Visualisation for productivity
Productivity isn’t about working 12-hour days.
It’s about cultivating more joy, quality & consistency across your life.
Being productive means consistently getting more done in less time. A lot of people only practice the getting more done element. They work late into the evening and think they’re being productive because they have greater output. As the weeks & months go by, they find it difficult to maintain this cadence leading to chronic stress & burnout.
That’s why we say getting more done in less time. Productivity means creating those systems & rhythms that enable us to produce higher quality work, more frequently - this is explore greatly in the field of project management. But, there’s no use in getting lots done if you can’t sustain it.
That’s where a framework like Ali Adbaal’s Feel Good Productivity comes in. It’s important to enjoy what we do and do what we enjoy. Being productive means enjoying (most of) the work we do, getting it done to a high quality and have time left in the day to do what we enjoy.
It means putting the systems in place & working with fluctuations in your energy throughout the day to be effective at work & efficient in your responsibilities so that you can enjoy & explore your interests.
How does visualisation improve productivity?
Productivity exists in how we think, feel & perform throughout the day. It means being focused on the task at hand & leveraging the required skills whilst overcoming challenges & distractions. If it’s an admin task - we use an analytical mindset and avoid the urge to scroll on social media. If it’s a creative task - we actively harness our imagination overcoming the urge to procrastinate, waiting for a lightbulb moment of inspiration.
These urges are our default neural pathways trying to hijack our productivity efforts. Through visualisation we can retrain these pathways to promote desired behaviours. When we visualise how we want to show up whilst completing the task, our high-level strategy for getting it done & our resilience to overcome challenges - we are actively rewiring our mind.
How to visualise for productivity.
Define the task you’re working on. What does success look like? What is the process you need to get there? How do you want to show up whilst completing the task? It’s okay not to have all the answers at this stage - we’re just warming up.
Let’s get started with the visualisation. Find a comfortable position & close your eyes. Relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw and settle into this position.
Take some breaths to focus your mind. Inhale for a count of 3 and exhale for a count of 5. If this isn’t comfortable for you, find your own rhythm. Repeat this breath 5 times.
Visualise the process of completing the task. Start with your environment - how is it arranged? What tools do you need? Is there music or are there other people around?
Bring attention to yourself. What are you wearing? How are you feeling entering this environment? What can you hear & smell? See yourself getting ready to work.
Get it done. Now, imagine yourself doing the work. Completing it to a high quality, enjoying the progress your making and overcoming any distractions that inevitably pop-up.
Really engage your emotions as you feel the process so clearly in your mind & body.
When you’re ready - return to your breaths, open your eyes and turn your vision into action!
Want to train your mental fitness with visualisation? Get tickets to Mental Fitness Live.
