We’re better when we work together.
That’s one of the reasons SOCO exists. It’s also the reason Slack Sessions exist. Slack Sessions are monthly chats hosted in SOCO’s Slack community. They’re focused on helping members work better, think bigger, and live life on their terms. From productivity to creativity, these sessions are a way for members to tap the collective brain power of the SOCO Community. They’re facilitated, real-time and relevant. They exist because this community believes we all do better work when we work together. And we’re sharing insights with you because one of SOCO’s core values is growing and learning together.
SOCO kicked off Slack Sessions earlier this year and, for the very first session, members gathered together for an online chat about productivity.
Why productivity?
Because there’s only one of you! Not to mention some of the world’s most successful people have mastered their workflow and days so much that it feels like they have clones. That means real productivity is totally possible. The tough thing is, you can find a million click-baity links on the topic of productivity but tried-and-true applications are scarce. What actually works? How do creators and business owners get stuff done? How do our members apply an internet’s worth of advice to their real-life work days?
Our community is full of folks who have hammered out these questions – and incredible work – for years. So for insights deeper than clickbait, we turned to them. Check out four takeaways (just a fraction of the conversation!) below.
1. Tools are pretty darn helpful
It’s no surprise that this tech-savvy crew has the low-down on the best productivity tools. A few apps you might recognize:
And then some tools that might surprise you:
- Spotify for music-induced focus (try the “Brain Food” playlist!)
- News Feed Eradicator to prevent distractions
- Airtable to track and delegate tasks
- Pocket for reading things later
- The Productivity Planner
- Shazam
We’re not kidding about that last one. Check out Jordan’s response to see how that tool has saved her hours.
2. The secret to using tools well? Having an overall approach.
Turns out, our members’ biggest secret to productivity isn’t what tool they use but how and why they use it. Some of the top approaches included:
- Making lists, on paper or in a digital format
- The rule of 3: identifying the three things that need to happen in a day
- Following model work weeks
- Creating and managing deadlines
3. You’ll get more done if you’re proactive about distractions
Members know they lose a lot of time to the internet, meetings, Twitter and phone notifications. But they’re not the kind of crew that sits back and does nothing about that:
4. It’s fact: some tasks are boring.
So it’s important to self-motivate. You could do that with a healthy dose of structure and deadlines, plus a sprinkling of consistency.
Or you could do it by building a sense of accomplishment.
Or if neither of those help, members shared that they’re particularly motivated by visualizing the end result and keeping the overarching “why” in mind.
This is good stuff. Don’t miss out on insights.
Want to get the whole scoop? That requires you to actually be in our #slack_sessions as a member. Sound like a community you want to be a part of? We’d love to chat with you, too. Check out memberships here.
Already a member? Awesome. Join the #Slack_Sessions channel today so you can stay up to date on the next chat!