Do more in less time | The productivity secret

Summary

The speaker, a multi-talented UI/UX designer, shares her top productivity tip for managing an overflowing schedule: simplification. She explains how prioritizing tasks and streamlining processes are key, especially for language learners juggling multiple interests. The video also features a tool, 'uPDF', which aids in document management with features like OCR and AI translation, enhancing efficiency. The speaker introduces 'themed days' for focused productivity and touches on the '2-minute rule' and '5-second rule' for task management. She invites feedback on channel direction and offers personalized coaching sessions for those seeking tailored productivity and language learning advice.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker has a multifaceted career including UI/UX design, language teaching, and content creation, which requires effective time management.
• 🎨 Despite having an ADHD brain, the speaker finds time blocking ineffective and instead suggests simplification and prioritization as key to productivity.
• 🗂️ Simplification involves streamlining processes and cutting down on non-essential activities to focus on what truly matters.
• 🏆 Prioritization is crucial, especially in language learning, where the speaker suggests focusing on languages based on their current importance in one's life.
• 📚 The speaker uses a PDF tool called 'uPDF' to simplify the task of reading through numerous documents, highlighting its OCR and AI translation features.
• 🌐 'uPDF' is an all-in-one PDF editor that can annotate, edit, convert, and protect PDFs across various platforms, aiding in efficiency.
• 📅 Themed days are recommended for focusing on specific tasks or languages, such as dedicating Mondays to Japanese and Tuesdays to Spanish.
• ⏳ The two-minute rule is suggested for quickly completing small tasks to clear mental space and reduce stress.
• 🕒 The 5-second rule (or 3C rule) is a technique to overcome procrastination by giving oneself a 5-second countdown to start a task.
• 📈 The speaker is open to creating more content on time management, productivity, and lifestyle if the audience is interested.
• 🗓️ For personalized coaching on prioritization, goal setting, and productivity techniques, the speaker offers sessions through Superpeer.

Q & A

What is the main productivity tip discussed in the video script?

The main productivity tip discussed is simplification, which includes streamlining processes and prioritizing tasks.

Why doesn't time blocking work for the speaker?

Time blocking doesn't work for the speaker because they have an ADHD brain, and when they schedule something, their brain tells them they are not accountable to anyone, leading to a lack of motivation to follow through.

What does the speaker do for a living?

The speaker works as a UI/UX designer both full-time and freelance, is working on their Master's thesis in Japanese Aesthetics, teaches languages, does language learning coaching, runs a YouTube and Instagram channel, sells ebooks, and enjoys reading and painting.

How does the speaker manage to juggle multiple languages?

The speaker prioritizes languages based on their importance and current needs, focusing more on some languages over others depending on their relevance to their life at the moment.

What is the role of 'simplification' in the speaker's productivity strategy?

Simplification helps the speaker to streamline their processes and reduce unnecessary activities, allowing them to focus on what's important and be more productive.

Outlines

00:00

📆 Time Management for a Multi-Tasking Life

The speaker introduces their multifaceted lifestyle as a UI/UX designer, thesis writer, language teacher, YouTuber, and more, emphasizing the importance of time management. They explain why traditional time blocking doesn't work for them due to their ADHD and preference for flexibility. The key to their productivity is simplification and prioritization, which involves streamlining processes and focusing on the most important tasks at hand. The speaker also discusses the challenge of balancing multiple language learning with other commitments.

05:02

📚 Simplification and Themed Days for Productivity

Continuing the discussion on productivity, the speaker highlights the concept of simplification and streamlining processes. They share their strategy of prioritizing languages based on current importance, using Japanese as a top priority due to an upcoming trip. The speaker introduces the idea of themed days for focused learning and productivity, where specific days are dedicated to particular languages or tasks. They also mention the two-minute rule for quick tasks and the 5-second rule for overcoming procrastination, both of which help in managing tasks efficiently.

10:07

🤖 Utilizing AI Tools for Language Learning and Document Management

The speaker discusses the use of AI tools like updf for language learning and document management, showcasing its features such as translation, summarization, annotation, and OCR. They demonstrate how updf can translate and summarize lengthy documents quickly, which is particularly useful for language learners and professionals dealing with extensive PDFs. The speaker also mentions the tool's ability to interact with AI for translations and examples, which can be a game-changer for productivity.

🗓️ Prioritization and Time Management Techniques

In the final paragraph, the speaker reflects on their health and the direction of their channel, inviting feedback from the audience on the type of content they prefer. They mention the 5-second rule as a personal productivity hack and discuss the possibility of offering coaching calls for personalized advice on prioritization, goal setting, language learning, and productivity techniques. The speaker also encourages viewers to book coaching sessions through a provided link for tailored support.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency with which an individual or system performs tasks and achieves goals. In the video, the theme of productivity is central, as the speaker discusses various strategies to save time and manage multiple tasks effectively. The speaker's personal experience as a UI/UX designer, thesis writer, language teacher, and content creator exemplifies the importance of productivity in juggling multiple roles.

💡Time Management

Time management is the process of planning and controlling how much time is spent on specific activities to increase efficiency or productivity. The video emphasizes the importance of time management through the speaker's personal productivity tip, which involves simplifying and streamlining processes. The concept is integral to the video's narrative, as it is the key to handling the speaker's diverse interests and responsibilities.

💡Simplification

Simplification is the act of making something less complex or easier to understand or do. In the context of the video, simplification is presented as a key productivity tip. The speaker suggests that by simplifying one's life and processes, it becomes easier to focus on what's important, which is a strategy that has helped the speaker manage their wide array of activities.

💡Prioritizing

Prioritizing is the act of arranging tasks or activities in order of importance. The video discusses the necessity of prioritizing when managing multiple tasks or learning multiple languages. The speaker gives an example of prioritizing languages based on their current relevance to their life, which is a practical application of prioritization in the pursuit of productivity.

💡Language Learning

Language learning is the process of acquiring new languages. The video script mentions the speaker's experience in learning and teaching languages, which is one of the many activities they manage. Language learning is used as an example to illustrate the concepts of simplification and prioritization in the video's discussion on productivity.

💡Thesis

A thesis is a document submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree. The speaker mentions working on their Master's thesis in Japanese Aesthetics, which is an example of a significant task that requires effective time management and productivity strategies to complete alongside other responsibilities.

💡UI/UX Designer

UI/UX design refers to the design of user interfaces (UI) and user experiences (UX) for digital products. The speaker identifies as a UI/UX designer, both full-time and freelance, which is a role that requires creativity, technical skills, and efficient time management to balance with other commitments.

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube channel is a platform for creators to upload, share, and manage their video content. The speaker mentions having a YouTube channel as part of their multifaceted online presence, which contributes to their identity as a content creator and requires time and effort to maintain.

💡PDF

PDF stands for Portable Document Format, a file format used to present documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. In the video, the speaker discusses using a PDF tool to simplify the task of reading through numerous PDFs for their thesis research, demonstrating the utility of such tools in managing and organizing information.

💡AI

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, which refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines. The video mentions an AI feature in a PDF tool that can translate and summarize documents, which is an example of how AI can assist with productivity by automating tasks and providing quick insights.

💡Theming Days

Theming days is a productivity technique where each day of the week is dedicated to a specific task or focus area. The speaker uses this method to manage their language learning by assigning different languages to different days of the week, which helps in creating a structured routine and maintaining focus.

💡Two-Minute Rule

The two-minute rule is a productivity technique that suggests if a task takes less than two minutes to complete, it should be done immediately. The speaker mentions this rule as a strategy for clearing minor tasks quickly, which helps in reducing mental clutter and focusing on more significant tasks.

💡5-Second Rule

The 5-second rule is a productivity technique that involves counting down from five as a way to motivate oneself to start a task immediately. The speaker describes using this rule to overcome inertia and jump-start their work, illustrating how gamification of tasks can enhance productivity.

Highlights

The speaker shares a productivity tip that has greatly helped them in saving time despite having a multitude of responsibilities.

Discusses the ineffectiveness of time blocking for individuals with ADHD and the concept of 'rebel' planners.

Introduces simplification and streamlining processes as key to productivity, contrary to the speaker's many activities.

Emphasizes the importance of prioritizing tasks, especially in language learning, to manage multiple responsibilities effectively.

Shares personal language learning prioritization, focusing on Japanese due to an upcoming trip to Japan.

Mentions Mandarin Chinese as less of a priority currently, advocating for passive learning methods.

Suggests finding activities to cut down for better time management and productivity.

Introduces 'uPDF' as a tool for simplifying document management and its features like annotation, OCR, and AI translation.

Demonstrates uPDF's AI capabilities with an example of translating and summarizing 'The Little Prince' in Korean.

Recommends themed days for focused productivity, especially when learning multiple languages or managing various tasks.

Provides an example of applying themed days to language learning to maintain focus and efficiency.

Suggests the two-minute rule for quickly completing small tasks to clear mental space and reduce stress.

Introduces the 5-second rule as a technique to overcome procrastination and initiate productive actions.

Reflects on the speaker's health and channel direction, seeking audience input for future content.

Invites viewers to book coaching calls for personalized advice on productivity, language learning, and goal setting.

Encourages viewers to subscribe and leave comments for more content on productivity, time management, and language learning techniques.

Transcripts

I'm going to give you the one

productivity tip that has helped me so

much to save time in my life I get bored

very easily so I love doing all the

things like too many things I work as a

uiux designer both full-time and

freelance I'm doing my thesis my

Master's thesis in Japanese Aesthetics I

teacher languages I do language learning

coaching I have a YouTube channel I have

an Instagram Channel I sell ebooks I

read a lot I love painting So as you can

tell I do too many things what people

generally ask me when they see this is

first of all are you insane and secondly

how do you have time for everything like

not even mentioning balancing all of the

languages that I'm learning so the

answer to that is time management so

let's talk about managing your time

today if you've watched any video on

productivity and time management you

have probably heard of time blocking now

before you click away I am not going to

talk about time blocking because it does

not work for my ADHD brain for some

reason and I read a study somewhere that

there's types of planners meaning people

who plan and one of the types of

planners is a rebel now that is me I

don't consider myself particularly

rebellious but what that means is if

I've time blocked and scheduled

something into my calendar for example

learn Japanese every Wednesday Thursday

and Friday at 2 p.m. and I pop it in my

calendar and it's there me my brain is

telling me I'm the one who put it there

I'm not accountable to anyone I don't

feel like doing it and then I'm not

going to do it so as much as I think

time blocking is a wonderful concept for

people who can stick to it and be like

oh it's 400 p.m. I have to go work on my

project I cannot do that so I'm going to

give you the one productivity tip that

has helped me so much to save time in my

life the answer is

simplification now this sounds contrary

to the fact that I do

5,342 things in my life it's just cuz

I'm excited about everything

simplification and streamlining your

processes is what I 100% say is the key

to productivity and it goes two ways

Simplicity simplifying your life and

number two prioritizing

if you are a language learner who is

learning five six seven languages

unfortunately you have to prioritize it

is a dream that productivity YouTubers

are selling you that you can do

everything that you want to do the

backstory is you can to different

extents if you prioritize regarding my

language learning I have to prioritize

the languages in order of how important

they are to my life at this moment I'm

going to Japan again at the end of this

year so Japanese has moved right to the

top of my list and I'm putting the most

effort into that however Mandarin

Chinese was something that I used a lot

when I lived in Singapore and traveled a

bit around Asia like Taiwan so excuse me

so at this very moment Chinese is not

very important for me to be maintaining

I can do it passively by listening to to

music podcast reading books but I'm not

actively sitting and learning or

practicing input or output in Chinese

that's because I have prioritized and

decided right now Japanese is more

important to me than mandar in

Chinese on the note of simplifying you

also need to learn to find activities

that you can cut down

on there was bubble in my throat let's

try again for instance right now I'm

working on my thesis and I have so many

PDFs that I need to read my topic is

otherw worldliness and death in Avant

guard Japanese poster design because

it's exciting to me I have downloaded

like 7 million PDFs and there's a tool

that I use that helps me to simplify the

task of needing to read through all of

these PDFs so the sponsor of today's

video is is updf this amazing PDF tool

can help you with language learning can

help you with any other documents that

you use at work it's got annotation if

you're a fan of taking notes and drawing

on it and adding stickers it can even do

that it can combine PDFs it can save it

as a different file export and it has an

OCR which is optical character

recognition but the absolute coolest

thing about updf is interacting with

their AI I'm looking at the example of

the book Ain wza which is The Little

Prince in Korean that's so cool you guys

updf will translate it updf AI generates

accurate summaries of hundreds of pages

in second so if you need to go through

lengthy documents on short notice updf

AI has your back it has just

translated the entire audin wza which is

The Little Prince in Korean given me a

summary of what the book is about what's

also helpful is that there's a little

chat section over here so I can copy the

text that I might not understand in the

language I'm learning and it'll

translate it right here for me so this

is incredibly useful if you're learning

a language or if you have content in a

PDF format that you need translated so I

can write here for myself let's use some

text um in

loneliness so

pass damaged oh my word it gives example

sentences this is

amazing sorry I'm getting so excited I

I'm going to use their little sticky

note and I'm going to put my example

sentences there I'm not going to forget

this word now cuz I've interacted with

it updf is the ultimate all-in-one PDF

editor offering a seamless experience to

annotate edit convert OCR protect fill

inside PDFs on Windows Mac iPad IOS and

Android since there are so many AI

products these days is finding a tool

that can really improve your efficiency

and is reasonably priced and fully

functional is important so if you need

to find an AI productivity tool that

suits you I recommend updf as a great

choice if you're interested in trying

out updf please look at the link in the

description box or the pinned comment it

is going to save you so much time next

productivity tip on simplifying your

life and prioritizing is themed days

this is wonderful if you are learning

multiple languages or doing a lot of

things you're interested in for instance

I would choose that Mondays are the days

that I focus on Japanese Tuesdays are

Spanish and Wednesdays are Hungarian

those are the three languages that are

the most important to me now so I theme

them Monday I will do everything

Japanese I'll read Japanese books I'll

listen to Japanese podcasts I'll have my

Japanese lessons Etc Wednesdays is

Hungarian I just put myself in Hungarian

mode and it's like I have a theme for

that day it's been really useful for me

to put me in that mindset knowing this

is the day where I'm going to focus on

this language what I always recommend to

my coaching clients is that it's up to

you to try this out and decide if it

works for you so you can do themed days

you can do themed weeks or even themed

months a few like 2 years ago or

something what I did in my language

learning

organization was to organize my year

into two quarters and then allocate a

main language and a subfocus language to

the I'm dyslexic with numbers hold on 4

8 12 so I allocated a main language and

a sublanguage to every batch of 3 months

and that was kind of like theming the

quarters of the Year theming days can

also go to the work that you're doing

whether you're a student a freelancer a

full-time worker see if you can schedule

your main tasks into particular days so

at my job um which I quit a week ago we

had um no meeting Tuesdays that's

basically theming it to say that all of

my product design work and my design

research work like really heavy UI

designing work that will happen on a

Tuesday whereas planning and other

things happen on other days of the week

so by having this theme or this box

around the Tuesday I knew that my most

productive design work could be get

could be get done could be done on the

Tuesday here is another tip that you've

probably heard of it works really well

there's two of them and they both have

numbers so the first one is the

two-minute rule if you have your to-do

list and you've done your brain dump I

love talking about brain dumps though if

you want to have a video about brain

dump please comment brain and I will

remember I want to see the comments

being filled with the word brain please

okay so after you've done your brain

dump and you've identified dang there

are like 500 tasks I need to do

highlight the ones that are going to

take you literally 2 minutes it's like

paying that bill messaging this person

calling this company if it takes less in

2 minutes do it now and it's going to

clear up that space that it's taking up

and stressing you in your brain so that

you can be more driven and energized and

better to do the tasks that are more

important okay so that's the two minute

Rule and then the one that works so much

for me is the 3C rule or the 5sec rule

so I have to

sneeze the 5-second rule this especially

helps when I'm lazing around in bed and

just rotting and not doing something

productive knowing that I need to work

on something else I'll be lying in bed

and I will literally give myself 5

Seconds only to get up and get out of

bed and do it and it kind of works

because it's gamified it feels like

you're counting down for a Race So you

don't count up and go 1 2 3 4 5 you

count down you're like all right I'm

going to get out of bed I'm going to run

to my office and I'm going to open my

laptop to start working on my thesis so

I go 5 4 3 2 and then I jump up and run

to my office and I do my work it works I

don't know how it I don't know how it

works but it works so please try it out

hi we interrupt this video to bring you

me talking on the side so it's been a

very long time since I've made a video

and as you know my health has been up

and down it's getting better but I'm

kind of thinking what's the direction

that my channel should be going in

there's only so much that you can say

about language learning so if you are

interested in more of this like time

management management productivity

lifestyle comment please let me know

content please let me know in the

comments and then I can start planning

videos that you guys would enjoy

so if you are interested in learning

more about how you can prioritize tasks

that are specific to you your work and

your language learning journey I

recommend that you book a coaching call

with me unfortunately we are fully

booked I think there are a few days left

in July and then I'm taking August off

and then coaching calls are open again

in September 2024 so you can book now

for the last part of July or for

September but it is a session that is

100% catered to your own needs regarding

prioritization goal setting language

learning skills productivity techniques

anything like that so if you're

interested please go to super peer. c/

Lindy buis and you can book a session

that is useful for you and we can take

it from there so there's so much more I

want to say on this topic if you are

interested in more productivity time

management goal setting or language

learning technique videos do leave a

comment on what you want to see and if

you enjoyed this video please subscribe

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