Find your “why”
Your why is the purpose or vision that inspires you. Anyone can achieve something if they work hard enough, but your “why” is what gives you fulfilment. Ask yourself, why do you do what you do? Why do you want to change? Why do you want to be more productive? Why do you want to get your life together? This is your purpose. Write it down. When you focus on the "how" or the "what" many obstacles seem like they're in the way of success. However, when you focus on the "why", none of the obstacles matter.Set short term achievable goals
A goal wields
a sense of achievement and that achievement motivates you to do better. By
setting short-term achievable goals and writing them down, it will trigger a
domino effect that stimulates your brain to want to achieve more. Make it your
goal to do some kind of physical activity for 30 minutes every day. Make it
your goal to wake up an hour earlier, or go to bed an hour earlier every day.
Make it your goal to work on your side hustle for an hour a day. Whatever your
goals may be, start small. These small, measurable and achievable goals create
habits, stimulate achievement and lead to big changes.
Declutter
Become a
minimalist. Clear out your inbox and unsubscribe from unnecessary marketing
emails that flood your inbox and take up precious time in your day. Make sure
you immediately delete emails you don’t need and file the ones you need in
labelled folders in your inbox. Regularly do a spring clean, not just in spring.
Be ruthless. They’re just things. Throw out anything you haven’t used in over a
year. You’re never going to use it and its taking up precious space. A
cluttered workspace is an unproductive workspace.
Wake up early, or don’t; but make sure you get 8 hours sleep
Some people
have schedules that don’t allow them to wake up at 6am every day. Some people
are morning people, some people are night owls. If you finished work late last
night and you didn’t manage to get to sleep until after midnight. Set your
alarm for 8am. However, if you work 9 – 5 and you’re a morning person, go to
bed at 9pm and wake up at 5am. You can use the few hours in the morning to get
so much more done. Whatever your preference, make sleep a priority. You may
think you can survive on less, but you have no idea how much more productive
you will be if you make sure you’re getting the eight hours your body and your
mind needs.
Plan the night before
How many
times have you been running around the house before work trying on different
outfits, making your lunch, packing your handbag, whilst trying to find your
keys and eat breakfast all in the space of 30 minutes? That used to be me every
day and it set the precedent for what the rest of my day was going to be like.
Now, I spend 30 minutes before bed making my lunch, deciding what to wear to
work, packing my bag, and planning for the next day. This leaves me time in the
mornings to make a healthy breakfast, watch the news, check my diary and start
my day slowly.
The one minute rule
Any tasks that take less than one minute, do them immediately. Most of the time the long list of jobs you have to do are actually made up of many one minute jobs. This rule separates
the small tasks from the larger tasks, decluttering your to do list so you can
focus on the larger tasks when you have more time. Whether it’s cleaning the
kitchen bench, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, emptying the trash or
writing a grocery list. Set a timer for 15 minutes and do as many tasks as
possible. You can get 15 one minute tasks done in 15 minutes and you will be surprised
how much burden this takes off of your to do list.
Write things down
Shopping
lists, appointments, ideas, mental notes, everything. I put a notebook and a
pen in every room of the house. Someone who makes appointments and then turns
up a day early, or forgets the appointment all together, doesn’t have their
shit together. Someone with a hundred good ideas in their mind is less productive
than someone with 50 good ideas written down. Making lists and converting your
mental notes into literal notes, declutters your brain and increases your focus
and productivity.
Listen to podcasts
Listen to podcasts while you do your tasks. Listen to podcasts while you commute. Listen to podcasts while you exercise. Listen to podcasts while you cook. Listen to podcasts while you grocery shop. It makes menial tasks actually seem enjoyable as it feels like you have good company with you. In addition, it's a really productive use of your time as you're filling you brain with new knowledge and ideas whilst ticking things off of your to do list. Check out my podcasts label for my favourite podcast episodes.
Set aside ‘junk time’
If you’re
someone who loves to watch Netflix. Allow yourself one hour before bed to watch
Netflix. If you’re someone who has to scroll on social media every day, set
aside an hour a night to scroll on social media, to check twitter, or to reply
to messages on Facebook. If you love online shopping, set aside an hour to browse
online. After the hour is over, stop and do something productive with your
time. You will be surprised at the number of hours a day you waste when you don't set a specific timer on your 'junk time'.
Even
socialising can be considered ‘junk time’. Socialising may be a human need; however,
it’s not necessarily using your time productively and that can make some people
feel extremely guilty. I know I feel terribly guilty setting appointments and
dates because I know that is an hour I have to spend getting ready and commuting, an hour or two with a friend, and then an hour to get home and get back
into work. However, by planning my day, setting aside 'junk time', and listening
to podcasts while getting ready and commuting, I’m spending that 3-4 hours of
my day way more productively. Limit yourself to an hour, or two, of ‘junk time’
per day and no more. I can guarantee you will be spend the 14-15 hours of your
day that you’re awake way more productively.
If you liked this post, please comment or share it on Facebook and Twitter below.
P.S. I'd love to meet you on Twitter!
No comments:
Post a Comment