Must-Have Items for Boosting Productivity and Enhancing Your Lifestyle

The phrase “invest in yourself, it's worth it” proves that clichés often wear out because they are true. Everyone is looking for a productivity edge, and a few dollars well-spent can produce the gains that competitive professionals seek.

According to a popular productivity forum, these ten items, in particular, will pay for themselves, and then some, in the form of enhanced productivity.

1. An Upgraded Office Chair

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Embracing comfort to increase productivity may seem counterintuitive. That is until you realize that discomfort will break your concentration and give you a recurring excuse to get up from the same desk where you do the work and make money. 

2. Therapy

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How much sludge is clogging your cognitive pipes? One uber-productive commenter took the therapy-as-a-productivity-boost strategy to its logical conclusion, marrying a psychiatrist. You don't have to wed a psychiatrist to experience the productivity bump that comes with a complete mental flush.

3. Gym Membership

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When one self-improver mentioned therapy, another explained that pairing regular therapy with a gym membership can do wonders for one's work life. As they say, healthy body, healthy mind, you're primed for the professional grind.

4. A Cleaning Service

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The value of a cleaning service is, on its face, obvious. Ask yourself, is the cost of hiring a maid for an hour more or less than I earn per hour? If your time is worth more than the cleaning service charges, it could make sense to keep working as the cleaning pro does what they do.

Cleaning is a chore in the most literal sense. Therefore, you won't sacrifice any creative fuel by outsourcing the dusting, vacuuming, and other steps towards a tidy home.

5. Two Premium Pillows

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Good sleep is worth the investment. Study after study reveals that a well-rested worker is productive, and nothing disrupts sleep like a limp, overstuffed, or otherwise deficient pillow. If you spend the money to purchase a couple of premium pillows, your body, mind, and the boss will thank you.

6. Stationary Exercise Equipment

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There are too many excuses not to work out. Rain. Distance to the gym. A bad hair day. If you purchase an in-home treadmill, Peloton, or exercise system of your choosing, you may find yourself working out regularly, feeling recharged, and cranking out high-quality work.

7. Time-Saving Appliances

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I didn't say that the productivity hacks would be cheap. I said they'd be worth your consideration. In fact, the initial price tag of a high-quality dishwasher leads countless time-wasters to scrub, scrub, and scrub their way out of max productivity.

8. Standing Desk

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If you subscribe to the idea that physical stagnation equals mental stagnation, a convertible standing desk is a high-value investment. A standing desk helps you achieve several ends. From helping you avoid routine-linked burnout to promoting a healthy lifestyle (and acquiring the cognitive benefits that come with it), a standing desk is worth a try.

9. A Second Computer Monitor

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Anyone who does their work on a computer must have a second monitor. For $100 or less, you can spread windows and tabs across a far larger surface area. This will reduce the time you spend minimizing, clicking between tabs, and tending to other minutiae that consumes time and breaks your flow state.

10. A Disconnect Trip

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One professional who saw a productivity bump after a weeklong camping trip says that others should try it. For many, “disconnecting” means not checking email for more than an hour. The truth is, your body needs far more than an hour without email to reset and recharge.

Whether it is camping, skiing, beaching, boating, or vacationing in another way, take a trip centered around work avoidance.

This thread inspired this post.

Sam Mire
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