How To Stay Productive On Your Side Hustle Side Project Sessions gives us three productivity tips for working on your side passion.

You were going to start a blog — before you sunk four-hours-deep into a Netflix binge. But with Side Project Sessions, distractions are dunzo. The Australian-based company’s events help procrastinators focus on hobbies and overdue tasks through “peer-pressured productivity,” using group encouragement to boost accountability.



“It’s really the group setting where you find the extrinsic motivation to focus on your project, because others are there doing the same thing,” says Lindsey Jo Scott, the chapter founder of NEO-based SPS Ohio, which is the first chapter in the United States.



Before the next event July 13 at MidTown’s Sail Loft, Scott shares a few productivity pro-tips.



Catch Ideas On Paper. Scott recommends kicking off any new project with a brainstorming session. Put all the curiosities buzzing in your head on paper, then pick your favorite. But pick just one, or you’ll land back at square one. “Too many things at once means nothing gets done,” says Scott. “It’s necessary to choose one thing, then continue down the path to see where it goes.”



Map Your Mind. Don’t wing it. Scott recommends creating a three-column chart that breaks a project into kinds of tasks. In the first column, write down your goal for the project and tasks that must be done today to achieve it. “When you can accomplish them and they’re doable, you’re more motivated to continue because you feel like it’s possible,” Scott says. The second column is for tasks that you can do if you have extra time, and the third is for new, perhaps unrelated, ideas you get while working.



Be Time-Wise. Setting a 45-minute timer for one task, and moving on when it buzzes, gives a productivity boost. “When you set a timer to focus, your brain can really make more connections,” she says. “You can get more done by having small and actual end-times.”



It could also be hard to focus if the timing’s off. If you’re usually a morning person, for example, try an evening brainstorm. “When do you have the most energy?” says Scott. “When do you feel most inspired? I’m constantly experimenting.”