Okay, but like…Why?

1. Change your location

Are you always working at the kitchen table, sitting in that same chair with your coffee mug to the right of you? Drop a pin somewhere else. When we mix it up and change locations — going to different coffee shops, taking a different route to a friend’s house, or simply working in a different spot — we rev up our hippocampus, which helps us process and retrieve memories. Stimulating your hippocampus means you’ll have better memory — and better memory means you’ll spend less time looking back at your notes or trying to remember that one thing that one person in your Zoom meeting mentioned that one time. Productivity, baby!

2. Take more breaks

Breaks may seem like the antithesis of how to boost productivity, but in reality, breaks have everything to do with it. It turns out that we can only truly focus for short periods of time before our brains get bored. But by taking breaks, we reset the brain —- and studies have found that breaks skyrocket your focus and your attention span. Since we know that putting new things into practice is hard unless there’s something shiny to go with it, here’s our favorite pomodoro timer that breaks down work into 25-minute intervals, with short periods of rest.

3. Daydream

If you ever got in trouble at school for zoning out, now’s your time to shine. That’s because letting your mind wander is actually great for productivity, among other things like creativity. In fact, if you’re stuck in a rut trying to solve a problem, letting your mind wander for a while before coming back to it can be helpful. As you’re daydreaming about building your empire and becoming best friends with Michelle Obama, your brain is still working on the problem in the background and coming up with solutions —- but continuing to add in new information can hinder the process. So, if you need permission to stare out the window every day, this is it. Do it for your productivity.