What Productive People Know to Get Shit Done

Is your to-do list longer than a CVS receipt? Does it feel like you’ve tried every “hack” there is to “get organized” and stop “drowning” in your seemingly never-ending list of tasks and responsibilities?

Do you look at those productive people and think, “How does she do it?!”, and maybe even begrudge her a bit?

Here’s a secret. And a reminder. 

The reminder is, not everyone one of “those gals” is in fact crushing it. So give yourself some grace. 

But, there are people who are. There are people who seem to get all their shit done, with time to (gasp) read a book, do a full skincare routine (twice a day mind you), and even floss. They aren’t aliens.

They’ve learned how to HIIT it, and when not to. Here’s what I mean.

HIIT is a type of workout. It’s High Intensity Interval Training. It’s popular because you get results in less time than traditional workout approaches. It’s not endurance (think running a 5K or a 60-90 minute gym session). It’s done in 5-10 minutes.

You can think about different parts of your life like HIIT. And other parts like endurance. 

Eating meals and sleep are endurance. You want to eat slowly. Chew your food. Have a meal last at least 20 minutes. Easier said than done, believe me! I’m admittedly terrible at this.

When it comes to sleep, adults should be getting 7-9 hours every 24 hour cycle. Endurance.

A skincare routine, brushing your teeth, showering, chores…these can all be HIIT. Find the routine and/or the products, respectively that gets it done with results in as little time as possible.

For example, you don’t need an elaborate skincare routine to get results. You can start with a basic 3- to 4-step routine. It should take you 2 minutes or less morning and evening. 

Brushing your teeth takes 20-30 seconds?

Showering, a couple minutes. You could even wash your face and brush your teeth in the shower.

To keep chores from being endurance and more HIIT, you can divide them up across days. Or you can break them up in bursts on the same day, interrupted by work or a meditation, or a stretch, or a meal. For example, you put the clothes in the wash and run the dishwasher. Go for a quick interval run. Come back, move the clothes to the dryer. Stretch and recover from the workout. Unload the dishwasher. Shower. Fold the clothes. 

Because you’ve broken it up, none of these tasks feels particularly long or burdensome, so you will remain energized. Especially, because you’ve used movement and mindfulness to break them up. 

 Now, some things could be either endurance or HIIT, depending on the day. 

Spending time with friends and family can sometimes be endurance. But sometimes it needs to be HIIT. Maybe one Saturday you and your family or friends can meet up for a long hike. But another day, you have only 10 minutes for a call to say hi. Or a quick text to share a laugh. 

Why This Works

Unless we are in a state of flow, tasks that take a long time can drain us. This leaves us with less energy to take on more tasks, especially new tasks or ideas. Even our creativity dwindles.

Look at your CVS-Long to-do list. Think about your current schedule. Think about your current routines. And think about the things that you are wishing you had time for. 

Now, mark down which can be turned into HIIT and which are endurance. Then see where you can weave the HIIT items together making a little “workout of the day”. Only in this case, it’s your action plan for the day. Each day will likely be a little different and that’s ok. 

Let me know if you need help and feel free to screenshot and share your new action plan. 

𝘛𝘪𝘱, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.