how to *ACTUALLY* stay productive (and motivated!) | 7 tips to build healthy habits & stay focused

I went from being the queen of procrastination, spending days glued to my phone or another Netflix series, barely leaving my couch, watching precious time slip away, until I discovered how to turn my home into a productivity powerhouse, where I blitz through my daily to-do list before I've even finished my morning matcher, leaving the rest of the day completely free to do as I please. By the end of this video, you'll have the exact blueprint that I use every single day to not get distracted, not procrastinate, and get as much done as possible in your working hours. Yes, so you can be more successful, and yes, so you can get the dopamine kick from ticking off your to-do list, but most importantly, so you have more time left at the end of the day to do what you want.

Now, this blueprint has taken me 5 years to master through medical school and being a doctor. But before we get into it, I should probably introduce myself. Hello, my name is Fay.

I'm a medical doctor working in London. And whilst working full-time as a doctor, I decided it would be a great idea to continue running my business. With very few days off and little time to spare, it meant that I had absolutely no choice but to become an expert on productivity.

So, if you are also an ambitious girly looking for evidence-based solutions to the problems that you and I encounter most, then make sure to click the subscribe button just down there and the notification bell so you never miss a video. Finally, step number one, the autopilot advantage. Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most important step in any daily productivity routine.

But to implement it, we have to take a step back and assess your entire routine as it is now. Warts and all. Have you ever noticed how you don't even think about brushing your teeth?

It just happens. Now, what if I told you there is a way to make your work routine just as ingrained? Research in behavioral neuroscience shows that once a routine becomes automatic.

Your brain shifts from relying on conscious motivation which happens in the prefrontal cortex to habit circuits formed in the brain making the process effortless. But if you disrupt one of these habit circuits, you lose momentum and starting again feels like a mountain to climb. So what's the secret?

We need to create a routine that sets off a chain reaction making it harder to stop. And do you want to know what the biggest issue is? Work is so unintent.

There is nothing that appeals to me less than sitting down at my desk. But do you know what is irresistibly enticing? A hot drink.

And that's it. That's my ritual. The moment I make myself a coffee or a matcher, a ritual is set in motion and a signal is sent to my brain that it is now time to work.

I sit down at my desk with a hot drink. I do a brain dump. And because at every stage, I haven't thought about the next step.

It's just happened. And by the time I actually get to work, I'm already in autopilot mode, bypassing the need for motivation and tapping into my muscle memory instead. Step number two, the distractions detox.

Spending most my working hours in a busy hospital. I know that our surroundings can either fuel our productivity will be a magnet for distractions. Research in cognitive psychology demonstrates that our brains aren't wired to process multiple stimuli.

And when they try to, it can fragment our attention and reduce our productivity. Studies have also shown that when distractions are minimized, your brain can allocate more resources to the task at hand, not only leading to a higher quality of work, but a more enjoyable experience. And this is even more important if you have a little ADHD brain like me because our brains are wired to seek out distractions in the most simple mundane thing because anything is more interesting than the work that we have to get done.

My strategy is really simple. I eliminate distractions by creating a minimalistic workspace both physically and digitally. I cannot sit by a window.

My hair has to be tied back, otherwise I find it extremely distracting. And you already know how much I love forest for my phone. But when I was in medical school, I would frequently find that when my phone was on a forest, I would start online shopping or scrolling Instagram on my laptop.

So now, one of my secret weapons is Firefox. It's not just a browser. It's a fully customizable productivity hub that has completely changed the way I work and study.

For starters, I love Firefox's multi-account containers. This nifty feature lets me create custom workspaces. One container for work emails and research and another for personal browsing.

It means I never mix up my professional and personal life. Firefox's enhanced tracking protection is a complete gamecher. It prevents trackers from domains that track you across sites.

My privacy feels more protected and I experience far fewer distractions when I will. But that is not all. What's great about the latest version of Firefox is that you can tap directly into your favorite AI model right from the sidebar in your browser.

All you have to do is log in and you have a permanent built-in sidebar that you can engage with as you browse. No need to open a new tab and log in. Firefox lets me supercharge my experience with add-ons that can help me stay on task.

So, I've installed a few productivity extensions that block timewasting sites during my study hours and keep my tabs organized. It ensures my digital workspace is as neat and efficient as my physical one. Also rely on tree style tab to neatly organize my open tabs which makes navigating between tasks a breeze.

And when I really need to dive into research, Firefox's reader mode is a lifesaver. It strips away all the clutter so I can focus on the content that actually matters. If you're ready to create your very own My Firefox experience and boost your productivity, then check out the link below.

Trust me, once you set it up, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it. Step number three, matrix mastery. Now, to keep this chain reaction in motion, we need to make sure we already know what the first thing we have to do is.

And this is where so many of us fail at the first hurdle. Procrastination does not always look like scrolling on your phone or binge watching Netflix. Sometimes it is deep cleaning your room even though you have a presentation to do for tomorrow.

I have been there, so I know how easy it is to fall into the trap of doing things that feel productive but don't actually move you forward with any of your goals. Research into the science of decision suggests that structured prioritization can reduce procrastination by clarifying what truly matters to us. Yet, so many of us still struggle to separate urgent and important tasks from the meaningless.

If you've already heard me bang on about this before, then I'm gonna advise that you skip the next minute because you're probably sick to death of hearing me talk about it. But there is no way I could make a video all about how to be productive all day without talking about the Eisenhower matrix. It is the simplest tool that has made the biggest difference in my life over the last year and a half.

It's literally a 4x4 grid. You have urgent and non-urgent along the top and important and not important along the side. After you've done a brain dump and you've indiscriminately word vomited every task that you have to get done today onto a piece of paper, you're going to categorize all those tasks based on whether they are important.

So whether they are in line with the goals that are most important to you at that time and whether they are urgent or not urgent. So your report due tomorrow, that would be urgent. Suddenly you have a visual representation of why it is a really, really, really bad idea to suddenly decide to clean out your wardrobe.

But step number four, I am going to contradict myself a little bit because we need to talk about little leaps. Sometimes when you're overwhelmed, it feels impossible to start. And the thought of that huge task sat in the top left corner of your Eisenhower matrix makes you feel like you want to vomit.

So, I try and use the Eisenhower matrix most of the time to make the decision for me what task I should do first. But sometimes when the problem isn't the task itself, but the inertia that comes with feeling overwhelmed, I pick the easiest task to start with. And a lot of people disagree with me on this, but here is why.

Research into reinforcement learning tells us that small rewards can trigger dopamine releases, which builds momentum over time. In simple language, you get a little kick from crossing off your to-do list and you want some more. Yet, so many of us neglect these micro wins, putting more and more pressure on ourselves to reach these huge breakthroughs that ultimately never come.

That is why if I'm really struggling with procrastination, I will start my day with an easy tick. A simple win that boosts my dopamine and my self-esteem. Step number three, the rapid reset.

One of the biggest mistakes I made in medical school was thinking that multitasking made me more productive. I'd sit in the library for hours and hours on end, switching between editing a YouTube video, studying, and I felt great afterwards, like I'd achieved twice as much work. But in reality, I'd given half of my focus and concentration to both of the tasks.

And not only that, it sabotages your ability to enter a deep state of flow. Research in psychology tells us it takes around 15 to 20 minutes to enter a flow state. The magical zone where work feels effortless and almost enjoyable.

Constantly switching tasks or checking your phone fragments your attention and prevents you from reaching the mystical land of flow state. When your focus is continually interrupted, you end up feeling frustrated and less effective despite the illusion of being busy. So, what is the solution, Dr Fay?

I hear you ask. First, you need to commit to a 20inut uninterrupted work sprint. Forest on your phone, Firefox on your laptop, and you're good to go.

I keep a notebook by my laptop at all times, and if thought jumps into my brain during this uninterrupted sprint, then I put it down on the paper, and I come back to it later. Peer-reviewed studies show that uninterrupted work sessions can significantly boost cognitive performance and creativity, taking you to that sweet spot where you actually get work done in much less time, leaving more time for fun. Now, for step six, I want to tell you a story about one of my favorite creators who I now get to call a friend.

So about this time last year, I was in my first year of being a doctor and trying to run my business at the same time, which meant that any day off I had had to be meticulously planned down to the minute. And I put a lot of pressure on myself during these days to stay firmly at my desk and to not move an inch away from it unless I needed the toilet or a coffee. As you can imagine, during this period of time, my mental health plummeted.

I would get to about 2 p. m. during these days and I would feel so sluggish and low and really hit one of these downward mental spirals where I was repeating these narratives that I wasn't good enough.

I would never get where I wanted to get or I was a little bit of a crap YouTuber and not where I wanted to be with my career as a doctor. It was exhausting and for the entirety of these days I also would not see another human in the flesh or even sunlight. During this period, I stumbled upon a creator called Savannah.

And she made a video explaining a phrase that she lives by that I now repeat to myself almost every single day since I watched that video. And the phrase is never trust an indoor thought. And then really, really weirdly, about 2 weeks after I watched this video, I was sat next to Savannah in a restaurant with one of my friends from medical school.

And we both watch her videos and think she's amazing. And I decided not to say to her, "Oh, I watch your videos. " Cuz she was there with her boyfriend.

And I wanted her to just enjoy her meal. But then at the end of the meal, as she was getting up to leave, I told her about the impact that her video had had on me and how I'd literally sent it to all my friends because I loved it so much. And if any of you also follow her, then she is even nicer in real life than you see on social media.

She's a wonderful, wonderful ray of sunshine. But that's not my point. Research in neuroscience shows us that exposure to natural light and fresh air can reset your brain, boost your mood, and even enhance cognitive performance.

Yet, so many of us ignore this simple solution in favor of our favorite caffeine hit. I used to tell myself I do not have time to go outside. Now, I tell myself I do not have time to not go outside because even after just a 10-minute walk, I notice that when I come back, my productivity and mood are boosted.

saving me so much more time in the long run. I lied at the beginning and said that step number one was the most important step. I actually think it is step number seven, the 5:00 p.

m. lockdown. When your workday is over, it's over.

And I'm not just saying this because I believe you should have a life and your mental health should come first. Also, because it will make you more productive. If you've ever heard of Parkinson's law, you'll know it suggests that a task expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Anyone who has finished any sort of project the day before a deadline when they've had months, weeks, whatever, will understand exactly what this means. And if you're a work from home girly where the boundaries between work and home are so blurred, it can be so easy for it to get to 4:30 and tell yourself, "Oh, I can just continue working for a little bit after 5 and before you know it, it's 7:00 p. m.

" Research shows that having clear boundaries is crucial for maintaining not only your mental health, but long-term productivity. Because if you never stop, then you never really have time to recharge. Set a hard boundary at 5:00 p.

m. as if you were leaving the office and someone was locking up behind you and have realistic expectations of what you can complete in a workday so that it's actually achievable. There's a saying that I love that is we tend to overestimate how much we can achieve in a day but underestimate how much we can achieve in a year.

And it's so true because it really is those consistent actions that are repeated day in day out that make the biggest difference rather than the mad crazy days where we spend 8 hours glued to our desks trying to meet a deadline. The 5:00 p. m.

lockdown signals to your brain that it is time to relax, ensuring you are well rested, ready to do it all again tomorrow. Now you know how I stay productive all day at home. But maybe you want to know my time management strategies that allowed me to build a business whilst working full-time as a doctor, which you can watch by clicking this video just here.

Or maybe you want to watch this video just below, which has been recommended specifically for you based on what you're interested in. Thank you so so so much for watching. If you did enjoy the video, please don't forget to like, comment, subscribe.

I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful week, and I will see you in the next video. Hey, we're done.