Feeling overwhelmed at work, it was my husband who first suggested bringing in a productivity expert. I scoffed — surely I was already operating at peak efficiency? But he pressed on, pointing out that productivity isn’t just about getting things done; it’s about working smarter, not harder. 

Intrigued, I decided to book Rachel King from Quotient to run a workshop for the entire Fashion Quarterly team. King is passionate about helping leaders and their teams achieve high performance without burnout. As a trained civil engineer, she understands the foundations of a building; now, she says, she applies that same logic to people. “I’m absolutely passionate about seeing people thrive at work and in life; to show them that sustainable productivity without burnout is attainable.”

Her change in career came after she became a mum, juggling three kids under three. “I started looking for solutions to the impossible challenge of juggling it all and staying sane. I read and studied productivity, psychology, ancient philosophy — the works. I filtered through loads of people promising the world but without much substance to back it up. I road-tested it all.”

The result? A series of research-backed strategies that King now teaches through her workshops. And after experiencing them firsthand, I can confidently say they work. 

Inspired by the tangible improvements we saw, I asked King to distill her approach into ten simple, actionable changes anyone can make — no radical overhauls required. Here, she shares 10 small but mighty shifts that can transform the way you work: 

1. Prioritise

Have only one to three key things that you are focusing on each day. Any more and you’ll become scattered and overwhelmed.

2. Power hour

Start the day with a power hour — turn off email and notifications and do your most important piece of work.

3. Energy

Align your tasks with your physical and mental energy: plan your high focus activities for the morning. We are all more focused and creative then.

4. Micro-breaks

When you get stuck, and are tempted to start scrolling, get outside for a walk for five minutes. The shift in environment helps you process your thoughts.

5. Pause

When someone asks you to do something, pause and ask yourself if it’s actually yours to do.

6. To-dos

Capture all your to-dos in one place — there are many list type apps out there. Pick one and stick with it. If you’ve got 1000 to-dos in 1000 places, your brain will go into overdrive trying to remind you of all the things.

7. Next action

If you’re procrastinating on a task, ask yourself, “What is the very next thing I need to do to move this project forward?”. And do that.

8. Sit with loose ends

Accept that you will never do it all. Learn to sit in the discomfort of loose ends, and do the most important thing anyway.

9. Just start

Don’t clear the decks before starting on your top priority. Just start now. The decks will always be there.

10. Focus time

Discuss with your team the idea of having a block of time when none of you interrupt each other. Imagine having an hour to yourself just to focus.