How to Get Work Done in 2021

In 4th grade I “invented” a coin sorting machine (like a mobile Coinstar but a whole lot more difficult) for a class project. I’m still not using it to this day.

Unlike my dabble in the banking industry, Braxton Manley and Grant Andrews found a way to turn their class project into a full blown business. Their idea, the insanely comfortable Apple Watch bands, or Braxley Bands, was initially created on a student budget, with some of the first prototypes made on a borrowed family sewing machine.

This soft launch gained momentum and after winning an innovation award from Texas Tech in 2017, Braxton and Grant officially went into business. Within a year, they were working on their brand of bands full time.

And now four years later, Braxley Bands are still adding style and comfort to wrists all over the world. Co-founder Braxton Manley, is also paying it forward to other entrepreneurs and artists by sharing his advice on how to face challenges in business, and in life, head on.

“If you want to be great, you have to do the challenging stuff that other people won’t do.”

Whether you’re starting a project, unsure of where to go next or simply seeking out motivation for the New Year, these 16 tips will ensure you exceed your productivity goals and simply put, get shit done in 2021.

7 Tips for Productive Remote Working:

1. It’s important to isolate your activity time slots. Work can begin to blend with life and that can lead to inefficiency or worse. Set time for work, and set time for non work. If you don’t, you’ll burn out and lose your passion. Never lose your passion.
2. Make a daily and weekly to-do list. Start with small stuff so you have momentum to keep being effective. If you feel anxious or overwhelmed just start writing to-do’s down. It feels rewarding to cross an item off the list, even if it was easy.
3. Try your best to see your day as a set amount of hours. Schedule time to go outside, read, draw, meditate and eat. Otherwise you can lose track of time and never get to it.
4. Keep your place really clean. Your place should inspire you. Surround yourself with beautiful things. Buy yourself flowers and plants. Light candles. Stand up, stretch, breathe.
5. There’s nothing wrong with working when you want to work. I often schedule certain tasks for 10pm-2am because it feels like the world is asleep and my creative brain turns on. Just make sure you get enough sleep. Also blue light is way more harmful than most think. It doesn’t just strain our eyes, it damages our mitochondria which affects A LOT.
6. Stop snacking all the time. Constantly grazing on food uses up a lot of mental energy and can really slow us down. Eat like our ancestors.
7. Turn off notifications and excess stimuli. There is nothing more distracting than phone notifications. It is the enemy of the modern mind

9 More Tips to Help You Stay Motivated:

1. Study ‘role models’ in your industry and find out what platforms and tools they use. They use them for a reason.
2. Get GOOD sleep. Pot/Alcohol will kill your REM. Don’t consume these before bed or your brain will not be high functioning the next day.
3. Spend the first hour of your day really connecting with your primal self. We are animals. Get sunlight as soon as you wake up, hydrate, stand in the grass barefoot. Breathe, meditate, journal, visualize, make/appreciate art. Then start your day in love.
4. Have people hold you accountable, and hold others accountable. We are social creatures and we can’t do this alone. Our minds can play tricks on us. Talk about your feelings, at least to yourself.
5. Separate and guard your personal projects. They are important.
6. Treat your body, mind, and soul well so you can be the highest functioning version of yourself. If you want to make something great, you have to do that.
7. Just live every day with an emphasis on simply ‘being effective’ and things will seem pretty straightforward.
8. Learn from others. Consume podcasts, videos, books. We live in the age of information and it’s amazing. Everything is out there and it’s almost always free. You can master anything.
9. Stop wasting your time on stuff that doesn’t serve you. Netflix, video games, parties, social media, etc., rarely bring you closer to your goals. And if you aren’t getting closer then you’re getting further away.

Can’t get enough Braxley Bands? Treat your wrist and ramp up your style by ordering one now. For every band ordered, Braxley Bands’ partner, Trees for the Future, plants a fruit tree.

Written by: Natalie Earhart