Timeless Productivity: What We Can Learn from the Past to Work Smarter Today
Hybrid working has changed the way we approach our workdays. The blend of home, office, and on-the-move work creates flexibility, but it also brings its own challenges—how do we stay focused? How do we separate work from life? How do we stop feeling like we’re "always on"?
As someone who’s navigated the shift to hybrid working, I’ve often found myself looking for better ways to structure my day. And I was thinking the other day about one simple idea: people have been working for centuries, often with far less technology than we have now. Yet they still managed to be productive.
So, what can we learn from how people worked in the past? Quite a lot, it turns out.
The Power of a Clear Start and Finish
In the pre-digital age, the workday had a very clear structure. You arrived at work, did your tasks, and then you left. The physical act of leaving an office or a factory created a mental separation between work and home life. Now? With emails, notifications, and remote access to everything, that boundary has blurred.
One way to bring it back is to ritualise the start and end of your workday—whether you’re at home, in the office, or working from a coffee shop. That could mean something as simple as starting your day by reviewing your plan with a cup of coffee and ending it by writing down the one big task you want to tackle first tomorrow.
If you work from home, a "fake commute" can help. Go for a short walk before and after work, just to signal to your brain that the workday has begun or ended.
Deep Work, Not Just Fast Work
Before emails, instant messaging, and non-stop notifications, people had to focus on one task at a time. Letters took days to arrive, and meetings required travel—so people made their work count.
The modern equivalent? Time-blocking and deep work. As we’ve often discussed here, make sure you schedule time in your calendar for "no-interruption work" just like you would with a meeting. Put my phone on Do Not Disturb, close Teams or Slack, and get lost in one task for an hour or two. It’s surprisingly effective.
If you struggle with this, think about how writers, artists, and inventors in the past created their best work. They didn’t do it in five-minute bursts between meetings—they carved out dedicated time.
The Lost Art of Breaks
Historically, work wasn’t about sitting at a desk for eight hours straight. Farmers worked in tune with daylight. Factory workers had strict break schedules. Even office workers in the early 20th century had structured tea and lunch breaks.
Today, many of us are guilty of working non-stop, especially when we’re at home. But taking breaks actually makes us more productive. I’m guilty of ignoring this as much as anyone, but try to step away from your desk for a proper lunch rather than eating while answering emails. And when you’re working on the move, try to take walking breaks between calls.
The lesson here? Breaks aren’t time wasted; they’re essential to sustained focus.
Handwritten Notes Beat Digital Chaos
Before computers, people wrote things down—on paper, in notebooks, on scraps of parchment. It turns out, writing by hand is great for memory and focus.
Try occasionally using a paper to-do list alongside your digital tools. There’s something satisfying about physically crossing things off a list. Try taking handwritten notes during meetings instead of typing them—it will actually help you remember key points better.
If you feel overwhelmed by digital clutter, try a simple notebook for your daily tasks. It’s a small change, but it makes a big difference.
Face-to-Face Still Matters
Guess what, before Zoom, people met in person—because they had to. And while remote work is great for flexibility, nothing quite replaces the effectiveness of real-life interaction.
When you’re in the office, make a point of having in-person conversations instead of just sending messages. And if you’re remote, prefer video calls over endless email threads.
The hybrid working lesson? Use technology wisely, but don’t over-rely on it. Sometimes, a quick call or a coffee chat solves a problem faster than ten back-and-forth messages.
The Wisdom of a Defined Work Space
In the past, work was tied to a place—whether it was a blacksmith’s forge or a merchant’s shop. That physical separation helped people mentally switch between work and home life.
Working from home blurs those lines, which is why having a designated workspace is so important. Even if you don’t have a separate home office, setting up a specific corner of a room for work can help. When you pack up your laptop at the end of the day, you get that feeling of "leaving the office," even if you never left your house.
Travel Time Was Thinking Time
People in the past had time to think—on long walks, horse rides, or train journeys. That kind of unstructured thinking time is rare today, but incredibly valuable. Instead of filling every commute with emails or podcasts, sometimes just…think. Let your mind wander while walking or travelling. It’s amazing how often you get your best ideas when you’re not actively trying to be productive.
So if you’re always plugged in, try taking a break. Give yourself time to just think, like people did for centuries before us.
Bringing Old-School Productivity Into Today’s Hybrid World
The way we work has changed dramatically, but human nature hasn’t. The challenges of distraction, burnout, and focus existed long before smartphones and Slack. By borrowing a few tricks from the past—clear work boundaries, deep focus, regular breaks, handwritten notes, face-to-face interaction, defined workspaces, and thinking time—we can make modern hybrid work more sustainable and enjoyable.
If you’re struggling with hybrid work, try adopting just one of these habits. Sometimes, the best solutions aren’t new at all—they’re just forgotten.