Stay Productive with these Hacks from Bada

Simple and Effective Tips to Balance Work and Stay Productive.

One of the biggest challenges faced by Product Designers is managing their time and staying productive as they take on multiple tasks. However, just because it is challenging does not mean it's impossible. Fortunately, there are many practical productivity hacks that can help anyone, just like Abiodun Bada, achieve their goals.

We sat down with Abiodun Bada and he shared some of these tips with us. Read on if you are in search of productivity hacks that can help elevate your career as a Product Designer.

Can you please introduce yourself?

My name is Abiodun Bada. I am a Product Designer at Tangerine Africa.

What does a typical workday look like for you?

It depends because currently I am in a hybrid work system. I go to work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and I work from home every other day. The dynamics of the workday vary depending on whether I’m working from the office or working from home.

When I am working from the office, my workday revolves around the product I’m in charge of. My tasks at hand depend on the previous day. This can include working on a particular feature in the product or addressing feedback from stakeholders. I wake up by 4:30 or 5:00 am and start my day with prayers. I go through my diary, where I jot down most of the things I need to do or feedback from stakeholders. Once I get to my work desk, I have a routine where I go through inspirational websites.

As funny as this may sound, I still value the basics because, as a Designer, basics are what build the core. You can’t outgrow the basics. It’s because of that mindset that I have a routine of going through inspirational websites where I check design styles and trends, color combinations, typography, and pairing, just to nurture my mind with the basics because, as I said earlier, this is what builds the core. If you have the basics as a Designer, it will always speak for itself when needed. After that, I delve into the task at hand. I go into research if I’m working on a feature to see the best practices out there from competitors. I also like to check in with stakeholders or my line managers to validate the direction of what I’m working on.

Do you have any morning routine that sets the tone for a productive day?

Yes, I do, and one of the key ones is starting the day with prayers. I don’t want to sound spiritual, but I believe life is first spiritual. I start my day with that to fine-tune myself and meditate. After that, I go through my diary just to check what the deliverables are for the day. That sets the tone for me because I have a mental picture of what I want to do and how to go about it.

Which tool/software is indispensable to your workflow?

As a designer, I value my diary a lot, and my pencil because it comes in very handy, especially when I have a session with my line managers and a meeting with my stakeholders. If an idea pops up, I can always reach out to my pen and diary to note it down. They say ‘a short pencil is more valuable than the sharpest brain,’ so I try as much as possible to always use it. In terms of software, I primarily use Figma to do my daily tasks. If I am working on an illustration for a feature, I use Adobe Illustrator. As for task management tools, I use Jira, Miro, and Figjam just to go through wire flows, ideate, and share with stakeholders. These are primarily the tools and software I use for my workflow.

How do you manage your time when working on multiple projects?

I think time is still one of the things we all are trying to master. I’m not there yet, but one of the things I do to manage my time is focus on my deliverables for the day. I do this by referencing my diary or task sheet. I also try as much as possible to break things down because sometimes your tasks and projects can be a bit long, so I love to break the tasks down to have some sort of quick wins. This gives me some motivation to move on to the next, and before you know it, you have achieved a lot.

Can you share some of your productivity hacks with us?

One of the hacks I use is to take mental breaks. Once I am off work, I try as much as possible not to think too much or better still not think about work at all. What that does is it gives me a fresher mind and helps me stay productive.

Avoid multitasking too much. I try as much as possible to focus on whatever I am working on at a time. I try to prioritize whatever the primary deliverable is for myself and put 90% mental disposition on that particular thing; then the rest can now share the remaining bandwidth.

Prioritize my tasks. Doing this helps me a lot because it gives me some form of fulfillment and that productivity mindset that I have been able to achieve something for the day.

If you found Abiodun's hacks helpful and would love to connect with him, you can do that here on LinkedIn and here on Twitter.

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