about one. This collection of map-inspired DIY art can help. [via Curbly]

All we want is food that isn’t dyed in chemicals or made by underpaid child laborers, and labeling that doesn’t confuse or mislead us. Is that too much to ask? [via Utne]

Believe it or not, increasing productivity can actually threaten the economy. Take that, over-achievers. [via The New York Times]

Orla Kiely for People Tree? We’ll take ten of everything, especially that adorable knee-length skirt. [via Fashion Me Green]

Ladies, it’s time to reclaim the bicycle. [via Momentum Mag]

Image: ManMade

The post Link Love: Map Art and Moderating Productivity appeared first on EcoSalon.

#diversityatrisk
The War on Women in Courts
from Marge Baker at Ms.

#perfectionismisntjustforwomen
Men’s Magazines Aren’t Necessarily Doing Them Any Favors
from Hugo Schwyzer at Jezebel

#makingadifference
150 Women Who Shake The World
from The Daily Beast

#weallhavebenefits
Challenging the Self Made Myth
from Katrina vanden Heuvel at The Nation

#bodyimage
In an Airbrushed World, how do you define what’s truly Hot?
from Erin Anderssen at The Globe & Mail

Want more? Catch all our recommended reads in the We Heart This section, updated daily. Want to tip your editors? Send links to tips@ecosalon.com

The post Misguided Courts, Deceptive Magazines and World-Shaking Women appeared first on EcoSalon.

#startpacking
Top 20 Cities for New Ideas
from Piers Fawkes at PSFK

#8recipesbetterthanmeat
Just What Vegetarian Meals Should You Serve to Carnivores?
from Bethany Imondi at Small Kitchen College

#infographic
$3 Billion of Happy Meals Sold Every Year to Children
from Mind Body Green

#27stepstoproductivity
Get More Done. Now.
by Laura Schwecherl at Greatist

#greedymcgreederson
The Rich Are More Likely To Take Candy From Children
by Eryn Brown at the LA Times

Want more? Catch all our recommended reads in the We Heart This section, updated daily. Want to tip your editors? Send links to tips@ecosalon.com

The post Smart Cities, Adventurous Veggies & Candy Thieves appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s time to get whelmed instead.

Your plate is full, right?
You’ve been at this for a while.
Life is your kind of kuh-raz-eee.

And then it gets fuller, and the time has come, or there’s a curve-ball, and things get well n’ truly wild.

And you could say, because it’s your right to, that you’re feeling “overwhelmed”. But don’t. Don’t go there. Stay with me, on the light side of change and bursting creativity; on the front end of pressure, and greatness, and the best and worst kinds of challenges.

Back away from overwhelm. Because when you just utter that word, you cast doubt on your capacity to rise. You let angst flop on your couch. You fret that you might not have the resources to surmount obstacles or to seal the deal on your dream.

Let’s make a pact. If you slip and use the o-word, I’ll refuse to believe you. I’m going to act like you didn’t even say it, and I’m going to remind you that

: you put everything on your plate with intention, and you have a huge say in creating your reality.

: you’ve been watering your dreams for years and you’re going to get what you ask for and allow (ya!)

: tragic circumstances or a circus of success — you’ve got what it takes to meet life with more giving.

Ban “overwhelmed” from your vocabulary. Refuse it entry to your psyche. You’re bigger than that.

Just be, you know, whelmed (this is best said with a Jewish, Brooklyn accent.)

Whelmed. Not at full capacity, rather, full of capacity.

Whelmed. Sounds full of potential, doesn’t it?

Editor’s Note: Danielle LaPorte is the creator of WhiteHotTruth.com, which has been called “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality.” She is the author of The Fire Starter Sessions: A Digital Experience for Entrepreneurs, an inspirational speaker, former think tank exec, and news show commentator. You can read all of Danielle’s EcoSalon guest articles here, and find her on Twitter @daniellelaporte.

Image: uggboy

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