Productivity tools are by far the most interesting things I'd like to talk about. They are most often the regular stuff that you use, but in a different way to serve the purpose. For example , earphones are usually for listening to songs or podcast and watching movies. But there are people who use the same to listen to study music or meditation tracks which help in getting them focused.
Likewise, the To - Do list is the most overlooked tool for getting productive at anything you do.you might have used the same concept in your supermarket checklist.
Remember going to the supermarket before we started ordering groceries from amazon and flipkart? We'd make a long list of the stuff we need to purchase and would have a lot of fun collecting everything and filling up the basket or trolley or whatever and feel a great sense of satisfaction once we've striked them all.
Did you know that the first ever rocket launch happened with the help of a To - Do list ? In fact all the engineering marvels you see had the action if planning the big tasks into smaller ones and accomplishing it step by step to reach the end goal.
Why is it so useful and how come it is so efficient. Let's get into the,
Psychology of it.
The whole reason for checklists being effective has to do with dopamine and your short term memory. So as soon as you decide on doing something you get excited and there a lot of stuff that pour into your mind and guess what you can't remember it all.
You just can't. Let that sink in.How many instances can you re collect where you felt a lot bad forgetting something very important to take to your trip like your toothbrush? Or your camera's memory card for capturing all the fun in your trip? Or the spare slippers you'd need as you won't be wearing shoes at the late evenings in your school /college trip days?the list goes on.
Now to the dopamine part, our brain releases the "feel good" hormone when we accomplish something and motivates us to do more of it,keeping us wanting to feel it again and again. Everything that needs motivation to do, needs a dopamine release.
When ever you make a to do list, you are free from the stress of having to remember everything you need to accomplish something and when you start to tick or strike out every task, you feel accomplished and a lot productive than working aimlessly for hours into something even tough it might be important or useful.
So that's it for this article, I hope you find it useful.
Stay safe and wash hands regularly.